Author's Note: I was already pushing the boundaries of the term 'drabble', but this is completely out of it but in compensation, I'm back to having a plot. Speaking of which, I promise I'm going to pick up all the plot threads I've dropped around in the last three chapters. Those of you who've read my other stories know that I do that all the time. I'll tie it up as soon as possible.

Anyway. I hope you enjoy the chapter and feedback is always appreciated. :)

Day Five: Kissing

"When I die, I want you to burn the body."

Jack's head snapped up from the report he had been reading as he saw Ianto leaning against the doorframe of his office. The words had tumbled out with no context whatsoever and the Captain felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.

"What?"

Ianto took a slightly shaky breath. "When I die... don't bury the body and don't freeze it, no matter what."

Jack closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down as anger raised its ugly head inside of him. He wasn't ready to have that sort of discussions with Ianto and yet, he couldn't find it in himself to deny him anything he wanted either.

He looked at his lover properly for what was probably the first time in weeks and wondered how he had been unable to notice it before. The exhaustion, the pain and the quiet, seething rage of helplessness that was carefully hidden behind his calm, indifferent eyes where all emotions seemed to die.

In the two months since Tosh and Owen's deaths Ianto had done his best to fill the gap that had remained while Jack and Gwen hadn't bothered to change their duties in the slightest Ianto was naturally good with computers and all sorts of technology and he had started reading all of Owen's notes regarding human and alien biology as well as keeping up with his usual work at the same time, and Jack could see that it was taking its toll; that it had been taking it for quite a while. There were dark circles around Ianto's eyes, he looked like standing up took all of the effort he was capable of putting into it and the suit that had been a perfect fit just a few weeks ago now seemed to be two or three sizes too big and made him look like a child in his father's clothes. Jack had noticed his attention shifting from one thing to another all the time as he tried to focus on everything at once.

He looked terrible. And Jack had never loved him more.

The Captain stood up from his chair with a small sigh of resignation and neared Ianto, wrapping his arms around his waist and bringing him closer, keeping his eyes tightly shut as he tried carefully, "What brought this on?"

Ianto disentangled himself from Jack's embrace just enough for them to be able to look one another in the eyes. "Just promise me that you're going to do it." His voice was quiet, but also firm and demanding and Jack gave a minute nod, mostly a sign for him to continue and that he was ready to listen than one of agreement. "You can do whatever you like with the ashes after that. Throw it all away; spread it... over the sea, over the world, in outer space..." He shrugged as if he was talking about the placement of a statue he didn't care about in a garden that wasn't his own and not the eventual remnants of his body. "I don't really care all that much and I'm pretty sure it'll be all the same for me at that point anyway. Just promise me you're going to do it."

Jack refused to give in for a few more moments before the intensity of Ianto's bright, fierce gaze locked on him became too much to take, then he nodded and, as the word came out of his mouth, he realised that he meant them with everything he had.

"I promise."

o.O.o

Hours later, while Ianto was in the medical bay and busy with dissecting and alien they'd found dead and that none of them – including Mainframe's database – had nothing on, Jack was sitting in front of the computer on Tosh's station, nit really doing anything except staring blankly at the screen.

There were few species in the Universe that had bodied dangerous enough to require incineration after their death, and even fewer that looked human enough to pass as one. Vendiri, for example, tended to burn their dead, but they didn't actually have ears and picked up sound with a really sensitive patch of skin on their heads, so that excluded them. There were the Satyrians – Jack supposed that a contact with them some time ago had made humanity think of Satyrs – but they had legs that resembled a goat's, and that wasn't it too. He couldn't think of anything else and that wasn't all that surprising – he wasn't really as informed as his employees thought. After all, he'd spent only about twenty years in an endless Universe and supposed that there were corners of it he hadn't even heard of, so figuring Ianto out could take ages. It could also never happen.

Jack sighed and massaged his temples, trying to chase some of the tension away. He could always talk to Ianto, of course, but knowing him he'd immediately think that the Captain would lock him up or God knows what else. Going straight to the topic at hand had proved to be a bad idea before, and Jack strongly suspected that his lover would run away before he could finish his sentence.

Jack pushed himself off Tosh's chair and wandered into the medical bay, for a few minutes just quietly watching Ianto as he worked away, neatly disinfecting the instruments he'd needed during the autopsy and placing them back in their rightful places before he started writing the alien's characteristics in the catalogue he'd made himself.

The Captain descended down the stairs and placed his hands on Ianto's shoulders, turning him around and bringing him closer for a kiss. He tried to pour everything into it – the trust, the understanding, even the blind faith in him and the quiet assurance that it didn't matter what he was as long as Jack was aware of who he was.

When Ianto finally pulled back with a small, questioning smile on his lips, Jack's arms remained tightly wrapped around his waist as he whispered, "You're a long way away from home, aren't you?"

Ianto stared at him in astonishment, just like and completely different from their conversation in the office about an hour ago; his eyes shining and scared and grateful all at the same time.

"Yes."