Belonging: Chapter Twenty Six
Author's Note: Okay, so... it's safe to say that during this chapter, the plot went for a coffee break (at King Ianto's Coffee Club, naturally). Luckily it made it back just before the end. Phew!
Warning: This is the most sexually explicit chapter of the entire series, and is definitely NSFW.
Oh, and thank you, anonymous person who nominated 'Belonging' in round 2 of the Children of Time Awards. I'm very flattered :)
Title: Belonging - Chapter Twenty Six
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Characters: Jack/Ianto/Ten
Rating: This Chapter - NC-17 for explicit sexual content and language
Spoilers: The Stolen Earth, Journey's End
Disclaimer: The BBC own it all, the little tinkers
Warnings: m/m slash | threesome | angst
Description:
Set immediately after the events of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
The Torchwood team members are struggling to get back to normal after recent shattering events, when the Doctor turns up in the Torchwood Hub in the middle of the night; alone, heartbroken, guilt-ridden, and needing somewhere to belong.
The mental, emotional energy the three of us shared burned through me so powerfully that I forgot where I was. I was jackiantodoctor and the three of us were one.
Chapter Twenty Six
The journey from the faux park in the TARDIS to the Doctor's bedroom consisted of three corridors, and involved two turnings and a short passageway. That's when the TARDIS hadn't decided to shuffle things around when you weren't looking.
In the end, however, the short journey took far longer than it should have. As soon as we turned the first corner, Ianto gave me a wild look, pushed me up against the wall and plundered my mouth with his. I dimly felt the roundel shapes in the wall digging uncomfortably into my back as Ianto pressed up hard against me, his hands pulling down my braces and grasping at the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it out from under the waistband and tugging it upwards eagerly.
By the time Ianto drew away, I was breathless. He lifted the t-shirt the rest of the way up and off me. I heard him laugh softly through a temporary barrier of white cotton as my head and arms became entangled in the garment as he pulled it away.
The weight pushing me against the wall increased as the Doctor leaned into Ianto's back, pressing him in-between us, as Ianto lost himself in kissing and licking at my exposed neck and chest.
The Doctor fumbled at Ianto's chest from behind, blindly unfastening the buttons of the smart burgundy shirt Ianto had worn for our date. I began to help, undoing the buttons at Ianto's collar while the Doctor started from the bottom and worked his way up. After a moment our fingers met in the middle, and then I felt the material of Ianto's shirt sliding out from under my fingers as the Doctor pulled the shirt backwards and off.
The Doctor leaned forward and kissed the back of Ianto's neck, almost cautiously, and then I saw a hint of amusement on the Time Lord's face as he wrapped his arms around Ianto's bared torso and bodily pulled him away from me. "Bed," he muttered insistently in Ianto's ear, as though scolding him.
Ianto behaved himself until halfway along the next corridor, when he shifted his focus on to the Doctor, his mouth going straight for the Doctor's lips, his hands reaching for the fastenings of his blue suit trousers.
After that, we unconsciously decided to make it part of a game, the three of us laughing together; kissing, fondling and undressing each other every few feet of our journey until we reached our destination. We left a trail, made up of parts of each other's outfits, along the corridors as we went.
By the time I pushed open the door of the Doctor's bedroom, I was completely naked, Ianto was down to his boxer shorts, and the Doctor was wearing only his unfastened white shirt and, rather incongruously, his tie, although it was fastened so loosely around his neck it was almost falling off.
The candles in the bedroom were dimmed enough to create just the right amount of sensual ambiance, the scent of perfume was subtle but stirring. I watched Ianto as he looked around the room, a faint smile on his face.
"Like it?" I asked softly. Ianto looked at me and nodded, his eyes dark with desire. Any trace of his previous nervousness was gone now, I think. And of course, the Doctor and I were perfectly at ease with each other in this room.
The Doctor stood in the doorway behind Ianto, looking at us both, his eyes glittering in the ersatz candlelight.
I took a step forward, to Ianto's left, and reached out for the Doctor's tie. I unfastened it completely, and then tugged on one end until it slipped all the way round the Doctor's neck and off.
With a small smile, I stepped back in front of Ianto and gently placed the tie flat across his eyes, pulling both ends taut at the back and making a loose preliminary knot. The Doctor stepped forward to help me, tugging at the tie and ensuring it wasn't too tight, but that it was serving its purpose as an impromptu blindfold.
