Fic: The Sea After a Storm (9/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 9
Rating: R
Warnings: Little language
Spoilers: Season Two thru Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2x01)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©’s to Helen Raynor for dialogue borrowed from Doctor Who The Sontaran Stratagem. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which The Talk commences…
Notes: Early posting for all those who make my day by asking for More! Now! Especially for monikkk who offered me cookies next time I'm in Warsaw and for cjharknessgirl who made me a gorgeous story banner. :) Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thrace_adams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Nine
Ianto had just finished shaving when there was a knock at the door. He tugged the robe on over the towel he had slung around his hips and turned off the music before he went to let in the food.
"Good lord!" he exclaimed when he opened the door and saw the heavily laden cart.
"Too much?"
Jack was leaning on the wall across the hallway, arms crossed over his chest.
"Not if we're expecting another ten people," Ianto said drily and then looked around for the room service chap.
"I sent him away," Jack said, reading his mind. "With a nice tip," he added.
"Okay." Ianto hesitated for a moment and then started to pull the cart inside the room. "Did you want to come in?" he asked Jack quietly.
Jack smiled and nodded. He pushed the cart the rest of the way in and closed the door behind him.
"The table's over there," Ianto said with a wave towards the other side of the suite. He closed his robe and tied the belt.
"Oh, I brought you something," Jack said. He reached under the cloth that draped the room service cart and brought out a small bag which he tossed to Ianto. "Not that I don't love what you're wearing, but I thought you might be more comfortable in those."
Ianto opened the bag to find a t-shirt and some flannel pyjama bottoms that he often wore after hours at the Hub.
"I ran over this morning after the all-clear. Made sure there were no ripples from the temporal displacement, grabbed a few things," Jack explained as he began removing the covers on the food.
"Thanks," Ianto said. He stepped into the bath to change, not sure about just stripping off in front of Jack with things so up in the air between them. He left the door ajar, however, so he heard Jack's next comment clearly.
"I would have brought you a fresh suit, but I didn't see any of your clothes there," Jack said softly.
Ianto nudged open the door as he tied the drawstring. "Jack, I - "
"Coffee?" Jack interrupted with another of those bright, fake smiles.
"Thanks," Ianto said, taking the cup and sipping gratefully before he rushed to explain. "I don't want you to think we just left the Hub unguarded. I spent - "
"Hey, hold on, just… sit down. Have some breakfast. We can talk after you've eaten something."
Ianto flushed slightly and nodded. He didn't think he'd ever dreaded or wanted something so much at the same time in his entire life. For more than four months, he'd longed for the chance to talk to Jack. He'd played the conversation in his head so many times he had it memorized, but now that it was really going to happen, he was terrified.
Ianto looked at the feast spread out on the cart and looked at Jack. "Did you just order one of everything?" he asked as he began to serve himself some fluffy scrambled eggs topped with chives.
Jack grinned. "Yeah. It's easier than making a decision, plus most of it will keep if we don't eat it all."
"If?" Ianto exclaimed with a chuckle. He topped off his eggs with some sautéed mushrooms, added some potatoes, a grilled tomato, and a piece of French toast to his plate and took a seat. He took a slice of toast from the rack and buttered it, watching Jack as he loaded up his own plate. "Second breakfasts?" he murmured. He reached for the strawberry preserves and gave Jack a tentative smile.
It was returned and, Ianto was relieved to see, it actually met Jack's eyes.
"Yeah, I had a bite before I headed to the Hub. Ordered up carts for everyone so you and Tosh wouldn't just have coffee and a muffin. Or in your case, just the coffee."
Ianto rolled his eyes, his mouth too full to argue.
Blue eyes looked him over carefully. "Although, I guess it wasn't necessary. You don't look like you're skimping on meals anymore. You look a lot better than when… than before I left."
"Owen didn't give me much choice," Ianto explained drily.
Jack nodded and fiddled with his fork. "Sounds like you all really took care of each other," he observed.
"We had to." Ianto bit his lip. He hadn't meant to snap. "I'm sorry, Jack. It was just… it was hard, without you. For all of us."
"I am sorry, Ianto," Jack said solemnly. "I never intended to be gone that long. If I had, I would have told you."
Ianto nodded and reached for a croissant from the basket of pastries on the cart. "Should we… I mean, how do we even start talking about this?"
Jack sighed. "I can't tell you everything. I wish I could - well no, actually, I really don't. Most of it is irrelevant now anyway."
Ianto doubted the veracity of that statement, but knew better than to push. "So what do we do?" he asked.
"Why don't you just ask me what you want to know and I'll answer when I can," Jack offered.
"Our old standby?" Ianto teased.
"What?" Jack asked, obviously confused.
