People Only Know What You Tell Them - Chapter Eight
Title: People Only Know What You Tell Them
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own either Torchwood or Catch Me If You Can. Would that I did.
Spoilers: None in particular for Torchwood, indirect for the movie.
Summary: There's a conman on the run, and Agent Jack Harkness is determined to catch him. But then things take a turn for the complicated.
Warnings: Contains timelines that might make your head hurt.
Author's Notes: Written for the reel_torchwood challenge, using the prompt Catch Me If You Can.
Thanks to: morbid_sparks for being my wonderful beta, and putting up with my slightly madcap style of writing this. Also angelzbabe1989 for helping me work out plot variations.
Chapter links at Master List
Chapter Eight - Earth, December 5063
Jack ushered Ianto through the door and into the cosy flat he had lived in now for more than a decade. “Home sweet home,” he said brightly. “And for the next few days, you can think of this as home too.”
Ianto smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks for inviting me,” he said softly. “I… I wasn’t really sure what I’d do with myself over the Christmas holiday. The only thing I have in my life at the moment is work, and without that…”
Jack nodded, and waved him towards the row of hooks next to the door where Ianto could hang up his coat. “Holidays can be difficult when you don’t have anyone,” he said. “I know that from experience. It’s the main reason I invited you - it’s as much for me as it is for you.”
Ianto shrugged out of his outerwear and followed Jack through to the living space.
“Besides,” Jack continued as they sat down. “It’s almost a tradition now, isn’t it?”
Ianto frowned at him. “What is?”
“Us spending Christmas together,” Jack elaborated. “Four out of the last five years we’ve spent some time together over the Christmas holiday, one way or another. Although that first year we did only speak over a call, but it still counts.”
Ianto’s head tilted to the side. “I guess you do have a point. And I should confess, those Christmas visits the three and a half years I was in prison were more or less the highlight of my year.”
Jack grinned. “Really?”
“Well, they probably would have been no matter who you were,” Ianto replied, teasing a little. “You were the only visitor I had. And Christmas was the one time I knew I could actually expect a visit, rather than you just showing up with case notes. I didn’t see anyone but you, the guards and the five other inmates in my unit until this year just before I got out, when I think nearly everyone in any position of power in the Time Agency visited me at some point to interrogate me.”
“But it was worth it, though, in the end? Right?” Jack asked, his eyebrows raising to his hairline, his mouth twisting.
Ianto bobbed his whole upper body. “Yeah, it was worth it. It meant I ended up spending Christmas here, in this flat, instead of locked up.” He smiled at Jack. “It gave me the first job I didn’t lie my way into in my whole life.” His head shook slightly. “I’m not sure I’ll ever understand why you went to all that effort, but…”
“Because you were worth it,” Jack interrupted. “You helped me solve cases we never could have cracked on our own, and you… I just hated seeing you in that place. I know I was the one who sort of got you in there to start with, but you didn’t belong in there. So it was worth all the months of work and all the favours I called in to get you out and into my custody.”
Ianto opened his mouth to protest but was quelled at the stern look in Jack’s eyes. It occurred to him that he shouldn’t really complain about the fact that he was now - for all intents and purposes, despite the official designation that he was in Jack’s care - a free man.
It was still taking some getting used to - it had only been a month so far, after all - and he knew it would be years before the threat of a return to prison stopped hanging so closely over his head. When he’d been released, there had been no specific timeframe on what could only be described as his parole. And no details given of what, exactly, would constitute a reason for locking him up again.
“You were wasted in there,” Jack said, interrupting Ianto’s thoughts. “We need you out here.” He smiled, shrugging slightly self-consciously. “I need you.”
Ianto blinked, swallowed hard, and smiled back.
Epilogue 'Title Card'
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own either Torchwood or Catch Me If You Can. Would that I did.
Spoilers: None in particular for Torchwood, indirect for the movie.
Summary: There's a conman on the run, and Agent Jack Harkness is determined to catch him. But then things take a turn for the complicated.
Warnings: Contains timelines that might make your head hurt.
Author's Notes: Written for the reel_torchwood challenge, using the prompt Catch Me If You Can.
Thanks to: morbid_sparks for being my wonderful beta, and putting up with my slightly madcap style of writing this. Also angelzbabe1989 for helping me work out plot variations.
Chapter links at Master List
Chapter Eight - Earth, December 5063
Jack ushered Ianto through the door and into the cosy flat he had lived in now for more than a decade. “Home sweet home,” he said brightly. “And for the next few days, you can think of this as home too.”
Ianto smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks for inviting me,” he said softly. “I… I wasn’t really sure what I’d do with myself over the Christmas holiday. The only thing I have in my life at the moment is work, and without that…”
Jack nodded, and waved him towards the row of hooks next to the door where Ianto could hang up his coat. “Holidays can be difficult when you don’t have anyone,” he said. “I know that from experience. It’s the main reason I invited you - it’s as much for me as it is for you.”
Ianto shrugged out of his outerwear and followed Jack through to the living space.
“Besides,” Jack continued as they sat down. “It’s almost a tradition now, isn’t it?”
Ianto frowned at him. “What is?”
“Us spending Christmas together,” Jack elaborated. “Four out of the last five years we’ve spent some time together over the Christmas holiday, one way or another. Although that first year we did only speak over a call, but it still counts.”
Ianto’s head tilted to the side. “I guess you do have a point. And I should confess, those Christmas visits the three and a half years I was in prison were more or less the highlight of my year.”
Jack grinned. “Really?”
“Well, they probably would have been no matter who you were,” Ianto replied, teasing a little. “You were the only visitor I had. And Christmas was the one time I knew I could actually expect a visit, rather than you just showing up with case notes. I didn’t see anyone but you, the guards and the five other inmates in my unit until this year just before I got out, when I think nearly everyone in any position of power in the Time Agency visited me at some point to interrogate me.”
“But it was worth it, though, in the end? Right?” Jack asked, his eyebrows raising to his hairline, his mouth twisting.
Ianto bobbed his whole upper body. “Yeah, it was worth it. It meant I ended up spending Christmas here, in this flat, instead of locked up.” He smiled at Jack. “It gave me the first job I didn’t lie my way into in my whole life.” His head shook slightly. “I’m not sure I’ll ever understand why you went to all that effort, but…”
“Because you were worth it,” Jack interrupted. “You helped me solve cases we never could have cracked on our own, and you… I just hated seeing you in that place. I know I was the one who sort of got you in there to start with, but you didn’t belong in there. So it was worth all the months of work and all the favours I called in to get you out and into my custody.”
Ianto opened his mouth to protest but was quelled at the stern look in Jack’s eyes. It occurred to him that he shouldn’t really complain about the fact that he was now - for all intents and purposes, despite the official designation that he was in Jack’s care - a free man.
It was still taking some getting used to - it had only been a month so far, after all - and he knew it would be years before the threat of a return to prison stopped hanging so closely over his head. When he’d been released, there had been no specific timeframe on what could only be described as his parole. And no details given of what, exactly, would constitute a reason for locking him up again.
“You were wasted in there,” Jack said, interrupting Ianto’s thoughts. “We need you out here.” He smiled, shrugging slightly self-consciously. “I need you.”
Ianto blinked, swallowed hard, and smiled back.
Epilogue 'Title Card'