Ianto made a sound of protestation at first, but I leaned in close to his ear, as the Doctor finished securing it at the back Ianto's head.
"I want you to feel us both, inside and outside. This way, there's less distraction, so you can focus," I said coaxingly. He let out a slow breath.
I kissed the side of his neck softly. "You know you like it, baby..." He must have heard the smirk in my voice, because he smiled a little back. After a moment, he nodded.
"You can take it off, any time you like," I promised quietly, as I stepped away from him. I climbed onto the bed and sat upright with my back against the headboard. I spread my thighs, noting how the Doctor stared at my aroused nakedness with a look of hunger in his eyes.
"Ianto…come here, angel," I said. My voice rang out loudly in the stillness of the room, and Ianto blindly followed its direction, climbing onto the bed, a little unsteadily, towards me. I took a hold of his body as he neared and turned him round, pulling and manoeuvring until he was sitting between my legs, with his back to me. After a few moments of shuffling I had him half-sitting, half-recumbent in front of me, his body comfortably supported against mine, and his head nestled in the crook of my neck and shoulder.
My erection brushed against the slippery silk of his boxers, nestling deliciously in the soft cleft of his buttocks. I felt him wriggle back against me mischievously, making me gasp into his ear.
I nuzzled at the side of his face and ear as I arranged him against me, his knees bent and legs spread out between mine, his feet resting flat on the mattress. I hooked my own feet gently over his ankles, locking his legs in place. I took his arms and tugged them upwards and over, bending them backwards at the elbows as though to put his hands behind his head, except I kept pulling them further backwards until his fingers locked behind my own head, instead. I felt his fingers entwine in my hair. My arms emerged from underneath his, his torso completely bared to my touch.
I ran my fingers over the downy hair on his chest and lightly upwards along the sensitive undersides of his exposed inner arms. I nuzzled against his hair, feeling him shudder against me.
"Cariad..." he murmured, close to my ear. Ianto's special Welsh pet name for me, reserved only for our most intimate moments. I squeezed him tightly against me.
Then I looked at the Doctor. Our psychic energy had been largely pushed aside up until now, we'd focussed so much on undressing each other, excited at being able to share in each other's nakedness on the journey to this room, but now I concentrated on it, spreading it out as equally as I could between the Doctor and Ianto.
I wondered briefly whether I'd be able to send a thought to one of them individually, or whether they would both hear it. It didn't matter, anyway. We were all one, now.
I saw the Doctor look Ianto up and down, as though appraising him. Ianto was naked except for red silk boxer shorts and the tie covering his eyes. He was reclined against me like a delicacy on a platter, all four of his limbs splayed invitingly.
Ianto looked exposed and vulnerable, and I saw the Doctor hesitate for a second. I know he would never knowingly take part in anything that had Ianto at a disadvantage, but he had to know that Ianto was completely acquiescent to being in such a position. Ianto trusted us both completely, I knew that.
Ianto and I had played light-hearted games like this before, and I knew Ianto was excited by being submissive now and then, when the mood took him. There was no balance of power in it; I think he just enjoyed the feeling of being out of control occasionally, when in all other aspects of our lives we bore so much responsibility.
That was okay. Sometimes, we all need taking care of. The Doctor had shown me that, too.
I ran my hands along the undersides of Ianto's bare arms again, a little harder this time, rubbing the palms of my hands firmly along his flesh, feeling the tautened muscles beneath. I concentrated and pushed a fizz of mental energy into his loins, and Ianto shuddered and rubbed the side of his face against me, moaning softly.
I stared at the Doctor, pressed an explicit thought into his head. I'm not sure whether Ianto caught the gist of it or not, but the Doctor obviously received the message loud and clear.
He climbed onto the bed, carelessly shedding his shirt as he went. He crawled up to us both, pressed his naked chest against Ianto's and wrapped his arms around us, trying to encompass both of us in a single embrace. Then the Doctor leaned up and kissed me deeply over Ianto's shoulder. Ianto heard the sound of it; I saw him out of the corner of my eye as he turned his head towards us, his lips parting hungrily.
The Doctor moved his mouth from mine to Ianto's, tasting us both one after the other. Then he pulled away and looked at me, his left hand trailing abstract patterns over Ianto's shoulder, his right stroking at my face.
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" I murmured, rubbing my chin against the side of Ianto's head. The Doctor nodded, wide-eyed.
