TeamBarrowman: Here's the next update!
Neenabluegirl: Not really stuff focusing on Jack or Ianto but some sad stuff with friends/family history.
XxTypoMasterxX: Glad you liked it. Dunno how on earth (or why) that came to me, just thought it'd be good to put it in.
DoctorWhoXTorchwood: Thanks, I did have fun. I really enjoy going... David doesn't do anything in this chapter but he will in the next one and then Rhiannon goes all private eye.
Pooky1234: Hm, good... dunno where the idea came from! Just put it in there at the end for something sweet/cute
katwinchester: Rhiannon goes all private eye after she finds out. I'm going to bring in a little scene from that imaginary season of Torchwood that we all hallucinated. But that's next chapter.
deemama66: Jack'll get there eventually, they both will. Ianto got him off, how into Jack can he be? David will tell and Rhiannon will be okay with it.
TracyLynn: It'll weather, it'll be angst filled coz it's me, but they'll survive it. With thanks to leather and motorbike helmets!
JessieBlackwood: Dyslexia and ADHD run in my family and my cousin is Autistic, doesn't make them stupid and they certainly should not be classed as such. Jack's family is slowly getting back together so no he won't be jealous.
Authors/Note: A lot of stuff happens in this chapter that isn't really relevant to Jack and Ianto as a couple, it affects them separately. This will reveal a bit more of Ianto's history and I gotta warn you this is sad so have some hankies handy. There be character death here. As always read and review, thank you for all who lurked, reviewed and read! You guys are great! Thanks! Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven
David stood near his uncle as they got on the bus, it was busy so there were no seats. There were a few noisy lads towards the back of the bus who recognised Ianto and they started loudly congratulating him for winning the game against New Zealand. David couldn't help but grin with pride and awe, his uncle was so cool and he had the best job in the world! Ianto caught him looking and ruffled his hair
"Come on, this is our stop" he said as he put his arm around David's shoulder
"Do I really have to go home? Can't I stay with you for a while longer?" he asked quietly
"You've got school and what about your mam and Micah? Won't you miss them?" Ianto ushered him carefully past the people at the front
"Of course I would but he'll be there" scowled David moodily "I don't want to go home"
"He's not going to do anything, not to you or to your mam. If he does then you tell me and I'll make him leave"
"Promise?" David pleaded
"I promise" he nodded "But no going making things up just to get rid of him. He's your tad and he means well"
"Okay" he said finally. The bus stopped and they got off, Ianto put a comforting arm around his nephew's shoulder as they walked down the hill and around the corner to Rhiannon's house.
Micah was out playing on her scooter while Rhiannon sat on the doorsteps watching her, she was surrounded by a stack of coupons and envelopes. When she spotted David and Ianto she stood up quickly and rushed over
"Duw! You scared the hell out of me" she snapped as she pulled her son into her arms. There was a muffled sob and Micah came scooting over
"Uncle Ianto!" she dropped her scooter and jumped up at him. He picked her up into his arms greeting her warmly while mother and son where reunited
"Hey, there trouble... um, let's give your brother and mam some time. Have you got any new dolls?"
"Yeah! Mam got me a new Bratz! She said it was from you! Thank you, Uncle Ianto" she wrapped her little arms around his neck hugging him warmly
"Well then let's see it" he stated as he carried her towards the house carefully stepping over Rhiannon's coupons.
Micah pointed towards the living room and he steered to his left. The new doll was laying on the floor surrounded by accessories
"It's a really pretty doll. Mam said you gave her money, she bought me the doll and she got David a new game for the computer. She put the rest in the tin for when we go to college" her excitement made him smile, he couldn't help but reminisce. Ianto remembered his mam putting money in a tin so he and his sister could go to college... the smile fell; only he went to college. Rhiannon had gotten pregnant and decided that she couldn't have both, so she turned her life to her family.
"Are you going to go to college?" he asked her
"Mam told me that I have to" she replied, looking up from where she was playing with the doll
"You don't have to if you don't want to but it does give you more options. You meet so many new people and get to do something you really enjoy"
"Don't fill her head with that nonsense" snapped Johnny as he came into the room. He'd been upstairs and heard them talking so he came down. Ianto rose to his feet to be level with his brother in law; Micah went strangely quiet as she watched the two men facing off in hostile silence
"Johnny"
"Ianto" they nodded to each other before backing off. Johnny sat down onto the couch and grabbed the remote, Ianto watched him for a moment before clearing his throat
"So," he began still staring at his brother in law "Where's my baby" Johnny looked up at him and grinned. Johnny turned off the TV and Ianto held out his hand for Micah gesturing to come with them. Tightening her fingers around her new doll she let her uncle lift her up into his arms before they both followed Johnny.
Rhiannon and David were sitting on the step talking quietly when the small procession passed, she raised an eyebrow at the fact that Ianto hadn't killed Johnny for what she knew David had told him
"Where you off to?"
