Chapter Twenty-One
This chapter is dedicated to EriinR, for all-round awesomeness and reviewing every chapter of this story!
BTW, there's going to be a short flashback at the start of each chapter, mostly Janto fluff, so that I don't get out of the habit of writing Ianto's voice for when he comes back. (Note the 'when'! ;P)
You're getting this today as my school has been cancelled because of the snow (the first time we've got this amount of snow – 3 and 4 inches in places! – for about 7 years!). Sorry if it's not very good – I was writing it whilst emailing, watching videos, in between bouts of playing in the snow and talking to masses on people on the phone. I was a little distracted at points!
Disclaimer: Torchwood is like... this giant playground built and owned by RTD. I just like playing in it.
Jack kissed Ianto gently, a hand curling around the Welshman's neck, before breaking away and swiping a handful of snow which he flicked in Ianto's face.
Laughing at the shocked expression on Ianto's face, Jack got down in the snowdrift and proceeded to make a snow angel.
Ianto raised an eyebrow and picked up some snow himself, an expression of disgust on his face at the cold and the wetness. Jack grinned up playfully at him. "Go on, then," he teased.
Ianto let a slow, mischievous smirk grow across his face before pouncing on Jack and shoving the handful of snow down the front of his trousers.
Jack yelped and jumped to his feet, eyes wide in shock and horror. "Ianto Jones, I can't believe you just did that!" he said, wriggling uncomfortable. "Damn, that's horrible."
The Welshman grinned smugly, before grabbing him into a smouldering kiss.
"That warm you up?"
"Oh, yeah..."
-T-
Jack touched the golden console gently, sweeping his fingertips across the organic surface. He used to dream of showing Ianto this room, of watching his beautiful blue eyes widen in awe as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
If what he was about to do went the right way, then he might still get to introduce Ianto to the TARDIS. Jack could only hope.
He tapped at the screen. "You awake, sweetheart?" he murmured. He felt the TARDIS pulse in acknowledgment.
"Can you do something for me?"
Another pulse. Jack felt the TARDIS's consciousness probing at his own mind. With only a slight hesitation, he allowed his mental barriers to relax and the TARDIS billowed into his mind, golden and warm.
He sighed in relaxation as the TARDIS soothed away the hurt, and he instead focussed on showing the TARDIS what he wanted: namely, Ianto back and happy in his arms.
The TARDIS hummed in appreciation as he showed her images and memories of time spent with his lover – laughter, stolen kisses, embraces, and everything and anything in between. He showed her the love they had shared – the first time he told Ianto that he loved him, their first date, a night spent in eating pizza and watching old James Bond movies on the couch in Ianto's flat. He showed her more recent images – watching Ianto sleep in their cabin whilst the lapping of the waves sounded in his ears, eating spaghetti together in the restaurant. All of this he showed her, and much, much more.
"Can you bring him back to me?" he asked of her. "Please. I'll do anything."
This entire exchange took less than three seconds. That alone should have warned Jack that the TARDIS had something in mind.
Suddenly, without warning, the central column of the TARDIS began to slide up and down with a crooning sound. The TARDIS was rolling so much that Jack felt almost as if he was back on Skookumchuck.
"What's going on?" he gasped, finding himself flat on his back. The TARDIS had no reply.
Jack just prayed that she knew what she was doing and hung on for dear life.
-T-
"What?" The Doctor yelped, as the TARDIS began to fade away. He desperately tried to reach out to his time-space-ship, but his hand grasped air. "Jack!"
Donna sighed impatiently and turned to Tosh and Owen. "Right then, I need a coffee."
Both Toshiko and Owen flinched at the last word, and looked away.
Donna frowned. "What? What did I say?" She saw Tosh's gaze flicker to Ianto's body, still lying on the floor where Jack had laid him. "Oh... I'm sorry." She bit her lip. "He meant a lot to you guys, didn't he?"
She wasn't really expecting a reply, so when Owen spoke it came as a bit of a surprise.
"He did. He was like a brother." Owen's thin lips twisted into a rough approximation of a smile. "He could be bloody annoying and OCD at times, but he was like the younger brother I never had."
"He was my best friend," Toshiko said quietly. "He was always the one who I could confide in, who knew what was wrong without asking." She managed a small, wet laugh. "He used to sit with me if I had to pull an all-nighter, instead of going home with Jack like I know he wanted."
Donna didn't know what to say to this sudden confession. Instead, she turned to what she knew. "I'll make us all a cup of tea," she decided, opening cupboards and filling the kettle.
"Not for me, obviously," Owen pointed out.
Donna stared at him. "How—?"
"How come I'm dead?" Owen asked, tired amusement lacing his voice. "Long story."
Donna shrugged and gestured to the Doctor, who was still rooted to the floor in apparent shock. "We've got time."
Owen looked down at Ianto's pale face. He could look as if he was asleep, if only his eyes were closed. He reached down, and closed them with a gentle hand. "I got shot," he said abruptly, "by a bastard called Aaron Copley. Then Jack brought me back using a resurrection glove—"
"Why doesn't he use that for Ianto now?" Donna questioned, confused. She dropped teabags into the waiting mugs.
"Jack destroyed it," Toshiko explained.
'Bet he regrets that now,' Donna thought, but had the sense not to speak out loud.
"The glove was meant to only bring somebody back for two minutes, but, as you can see, it went wrong with me," Owen finished, not meeting any of their eyes.
"It didn't go wrong," Tosh argued. "It just worked differently than we expected. You're not wrong, Owen."
The Doctor heard the last few words of what the quiet technician said, and snapped out of his trance. "You're WRONG - godammit, Jack!" he suddenly raged. "You shouldn't exist, and now you do this! You're wrong, completely wrong!"
Toshiko barely registered that her hand was moving before she heard the sharp 'crack!' as she smacked the Doctor across the cheek.
The Doctor reeled, hand going to his cheek where there was a quickly reddening mark. "What was that for?" he asked in bewilderment.
Tosh glared at him through tear-filled eyes. "That's what you get for calling Jack wrong! Ianto promised that he'd do it, but—" She broke off, her hand over her mouth as she tried to stifle her sobs.
Owen reached out for her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Ssh... Tosh, love..."
Toshiko wrapped her arms around him and sobbed loudly into his shirt. Owen looked faintly startled, but just carefully patted her head. "Ssh... it's OK, darling..."
Donna shook her head and glared at the Doctor. "Idiot space-man," she muttered. "Sit down and have your tea, before I decide to deck you again!"
The Doctor, with a very much abashed expression, sat down and took the flower-patterned mug from her. "Sorry. I just..." he sighed. "I need the TARDIS. Having it away from me physically hurts me. I shouldn't have said what I said."
"No, you shouldn't," Donna retorted crisply, not at all pacified.
The Doctor gazed down into the swirling, steaming depths of the tea, and hoped with all his heart that Jack was about to make the right decision.
He just didn't know what the right decision was himself yet.
I know, I know... I seem to have a thing about getting the Doctor slapped... it's just so much fun! :P
The idea about losing the TARDIS hurting the Doctor came from WickedTorchwoodFan, she very nicely said that I could use it.