"Do you want him?" I said. Ianto's fingers grabbed at the hair at the back of my head, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The Doctor nodded again. I don't think he dared speak.
I pressed the words into the Doctor's head.
then taste him
The Doctor swallowed audibly, and then bent his head and ran a trail of soft kisses down the side of Ianto's neck, the side furthest from me. I pressed my lips to the other side of Ianto's neck, kissing and nibbling softly, my eyes fixed firmly on the Doctor, and what he was doing to our Ianto.
From my position, I couldn't reach down much further than Ianto's hips, but I ran gentle fingers along his sides, raking my fingernails lightly over his ribs, pinching his nipples between thumb and forefinger in the way I know he likes. I occasionally ran an encouraging hand over the Doctor's shoulder or hair whenever I could reach him, as he slowly moved down Ianto's body.
Our shared psychic connection was burning through us now; whenever the Doctor's mouth found a particularly sensitive spot on Ianto's torso, I felt a spark of pleasure in the same spot on my own body. Ianto murmured; words of encouragement mixed in with incomprehensible sounds. Ianto is quite a talker during sex; I could tell the Doctor was half-surprised and half-excited by it.
Ianto must have been easily able to tell which one of us was touching him; my hands were heated, whereas the Doctor's hands are always much cooler, but my spontaneous idea of blindfolding Ianto had been good; I could tell that taking his sight away was exciting him, that his other senses were keener as a result. Every point of contact with his skin made him shudder and arch his body towards the touch.
I leaned eagerly into Ianto's shoulder, almost unconsciously sinking my teeth gently into the muscle there, sucking and marking him, as I watched the Doctor make his way further and further down his body until his tongue reached the waistband of Ianto's underwear. I felt myself twitching against him from behind as, after a second's hesitation, the Doctor moved his mouth over the desperate bulge trapped behind the red fabric, leaving a dark, wet stain over the silk. Ianto groaned so deeply I felt the vibration of it against my chest.
I felt Ianto lift himself up an inch or two as the Doctor slowly pulled down his boxers, hearing him moan as the silk ran over the sensitive, heated flesh of his erection on the way down.
When Ianto settled his bottom back down on to the bed I pressed my hardness against the hot nakedness of him, and wrapped my arms around his torso from behind, pressing into him desperately.
Our chests rose and fell rapidly as one as I leaned over Ianto's shoulder and watched the Doctor put his mouth back onto Ianto, running his tongue over his sensitive inner thighs and scrotum. Then the Doctor took Ianto fully into his mouth, and I felt my breath catching in my throat at the sight. Ianto bucked against me and cried out, and a sudden fizz of energy shot its way through my body, making me grip him even more tightly. I'd never even imagined Ianto kissing anyone else, and now I watched our Doctor pleasuring him, just the way I had taught him, and Ianto reacted like a musical instrument being played by a maestro.
Ianto started babbling, the way he does, and I couldn't tell whether he was directing his words to me, or to the Doctor. I was no longer cradling Ianto; we were clutching each other, giving ourselves something to anchor on to.
Before too long, I could tell Ianto was close to orgasm. I hadn't quite got the hang of it with the Doctor, but my highly evolved senses mean that I can literally smell when Ianto is close to spilling over the edge; there is subtle change in the notes of his pheromones. I find it incredibly stimulating.
Something else to love about humans, I guess.
I could tell the Doctor was hesitant about taking Ianto all the way, not wanting things to end too quickly, but I wasn't worried about that. I know Ianto. He's young and virile, and I knew that I could have him aroused and ready for more in a short period of time.
Ianto was whimpering, panting, squirming against me. I concentrated on our psychic link and pressed words into the Doctor's mind.
make him come
Ianto slipped his arms down from around the back of my neck and grasped handfuls of the Doctor's brown spiky hair, thrusting shallowly upwards into his mouth. I felt the movement of the Doctor pushing up against Ianto as he took him to the edge, and then beyond. Ianto's toes clenched against the silk sheets as he came hard, his legs shaking, his whole body shuddering, and my moans matched his I shared the echo of Ianto's orgasm. I knew the Doctor felt it too; he was gripping my left thigh hard enough to leave temporary white marks in my flesh.
