Eternity Chapter 5

TWTWTW

Jack lowered his gaze. He couldn't look into Ianto's eyes anymore.

Without another word, Ianto got up and left Jack's office, going back down to the archives.

Once there, he sat at the computer, but his mind just wasn't on the task in hand. He was thinking about Jack living an eternity….alone. He wondered how he himself would live the rest of his life without a wife, a family….he couldn't. Not that he had anyone special in his life at the moment, but there would be. Wouldn't there?

Getting up, Ianto went back to the filing cabinet, opened it and took out another armful of brown folders. Turning, he went back to the desk, placing the folders in front of him. Turning on the copier, he opened the first folder and looked at the contents. It was an alien treaty agreement between Xantalia and Molarmaius, that Tosh had translated. Ianto first read it and then scanned both copies, disregarded the old photocopy and put the original and both copies back in the folder and put them on one side.

Ianto carried on with copying and typing until he couldn't look at the computer screen without screwing his eyes up. Then, turning off the computer, he made his way back up into the Hub.

Gwen and Tosh were just about to leave, and Owen was cleaning up in the autopsy room.

Gwen smiled and Tosh waved to him. He just smiled.

He turned back to look at the autopsy room. A body was lying on the table. Ianto, being curious, walked over to the railing and looked down.

"Come down and take a look, if you like. It's dead." Owen told him.

Walking down the stairs, Ianto approached the table.

A Blowfish, dressed in a purple suit and orange shirt, lay there. It's eyes glazed over.

"I'll be doing an autopsy tomorrow, if you wanna watch."

"What is it?"

"A Blowfish."

Ianto walked around the table. "Is it….was it dangerous?"

"Yep, it can be. Walks, talks, acts like a human."

"And that thing in the cells…."

"Janet, the Weevil. Very dangerous. Sharp teeth, bad dress sense, lives in the sewers."

"And they all live here, in Cardiff?"

Owen nodded.

Jack came out of his office and stood watching Ianto and Owen. He smiled, seeing the young man take an interest on what was going on.

Ianto turned and looked up in Jack's direction. He smiled, then turned back to Owen.

"I'd like to watch. Thank you."

"Anyway," said Owen. "that's me finished."

Jack descended the stairs and went to the kitchen.

"I'll see you both tomorrow." Owen went towards the cog door. "Night.""Goodnight."

Ianto watched as Owen went through the gog door and then disappeared up the few stairs.

"Don't even think about it," said Jack/.

Ianto turned, walked over to Jack. "I wasn't." He took the cup from Jack and began to make him coffee. "A deal is a deal, even if I don't wanna be here."

Despite himself, Jack smiled, revealing the elongated white fangs. "I can live with that."

Jack stood back, while Ianto made a pot of coffee.

"I could eat something right now," Ianto said, offering Jack a cup.

"I can order something in. Chinese. Italian. Name your poison."

Ianto thought for a moment. "Chinese, I think."

"Okay. We can eat in the boardroom or here on the couch."

"I don't mind." Ianto moved off towards the workstations.

"If you wanna take a look at the Rift alert system, be my guest. Type in CJ51H. That's my password."

Ianto typed in the password and the screen light up.

"That's a layout of the perimeter where we know the Rift reaches."

Ianto looked at Jack. "You mean it might reach further?"

"It could. We just don't know."

"And how long has this been going on, the aliens, I mean?"

"Probably millions of years," Jack said, moving closer to Ianto. "The Egyptians spoke about it. Certainly they were around in the early 1870's."Ianto's raised an eyebrow. "That long?"

"Even longer than vampires."

Jack got his phone out and ordered their take away.

"I've never seen an alien before."

"Or a vampire," added Jack, touching Ianto's arm lightly.

It was as if Ianto had been electrocuted. The shock went up his arm and made it tingle from fingertip to shoulder. He looked at Jack in that moment and wondered. What if….

Jack walked away, breaking the spell.