"I can't tell you everything but I promise not to lie," Ianto quoted.
"Oh, yeah." Jack laughed, the sound brittle. "I'd almost forgotten that," he added softly. He shook his head and shovelled a big bite of eggs and potatoes into his mouth. He raised his eyebrows at Ianto as he chewed, clearly inviting him to begin.
Suddenly Ianto's head was full of every single thing he'd wondered about while Jack was away. He was completely lost, unsure of what to ask, where to begin. He finally just blurted out the first thing that popped into his head.
"Why did you take that hand?" he asked.
Jack was gob-smacked. He stared at Ianto for a long moment and then he began to laugh. It started out as a soft snort of amusement but he didn't seem to be able to stop. The laughing turned to coughing as he choked on his mouthful of breakfast and took a long drink of juice. He was still chuckling when he was finally able to talk again.
"You want to know about the hand?" he asked incredulously.
Ianto flushed and shrugged his shoulders. "It's been a topic of discussion since I started at Torchwood. It was a hand. In a jar."
"Hardly the strangest thing in the Hub," Jack pointed out.
It was Ianto's turn to snort. "Close to it. Are those Belgian waffles?" he asked.
Jack nodded and passed him one off the plate that was suspended over a warmer. He watched Ianto butter his waffle and then said quietly, "It was the Doctor's hand."
Ianto dropped his knife. "He lost a hand?"
Jack nodded again. "Christmas before last."
"The Sycorax," Ianto said slowly, working out the dates. "Poor man."
"Oh, he grew it back."
"He what?"
Jack grinned. "You sound just like Martha."
"Who's Martha?"
"The Doctor's companion."
"Like you were."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Ahhh…" Jack hesitated. "That's a tricky one."
Ianto tilted his head. "Why?"
"Time doesn't exactly stay linear when you're travelling with the Doctor," Jack equivocated.
"Or when you're a Time Agent, I would imagine," Ianto added, thinking of the things John Hart had said. He glanced up at Jack before taking a large bite of his waffle.
Jack grimaced and shook his head.
Ianto swallowed and tried a different tack. "How long were you waiting for him?"
Jack shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "It's complicated."
Ianto was losing his patience. "Jack, if this is one of those things you can't tell me then just say it."
"No, I can, I just…" His voice trailed off.
"What?" Ianto asked. He reached across the table to put his hand over Jack's.
The touch seemed to reassure Jack and he smiled ruefully. "I don't want you to know how old I am," he muttered.
Ianto bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud. "Is that all? I spent a lot of the time you were gone down in the archives," Ianto said.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I've found quite a few references to you in some very old files… what?" Ianto asked. Jack was shaking his head.
"I thought I destroyed everything they had on me when I took over after Alex."
Ianto smothered a laugh behind his coffee cup. "You missed a few," he said drily, thinking of the piles of documents in the archives with Jack's name on them. "Jack, we kind of assumed the resurrecting does something to you and you don't look a day over fort- "
Jack's brows drew together in a sudden scowl and Ianto revised his estimate quickly.
"Thirty… er, four," he finished lamely.
Jack glared for a moment but then his face softened and he chuckled. "Nice save. I was almost thirty-eight when… when I changed."
"What happened?" Ianto asked softly. "Did the Doctor do something to you?"
"No! No, it wasn't him. He was just my best shot at some answers. So I waited."
"How long?"
There was a pause and then Jack spoke. "A hundred and thirty-nine years give or take a few months."
"Christ," Ianto breathed. "So that makes you - "
"Old enough to be your ancestor."
Ianto took a long drink of his coffee and imagined the last four months of waiting stretching out for a hundred and thirty-nine years. He shook his head. "There've been sightings of the Doctor all throughout the twentieth century. Hell, he worked with UNIT for years during the seventies… or the eighties, I always forget. Why did you have to wait so long?"
"Karma?" Jack suggested ruefully. When Ianto raised an eyebrow, he continued. "Timelines, for one. I had to find my Doctor, the one who knew what had happened."
Ianto chose not to dwell on the way Jack said 'my Doctor'. He frowned. He could think of a dozen sightings of the Doctor in the last decade alone. "But surely - "
Jack pushed away from the table and began to pace. "Look, Ianto, I don't know what you want to hear. Bad luck, a broken ankle, traffic, a seriously creepy little cartomancer who practically cursed me - I don't know why. I just know that when I heard the TARDIS that day, I ran. I knew it was my one chance and I took it. And the fact that I didn't even think about what it might to do you ate at my guts for a year."
Jack stopped dead as Ianto's glance shot to him.
"A year?" Ianto asked in confusion.
"Oh, shit," Jack said. "I wasn't going to tell you that part."
TBC in Chapter Ten