Ianto fell back against me, limp and breathless. I pulled the tie away from his head and threw it over the side of the bed onto the floor. He slid down the bed a few inches through lack of strength, and I buried my face in the top of his head, inhaling the musky scent of his sweat-dampened hair. I could still feel the aftershocks of his climax, and I held him tightly against me, feeling the final tremors racking his body.
I watched as the Doctor shakily made his way up to Ianto and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. After a short while, I made soft keening noises, wanting the same. The Doctor relinquished Ianto's lips, gazed at me for a moment with lust-darkened eyes, and then leant up and kissed me. I could taste Ianto on his tongue; the sweet hint of his saliva, and the familiar tang of his fluids. I grabbed the Doctor almost roughly by the back of his head and kissed him back greedily, tried to steal every last trace of Ianto's flavours from his mouth.
I felt Ianto slide on to the bed to my side, and I brought my legs closer together to give him room to spoon up next to me. I felt him reach up and shakily probe with his fingers at the moist union of mine and the Doctor's lips, as I had done back in the park; tracing the tip of his index finger along our cheeks, feeling the movement of facial muscles beneath as the Doctor and I kissed.
I felt the Doctor shift as he moved to lie on top of me, and I wrapped my legs around his slender frame as the Doctor pushed his hardness against mine, rubbing hard, and all three of us let out a gasp of pleasure.
I felt soft, wet kisses work their way down from my shoulder to my pectorals and on to my stomach, and I instinctively curled one arm around Ianto's shoulders as he ran his mouth over me. Then I felt him sit up as the Doctor and I were necking, and realised that Ianto had moved his attentions on to the Doctor's body. I grasped at them both. With my hand on the back of Ianto's neck, I gently guided his mouth over to that sensitive spot between the Doctor's hip and ribcage and smiled against the Doctor's lips as he groaned and rubbed his body even more frantically against me.
Ianto slid his hands in between our stomachs, and the Doctor let himself be pushed back a few inches so that Ianto could reach in between us more easily. He took our erections in his warm hands, and stroked us both in tandem. I glanced down at Ianto, saw his flushed face gazing at us almost in awe, as though he couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream.
I was beginning to doubt that something this amazing could actually be happening myself. But it was. Oh God, it was...
Ianto knelt up and pushed further into the gap between us, his mouth licking at our flesh and his hands stroking us, pushing our erections together, working up such a delicious friction that I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. I kissed the Doctor, and then Ianto, and then used my hands to push them together so that they kissed each other.
It was all so much, so much all at once, and our shared psychic energy rushed round our bodies, making me dizzy but filling me with such heat and love and excitement that I never wanted it to end. "You're so amazing… love you both so much…" I could hear myself muttering.
The next time Ianto's mouth found mine, I pushed against him until he fell backwards on to the mattress, kept pushing until I could lean over him, hanging off the side, and pull open the top drawer of a little cabinet that had appeared next to the bed a week or so ago. I wasn't sure if the Doctor had put it there or whether the TARDIS had gotten a little sulky about our slightly sloppy housekeeping, and had made it just materialise when we weren't looking.
All I knew was that that was where we kept the lube these days. I pulled out the tube, sat up and looked at both of my beautiful lovers. As I had thought, Ianto was already aroused, breathless, wanting us all over again.
The Doctor kept looking at us both, as though he couldn’t decide which one of us he wanted more.
But I know what I wanted. I glanced at the Doctor… and then back at Ianto.
Without a word, the Doctor reclined back onto the bed and watched us, his tongue dancing against the roof of his slightly opened mouth.
Ianto lay alongside the Doctor with his back to me. I watched as he leaned over the Doctor and ran his tongue over his collarbone, leaving a new sheen of saliva over his chest. The Doctor tipped his head back against the crumpled pillow, breathing deeply through his nose.
I was lost in the wonderful sight for a few moments, but then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing, and ran my oiled fingers softly down the cleft of Ianto's buttocks, pushing my face against the warm flesh of his shoulder as I felt him shift his legs, letting me into his body with the same amount of trust and willingness that he always displayed. I nibbled his shoulder as I prepared him, I kissed him softly on the neck, and murmured into his ear, told him how beautiful he was, and how much I loved him. On the other side of him, The Doctor moved over onto his side, resting his head on his hand. He reached out and caressed Ianto's hip and thigh, then stretched his arm over Ianto's body and stroked at my face and hair.
