Title: Out Among The Stars
Author: badly-knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Tenth Doctor.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Last of the Time Lords, the Stolen Earth.
Summary: Twice Ianto has been left behind, but this time he gets to go with Jack and the Doctor.
Word Count: 1215
Written For: Prompt 176 – Space at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood/Doctor Who, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
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Ianto had started doing a lot of stargazing after Jack had run off with his Doctor. Night after night, when sleep refused to come, and the little room beneath the Hub that had once been Jack's home had grown too constricting and airless, he'd slipped out and made his way to one of Jack's favourite perches to stare up at the sky and wish he knew where and when his lover was. He'd pick out a star from the multitude and wonder if there were habitable planets in orbit around it. Maybe Jack had been there on his travels. Maybe he was there right now.
On clear, frosty nights there were so many stars filling the cloudless winter skies. Ianto knew he was seeing only a fraction of what would be visible without the light pollution from the city spread out beneath him, but that hadn't mattered to him. Just being there, high above the streets of Cardiff, had been the closest he could get to the man he missed so much, standing where Jack had spent so many nights, gazing up at the stars that had never failed to put a distant look in his lover's eyes.
On those nights, more than anything he'd wished he could be out there too, travelling the universe with Jack in the Doctor's little blue box. Even if he'd had to share Jack with the Doctor, he'd told himself he'd be fine with that, because a little of Jack would still be better than none.
Then Jack had returned, and it had soon become clear that whatever had happened to him while he was gone, it hadn't been fun. Ianto had felt oddly ashamed, even guilty, for the envy he'd felt, and for imagining all the fabulous adventures he'd thought Jack must be having. He'd wanted to believe the wider universe was more enlightened than his home planet, but that wasn't necessarily the case, especially considering how many times other races had tried to invade earth.
Less than a year later, the earth was stolen, along with several other worlds, and taken to a distant sector of space in another time. Unsurprisingly, Jack had run off again to help the Doctor, although at least this time he'd had the decency to say goodbye, and had promised to return once the crisis was over.
He'd only been gone for a few days, but it had felt like a lifetime to Ianto, especially after a Dalek breached the Hub. If not for Tosh's time bubble programme, he wouldn't have survived long enough to greet Jack on his return. This time around, he'd felt very little envy for his lover, venturing into the enemy's stronghold. He would have been quite content to never see another Dalek for the rest of his days, and he'd been reasonably certain Jack felt the same.
Only a matter of a few weeks after that incident, Jack showed up on Ianto's doorstep in the middle of the night, urging him to hurry up and get dressed, then practically dragged him out of the house. Bleary-eyed and still half asleep, Ianto automatically assumed there'd been a Rift alert and Jack needed his help dealing with whatever had come through. Instead, he found himself hustled into the SUV, driven to the Hub, and before he could blink, he was being propelled through the open door of the blue police phone box that was sitting beside the Rift pool.
"Jack, what are you…" Ianto trailed off as he got his first proper look at the inside of the TARDIS. He'd already been aware that it was bigger on the inside, but knowing that and actually seeing it for himself, up close, were two very different things. He stared wide-eyed at his surroundings, blinking as he took it all in. "Wow!" It was, perhaps, not the most insightful comment he could have made, but it was certainly heartfelt.
"Aren't you going to say it?" The Doctor appeared in front of Ianto, a manic grin plastered across his face.
"Huh?" Ianto frowned at the Time Lord in confusion, his train of thought unfairly derailed. No one, not even an experienced Torchwood field agent, should be expected to be coherent having just been dragged out of bed and into a technological marvel capable of travelling through time as well as space.
"It's bigger on the inside! Everyone says that the first time!"
Ianto valiantly pulled his scattered wits together and raised an eyebrow. "I try to avoid stating the obvious." He let his gaze wander over the console room again. "She is magnificent though."
The Doctor looked vaguely disappointed, but he quickly rallied. "Good enough. Right, shall we go?"
Once again, Ianto was wrongfooted. He'd thought the Doctor had come to borrow Jack again, and that Jack had fetched him so the Hub wouldn't be left unattended while he was gone.
"Go?" He frowned. "Go where?"
"Wherever you want! Within reason." The Doctor's grin somehow contrived to grow even wider; frankly, Ianto found it a bit disturbing.
"Sorry, I seem to be missing something here. I only just woke up. Either that or I'm still asleep and dreaming." That seemed to be a distinct possibility, all things considered.
"The Doctor stopped by for a visit," Jack explained. "So I persuaded him to take us on a trip. The Rift should be quiet for a few days, and I made him promise to have us back here tomorrow afternoon at the latest. So, is there anywhere in particular you'd like to see?"
"Seriously?" Suddenly Ianto didn't care if he was dreaming or not; either way, this was the opportunity of a lifetime.
"Wherever you want." Jack took Ianto's hands and looked into his eyes, smiling softly. "You deserve this, Ianto Jones, a whole lot more than I ever did. So, what would you like to see?"
'Everything!' Ianto's brain urged, 'I want to see it all, do it all, go everywhere!' Which would probably be a bit much to fit into a quick trip. He pulled himself together and reined in his excitement, settling on something a bit more manageable.
"Well, I've always wanted to take a close look at Saturn's rings."
"Boring." Jack blew a raspberry, making Ianto grin.
"In that case, I'd like to visit an alien planet, maybe somewhere far into the future, where the people look nothing like us." Because Jack was right; if they were doing this, they should aim for something completely out of his experience, something he could remember and marvel at for the rest of his life.
"I know just the place!" The Doctor bounced on his toes. "Mycellus, where the people are sentient mushrooms. It's a bit damp there, but you're Welsh; I'm sure you're used to rain." Bounding over to the console, he started pressing buttons and pulling levers. "Hold on tight!"
With that they were off, the TARDIS lurching beneath their feet as she swept through the vortex towards their distant destination.
Ianto's heart was racing, and he suddenly felt wide awake; he was out in space, heading for another planet, and another time, and it felt amazing! The only problem was, with all the wonders of the universe spread out ahead of him, he might never want to go home again.
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The End