Chapter 9
John parked the car in the gravel path at the very bottom of the stairs. Jack stepped out without waiting for him. He climbed swiftly and opened the door before the butler even had the chance to open the door. The man, who'd obviously been in bed, welcomed his master with as much decorum as one whose shirt his half tucked could muster. Jack handed him his coat.
"I will be in the house for a prolonged period of time. Please ensure that the house is well stocked. I will be in my study. I am not to be disturbed even for meal. I will request them when necessary."
The butler nodded.
"What of the gentleman, sir?"
Jack frowned.
"The gent..."
He turned around. John was leaning against the door, pretending to inspect his nails with great attention. Sensing Jack's eyes on him, he ambled forward.
"I don't request much. Some food. Good wine. And an adjacent suite...?"
He winked at Jack. The man sighed.
"Give him whatever he wants as long as it keeps him away from me."
John crossed his arms and pouted. The butler raised an eyebrow. He gave him a facetious smile.
"As you wish, sir. Now if you'll follow me."
"What, no shag?"
John half expected Jack to punch him halfway across the room. He wish he had. Instead, he simply glared at him. John shrugged and followed the butler in a dim lit hallway. He turned to glance at his companion one was last time. This sobered up Jack was no fun.
Jack spent the next few days in his private library, pouring over dusty volumes of ancient knowledge and consulting alien references yet to be invented. Because he'd never heard of such a phenomenon, it didn't mean that it didn't exist. All the while, Ianto kept popping in an out with no apparent pattern. Sometimes Jack would be immersed in some volume only to find Ianto standing silently next to him or sitting across from him. Then, when he would wish him to be there, Ianto would elude him. It would have been a lie to say that things were getting better. That is was getting easier to deal with this tangle mess of grief. It wasn't. But he had to admit, begrudgingly, that John had knocked some sense into him. His pain had been so sharp that he'd lost total control. Now things were different. He had a purpose. A goal. He was confident that he would find a way to Ianto. He didn't care if he spent whatever eternity he had left on the task, he would find the solution.
He had left his gaze travel to the rolling hills of his estate, visible through the window. The rain was falling steadily. He sighed. We he returned his eyes to the room he found himself sitting across John. He wasn't surprised. Despite his request to be left alone, his ex-lover had taken every opportunity to entice him. He would not give up, apparently, but Jack wasn't ready to give in. Even if the John was sprawled on his chair, stark naked. He winked at him. Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"If I sleep with you, will you let me be?"
"Maybe yes. Maybe no, " he replied, tongue in cheek.
His eyes strayed from John's face. He knew every inch of his pale skin. Every battle scar. Every soft spot. He knew how his head fit exactly in the crook of his neck and how a well position palm on his lower back would make him arch with desire. Yet, he felt nothing. No desire at all. His task was all consuming and sex, strangely, was the last thing on his mind. He met John's eyes. Their expression changed, ever so slightly, and he saw that the man could tell what was going through his mind. His smirk was fast fading, the self-confidence gone. John looked awkward. Diminished. This was only a fleeting moment and John quickly regained his composure and covered himself with Jack's coat. He walked around the desk and grabbed a set of key sitting on the desk. He brushed his cheek with the rabbit foot.
"These Ianto's?"
Jack grunted, trying to decipher a passage in an alien tongue he wasn't too familiar with. John took inventory of the set. Aside from the rabbit foot there were two keys and a small, roundish piece of green stone carved with cyphers from another system.
"What's this?"
He shoved the medallion under Jack's nose. He pushed it aside without looking at it. John was starting to get on his nerves.
"Green moonstone, from Gamma 25."
"Did he have these on when he died?" asked John, twirling the set on his finger.
Jack grabbed the keys from him and slammed them on the desk.
"Does it matter?"
"Depends..." John didn't get to finish his sentence. Jack was on him, taking the coat off. For a moment, he thought he was finally going to get some but it soon became evident that Jack wasn't in a mood for a romp. He literally kicked John out of the library, shutting the door behind him. Left naked in the hall, John gave a peevish smile to a passing maid and made his way to his room holding a potted plant... on his head.
John walked in the garden. It was an ungodly hour. The sun rays had started to stretch over the horizon, giving the morning sky its first colour. The grass was frozen and crunched delicately under his feet. Lost deep in thought, he care little for the newborn day. It had now become evident to John that there would be no sex. Now matter how he tried to rationalize it, Jack's look in the library had been more than clear. Just like the Jack in Ianto's flat, this was one he had never seen. He had always been able to sway the man for a smooch, if not sex. But there would be no convincing this time around. He didn't like thinking about it too much. It made him feel weird inside. He didn't like it. We was now faced with a choice: leave the place for good and come back in a few centuries when Jack had gotten over his new fancy, or help Jack in his research and maybe get sex if he found a solution.
He found a bench and sat. The cool stone slab made him shiver. He hugged himself, rubbing his arms for warmth. What was he doing outside at this time of day anyway. He had had enough booze to put a horse to sleep and yet... Why? He knew the answer but he didn't want to let his mind touch that shadowy area. Some rocks were better left unturned. He dug in his pocket and took out a set of keys. Ianto's. He'd nicked them when Jack had finally passed out from exhaustion. At first he'd thought that Jack was going mad, seeing his lover everywhere. But then he had cooled down and had kept on mentioning Ianto's apparition. John still didn't believe the whole thing to be remotely possible, but he had a feeling that green moonstone had something to do with it.
He meticulously removed the chain from the ring, swearing under his breath when he pinched his finger, and palmed the ring. It was cold and heavy, heavier than one might expect for an object of that size. He'd first assumed that the trinket was smooth but upon closer inspection, it revealed to me covered in hundreds of minuscule grooves. Only alien technology could have achieved this level of mastery. He closed his hand around it. Better bring it back before Jack throws a fit, he thought.
"I'm better than you'll ever be."
The voice took John by surprise. He looked up. Across from him, on the edge of the path, stood Ianto Jones, covered in blood.