After a while, Ianto murmured that he was ready, fell onto his back and looked up at me. I leaned over and pressed a kiss onto his stomach. Then I looked up at the Doctor. And then back at Ianto.
Yes. It seemed right, in the circumstances.
I sat up and leaned right over so I could whisper into the Doctor's ear.
"I want you to fuck him," is what I said to him. The words came out in a rush of hot breath, and the Doctor shivered.
And just as I said the words, the rush of electricity inside me burned. Inside all of us, I think. A sudden intense rush of desire, and it was impossible to tell which one of us it originated from. Perhaps it was mutual.
I knelt to the left side of Ianto, giving the Doctor room to cover Ianto's body with his own. I fussed around them, putting a cushion behind Ianto's head, running a soothing hand down his thigh and the Doctor's back. Ianto was nervous, he'd never been all the way with any other man but me, I knew that. But I was right there with him, and I wanted it to happen just as much as he did.
I gasped along with them as the Doctor entered Ianto. He slid one arm under Ianto's neck and shoulders, holding him close to his body as he settled into place between his thighs. I closed my eyes a moment, rested my forehead against the Doctor's shoulder, concentrated on the psychic energy passing through the three of us.
The look on Ianto's face was indescribable. Conflicting emotions of apprehension, excitement, lust and overwhelming awe were sketched onto his features. I wondered if that's how I'd looked the first time the Doctor and I had made love.
I placed my hand on the small of the Doctor's back, encouraged him to move against Ianto. As soon as he did, the static fizz of energy inside me began to build as I shared in their physical sensations.
I was more aroused than I can ever remember at that point, so much I could almost see stars whenever I closed my eyes. I stroked at their flesh, kissed the sides of their faces and bodies, caressed and pinched and tickled and licked at all their most sensitive places, desperate to give them both as much pleasure as possible.
Then the Doctor slowed down and stopped.
I suddenly got an explicit, clear image in my head. I looked down at my two beautiful men, wide-eyed. I couldn't tell whether it was an inadvertent ghosting of one of their thoughts, or an intentional, unspoken message to me.
I assumed it was the latter as I saw the Doctor bend his legs and lift his body off the mattress, kneeling over Ianto but without breaking contact, panting and looking at me with a dark expression in his eyes.
Ianto reached out and took my wrist, clutching tightly at it and making soft whimpering sounds.
Wordlessly, I paused to squeeze more jelly on to my fingers, reached out between the Doctor's thighs and pressed my fingers into him, not wanting it to take too long, but fearful of trying too much too soon. It was only a few moments before he started pushing back against me, telling me without words that he was ready. I withdrew my fingers, positioned myself behind the Doctor and holding on to them both in whatever way I could, I coupled myself with the Time Lord, pushing into him in one swift, hard motion. The movement made him slide an inch or two further into Ianto, and the three of us groaned.
The mental, emotional energy the three of us shared burned through me so powerfully that I forgot where I was. I was jackiantodoctor and the three of us were one.
Ianto reached up, brushed his hand over the Doctor's cheek and then stretched as far as he could until he made contact with my face. He ran the tips of his fingers over my lips, and then pushed a couple of digits into my mouth so that I could suckle them. We stayed like that for a moment, not moving, the three of us connected like a circuit.
Then we made love to each other, with our minds and our bodies.
We moved against each other until we settled into a slow, steady, delicious rhythm, and the pleasure coursing through my body was so unspeakably good that I can't put it into words. I could feel their energy, the sweet electric power of the both of them, ebbing and flowing and racing round my body.
The universe could have ended at the moment, and I wouldn't have noticed. I'm not entirely sure I would have cared.
The Doctor came first, and the pulsing of his body and mind around me and inside me made me come undone a few moments later. I think Ianto's second orgasm took all three of us by surprise. After that, all I can remember is that we came to rest in a quivering, chuckling, moaning heap, and eventually the Doctor and I slid limply either side of Ianto onto the bed.
I might have passed out for a moment or two, because all I know is that the next moment I was curled up against Ianto's left side with my head resting on his chest, and the Doctor was on his other side, snuggled up close to him with his lips pressed to Ianto's temple. The Doctor reached out his right hand across Ianto's stomach, and I stretched out my left, entwining my fingers with the Doctor's somewhere above Ianto's navel.
Ianto was already asleep. The Doctor and I gazed at him, and back at each other.
"Thank you," I said quietly, so as not to wake Ianto.