"The lock up" said Johnny. Rhiannon rolled her eyes, I should have known, she thought to herself. David glanced nervously at her before looking back at the procession moving further and further away. She couldn't help but sigh
"Go on then" she told him, he grinned and bounded after his tad and his uncle. So much for the family splitting fight! She would have gone with them but she had coupons to post, she returned to her work that Ianto and David had interrupted. She was just glad her son was back home safe!
*
Johnny unlocked the padlock, then lifted the door up. Ianto looked at his brother in law in surprise, he put his niece down and stepped forward into the lock up
"Why is she in here?" he asked as he crouched down running a hand over her body
"Had to move her, wasn't safe. Word was getting around that I had her and well... there were a few times people came looking to buy" explained Johnny, Ianto went pale
"She's not for sale! She's never for sale" he cried keeping his eyes on her "Did you miss me, baby? It's okay now, daddy's here"
"Uncle Ianto, it's just a bike" giggled Micah as she watched her uncle lovingly stroke the black frame with blue fire paintwork
"Micah, you don't understand! This isn't just a bike... this is a 1964 Harley Davidson, I rebuilt it with my own hands... with tad" he whispered the last two words. It was still hard talking about his father, now that he was gone.
"It's beautiful" agreed David
"She is that. Thanks for looking after her for me while I was away, I would have come sooner but, you know, I was busy with work"
"Of course I looked after her... she's the only thing of value round here..." Johnny trailed off. Ianto stood up and looked at his two young relatives
"David, could you take Micah back to the house. I need to talk to your tad" he explained. David did as he was told, took hold of his sister's hand and led the way home.
***
It had been hours since it happened. When it was all over he came home and climbed into bed... their bed... and just lay there. Owen couldn't help but relive the moment over and over again! His mind refusing to accept the fact that she was gone...
"Katie?" whispered Owen, he'd just got home from popping to the office to pick up some files and found her lying on the kitchen floor. Instinct took over and he rushed across the room, sliding to his knees as he reached her "Katie?!"
She was still, unmoving, cold. He lifted her into his arms mumbling her name desperately like that could wake her. Help, he needed help! He carefully laid her down before jumping up to grab the phone.
Owen closed his eyes against the memory, it was no use now. Thinking about how it'd happened would only bring more pain and Katie was gone. That was more than enough pain.
He blinked when he heard his bedroom door opening and saw the two figures he'd known for most of his life; they were here and he couldn't help but begin to break down. Gwen looked at Jack, her heart mirroring his broken expression; he nodded grimmly to her before the both of them moved in tandem.
Gwen came to lay down on Owen's right side while Jack moved to lay down behind him. They'd been a trio alone for so long, a group unto themselves, and then Owen met Katie and not long after that Rhys came into the picture. Even though they were starting families, it was still always the three of them.
"She's gone" Owen sobbed as he clung to his friends... no, his family. The pair tightened their grip on the man who was essentially their brother "She's gone"
"How?" whispered Gwen, tears were sparkling her eyes in the near darkness
"The baby... it wasn't a baby" he mumbled through his aching tears "She had a rare form of cancer and it spread, it spread everywhere until it reached her brain..." Owen stopped with a choke that morphed into an agonised scream. Not knowing what to do, Gwen and Jack just held him while he bore out his pain at loosing his wife.
*
Jack had been home for two hours when his phone rang, it was Owen who was shouting frantically down the phone. He tried to hear over the hysterics in his friend's voice but it wasn't good
"O-Owen... what? I can't hear you. Calm down, I can't understand what you're saying"
"Ka-Katie's dead" said Owen in a shuddering gasp and boy did Jack understand that!
"Where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital but I'm going home... I need to call her parents and her sister and... Jack... what am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?!"
"Go home. I'll call Gwen and we'll help you" he told Owen unsure of how to answer his eldest friends' desperate questions. Jack hung up then dialled a number he knew off by heart "Gwen?"
"No, it's Rhys. What do you want Jack it's-"
"Katie's dead" Jack interrupted Rhys's sleepy tirade. The line went quiet for a moment, he could hear rustling in the background
"What happened?"
"She had cancer, she wasn't pregnant... it spread to her brain and Owen found her..."
"Christ. I'll tell Gwen" he mumbled
"I'll come pick her up and take her round to Owen's" Jack explained then hung up.
