Characters: Cpt.Jack, Ianto, gwen, Rhys
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Setting: After children of Earth
Previously: Jack yawned widely, and I followed suit. "Should sleep" I yawned out, already drifting off. "Mmmmmm" Jack nestled under the duvet and rolled over so my back was against his chest and his arms could hold me against him. Light was already filtering in through the window but Gwen would understand. Sleep takes precedence over all else. "G'Night Jack" "Goodnight Ianto"
Ianto
It was almost seven by the time Jack and I even contemplated getting out of bed. We'd gone from dark to dark without drawing a breath, or so it felt. If I was totally honest with myself, I didn't want it to end. Didn't want the stomach churning fear of dying again. Something told me that I wouldn't get another second chance at life. This was it. Which was terrifying, death is much more fear inducing when you know what it's like. There's no higher power waiting for you, no paradise of sunny skies and opulent wings. It's an all encompassing blanket of darkness that holds you in place, leaving your mind to sit and memories to fade. I can truly understand why Jack feels awful when he comes back, I know how that feels. All day we'd slept and when we woke up we made up for all the time we had lost. As evening fell again I rolled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen, wondering vaguely in the back of my head exactly how I was still the legal owner of this apartment and if there would be food. Pretty sure there was food when we left for London, but that would definitely have been out of date by now. Sure enough the fridge was empty. "Take away it is" I muttered and grabbed the phone, calling the Chinese place down the road. They say the delivery will arrive in thirty minutes so I stumbled back to bed.
I had closed the door quietly behind me when I left, not wanting to wake Jack up. He needed to sleep, It had been far too long since he had slept properly. Opening the door with a soft click, I slipped back inside to find Jack wide awake, looking around in confusion. He looked as if he had finally lost his mind all together. Hearing the door his eyes flick up and the relief was almost tangible. Evidently it was going to take some time before he could assure himself that I was here, that he wasn't hallucinating me in an effort to torture himself. Which is fair enough. I chuckle softly to myself: I used to be the clingy one. With a smirk I flopped back down beside him, the smirk growing to a full blown smile when he drowsily entwined our fingers. "I ordered Chinese, You hungry?" Jack smiled and nodded, yawning and stretching simultaneously. "I haven't slept so well in I don't know how long. You must have tired me out Ianto" I blushed just slightly, and hit his arm softly. "I don't think I was the one who got up for round four ten minutes after we'd finished."Jack's grin widened "Really? I could have sworn you got up" he winked and I laughed, putting his face in my hands. I could get used to this again I thought as the doorbell rang.
Quickly pulling on some clothes I rushed to the door, thanking the universe for giving the doctor the foresight to leave me with cash. I opened the door to find Gwen and Rhys standing there, both grinning knowingly. I gasped and embraced them both before ushering them inside. "Jack, Gwen and Rhys are here, you should probably put a layer or two on." I called into the bedroom where Jack just chuckled and the bed creaked loudly as he rolled out of it. "Sit down you two, honestly. Coffee anyone?" I asked and we all laughed, things were back to normal. "I will definitely have a coffee Ianto" Jack said as he trundled out in his wrinkled clothes from the previous day, suspenders unhooked. The Chinese arrived as I was setting down the cups and I was glad that I had bought way more than we would have eaten because it looked like we were having a dinner party. We tucked in, I had a new found appreciation for food since I hadn't been having any for a long time, and the doctor wasn't exactly a fan of Chinese food. "So, Ianto, what happened? I mean the whole story, can't seem to wrap my head around it!" Rhys asked, and I sighed. "It's a pretty long story, but if you insist" I started with the day in London, the day I had died.
"It didn't hurt, not like I thought it would, the poison just kind of made you shut down and I did. I was in the dark for a long time, just there, conscious but not really present, no memories, nothing. Maybe that was a function of what happened next or maybe that's what dying is. I don't know. One day I just kind of woke up in the middle of Cardiff with people walking through me. That was a strange experience... I figured out the date and headed back to HQ because that was the only place I could think of to go. No one could see me but I think Jack could sense I was there, he said he smelled my cologne when I arrived that first day" I smiled weakly and Jack looked pleased that he hadn't been going insane.
"I had no real plan, so I tailed you both for a while, and you were busy let me tell you. It was one night on the pier, Jack got thrown into the water and I knew he was going to die so I followed him down and watched to make sure he was okay I saw him, watching himself as a ghost or spirit or whatever the hell we were. I called out to him and he saw me and tried to talk to me but then he was back in his body and swimming to the surface. He told me to go find the doctor and I did. I broke into the tardis and" Jack did a double take "Wait. You broke into the tardis?! Ghengis Khan and his entire army couldn't break into the tardis!" I shrugged. It hadn't even been difficult. "Maybe it was programmed to let me in, but I broke in anyway and then Rose and the doctor arrived and they brought me toothed heart of the tardis and I touched it and then I was in the dark again. When i did wake up I was back in my body again and eager to come home, but I couldn't because you" I smiled at Jack "needed to save the world and I was apparently too much of a distraction. So I traveled the universe and time with The doctor and Rose for a while until it was time to come home and well you know the rest." There was silence for a while, everyone in their own thoughts but soon enough we were chatting and laughing and it was almost midnight when Rhys decided maybe they should go home.
Gwen yawned and then pointed at the two of us, glaring sharply. "You two had better be in work tomorrow because I will come here and drag you if I have to and you know it" Jack nodded as he opened the door "Yeah yeah, calm down Gwen we'll be there or I'm not a captain." We all laughed at that and he closed the door.
A/N Hey guys, I haven't abandoned this fic, but I have made the executive decision that I'm only going to update every 2 weeks or so because |I have a lot of other fics that I'm focusing on, so sorry about all the waiting, I'm going to try update on schedule form now on!