***
"I know I'm not around all the time but I do try and be there when Rhi and the kids need me. I love my sister and I love my niece and nephew and I don't want to see them hurt"
"You don't need to do the whole protective brother thing" scowled Johnny as he crossed his arms and made himself look taller
"David was upset and scared, I think that's more than enough. He's just a kid and I know what it's like to be scared of someone much bigger and stronger than you... I'm saying this as your brother in law because you're family. I don't want to have to say it as David's uncle"
"Take your bike and get out of here" he hissed "Just because you're a bigshot rugby player doesn't mean you can threaten me. They're my family and I can do what I like, get out of here before I knock your lights out"
Ianto opened the lock up door before climbing onto his bike and started it up. He scowled at Johnny before pulling out of the lockup and round the corner to where Rhiannon was sitting on the doorstep, the kids were playing together with their friends
"David! Micah!" he called them over and all the children who'd been playing came running over "If you need to call me or the police because something bad happens then do it, I'll always be there when you need me. I promise, tell your mam I love her and I'll see you next week"
"You're not staying for tea?" Micah asked, her eyes wide and sad. Ianto looked back over his shoulder to Johnny who was coming back from the lock up
"I can't. But I'll spend some time with you next week, I promise. I'll call your mam and see if I can pick you up from school one afternoon" he told them
"This is coz of him, isn't it?" sneered David moodily "I hate him"
"David..." Ianto sighed "Don't let him get to you. I'll see you next week"
He drove off before they could say anything else. Rhiannon got up in surprise that Ianto left, he normally stayed for the day when he came visiting on Sunday's.
"Where's he going?" she asked her children. Micah turned to cuddle against her mam while David just scowled and ran off with the rest of his friends "David!"
*
Ianto had missed riding his precious baby, his Maggie, he'd built it when his tad was still alive. They'd worked on it together for hours and hours, even Rhiannon had helped fix the seat into place and put money towards the body paint job. It was the last thing he'd even done with tad, mam had come back from Providence Park and put a stop to all things like that. Ianto had finished the bike in secret after tad passed away and they were left with her. His mam had gotten better since her stay in Providence Park but Rhiannon had always been the one she'd been close with, not him, and he was happy for it to be that way. But sometimes he wished that she was a more fixed role in his life; instead of standing in the background telling him how to live it.
"Shouldn't be thinking about my mam, now that I got you back should I, eh Maggie? How about we surprise Jack on Friday? That sound good?" he asked his bike as he obeyed the speed limit down the road. All he got back was the thrum thrum of the engine beneath him and he sighed "Fine. Alright! Fine!" he changed lanes and headed towards Tremorfa.
The impulse was surprising to say the least and he wasn't sure that this was a good idea but despite his reservations he let Maggie lead him. The small old house was exactly as he remembered it, the little garden was tended to obsessive tidiness, Ianto pulled into the empty driveway and turned off the engine just as the front door opened.
She was getting older, she seemed smaller since the last time he'd seen her and she had more than a handful of grey hairs.
"Ianto" she smiled warmly as she held her arms out for him. He allowed his mother to pull him into her arms before she pulled away and wandered into the house, he trailed after her, his boots tapping against the hardwood floor. Ianto briefly thought that he was forgetting something but she quickly reminded him as she turned round and pushed him back out of the house with a frantic "Out! Out! Out!"
The door slammed and he sighed; he'd left his boots on and tracked imaginary footprints of mud into the house. Ianto stood there waiting for twenty minutes while she scrubbed the floor and disinfected it. When his mam opened the door again he smiled at her "Ianto" she greeted him again, greeted him like this was the first time she'd seen him.
"Mam" he hugged her once more then took off his boots and handed them to her. She smiled as she carried them into the kitchen to sit them on neatly folded newspaper then she washed her hands twice.
"How come you're not over at Rhiannon's? You always try and spend Sundays with her"
"Johnny told me to leave. I didn't want to cause an argument so I left, thought it was probably best. I didn't really want to go home so I thought I'd come visit you"
"Aw, how sweet. But you know I don't like visitors, you should have called a week before you decided to come so I could tidy up and plan the meals" she explained. She turned the tap off and dried her hands before stepping three steps left to start her handwashing routine again. Ianto glanced around the cosy, spotlessly tidy, kitchen and sighed; she had been okay for the time she'd spent in Providence Park but as soon as tad had died then she just fell back into her old habits.
"Sorry, mam, it was spur of the moment. I just didn't feel like sitting in my apartment on my own" he explained. Ianto pulled out a chair from the table before he sat down
"So" his mam began once she completed her washing routine and sat down at the table with him "Tell me about your young lady friend. How come you're not spending the day with her?"
"Lady friend?" he mumbled "You mean Jack?"
"Yes, Rhiannon told me about her. Why couldn't you find a nice Welsh girl?"
"Mam... Jack is... I'm... h-she had to go home to get on with work" he couldn't help but sigh; he wanted to tell his mam and his sister that Jack wasn't Jacqueline, that he was in love with a man. Wait, whoa... shit! In love with a man?!
"When are we going to meet her?"
"Mam, Jack is... very nice person and I'm really beginning to like her, it shouldn't matter that she's American and not Welsh. I think I... no, I know that I like Americans now... I'm a... I'm..."
"You're what, dear?" she stared up at him a little too bright eyed and the words stuck in his throat. He couldn't help the tears that came unbidden, they suprirsed him as they poured down his face "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just hope that you like Jack when I bring him round so he can meet you and Rhiannon" he put his hand over hers, she yelped at the touch then got up to wash her hands. Watching her stand at the sink going through her three wash-soap-rinse routine Ianto couldn't help but cry.
TBC...