The Doctor smiled. "I think, whenever I've used the phrase 'my pleasure', I've never meant it quite as literally as I do now."
I chuckled softly in response. I looked back at Ianto. "He's amazing, isn't he?" I murmured, almost to myself.
The Doctor nodded, and smiled. "He's marvellous."
I swallowed hard. "And you were right... about what you said before. I was taking him for granted." I rubbed my cheek against the warmth of Ianto's chest softly. "But I won't from now on. I swear."
The Doctor squeezed my fingers. "You should make the most of him. Treasure him, Jack."
I nodded and smiled weakly, not wanting to show the pang of sadness I suddenly felt. I knew the Doctor would be gone soon. I wanted to ask him if that was true, but I didn't want to hear the answer, in case it was.
"I wish we could always have this," I said softly. "Me and Ianto. I wish we could keep the psychic connection when..." I swallowed. "…When you're not here."
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, Jack... you don't need me. You and Ianto... you've had a special connection with each other all along. I can feel it. I can see it. It's always been there."
I smiled, and nodded. Somehow, I'd always known that. I blinked away sudden tears.
The Doctor reached out, ran his fingers lovingly down my face, then leaned over and kissed Ianto softly on the forehead.
The Time Lord let go of my hand and started to slide out of bed. I looked up at him questioningly. I didn't want him to leave us.
The Doctor smiled. "Thought I'd go and make us all a nice cup of tea."
I smiled back, and nodded.
"I'll see if I can find some biscuits, too…" he continued thoughtfully. "Ianto's blood sugar seems a little low."
I frowned. "How do you…?" Then I grinned. "Oh…"
The Doctor gave me a cheeky little smirk. "Then I thought, after a bit of refreshment, we'll be able to work up the energy for round two." I stared at him as he winked at me, and then left the room.
I shifted my gaze back to Ianto, and saw the corner of his mouth twitch. He's not as good at pretending to be asleep as I am.
***
We had another week together, in the end. Another week of me and the Doctor and Ianto, and we abandoned our dating schedule. Every night since then was spent together, all three of us, talking, laughing, loving and sharing. It was the most wonderful week of my life, I think.
Then, one cold December evening, Ianto and I walked into the TARDIS, laughing about some funny incident that had happened during a field mission earlier that day.
We walked up the ramp, and saw the Doctor standing there, staring down at the console. He had a chamois leather in his hand and was dusting unenthusiastically at the buttons and levers on the console.
I stopped talking and stared at the Doctor. So did Ianto. We both knew.
"All done," said the Doctor softly.
I nodded slowly. "So... you'll be going, then."
"Yeah."
I glanced at Ianto. He had that nonchalant facial expression on his face, the one he wore when he was trying hard not to look upset. He was never very good at it.
I took a deep breath. "Not... right now, though. Tomorrow... right?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I was just waiting for you two to turn up, really. Been here long enough. Onwards and upwards."
I swallowed. I wanted to say something encouraging and cheerful, but no words would emerge.
The Doctor walked towards the two of us, his hands in his pockets.
"It's been... wonderful. Amazing. Brilliant." He flashed me a small impersonation of his usual beaming grin.
"Yeah. I never wanted it to end," I said softly. Ianto was nodding.
The Doctor took a deep breath, let his mask slide. He suddenly looked terrified. "I'm scared, Jack. But if I don't go now..."
I nodded. "I know. You don't have to be scared. This is what you do. What you've always done."
The Doctor gave me a frightened little smile. "Back to the old life. Well, sort of. After everything... I don't know how I'll cope on my own. Not at first, anyway."
"You'll be fine," I said. I felt like a mother bird about to shove one of her babies off the end of a branch, hoping it would just… fly.
I felt Ianto's hand brushing mine, and I took it, squeezing his fingers comfortingly.
The Doctor nodded. "It's just... y'know. First time out... and all that. Still a bit..." he shrugged.
There was an awkward pause. I was torn between encouraging him, and telling him not to go.
But then the Doctor smiled. A genuine smile; wide, bright, and just a little anxious. "So I was thinking..." he stretched out his long arms, put one around Ianto's shoulders, the other around mine. Then he squeezed us closer to him.
"I've got a little proposition for you both."
To be continued
<< Chapter One
<< Chapter Two
<< Chapter Three
<< Chapter Four
<< Chapter Five
<< Chapter Six
<< Chapter Seven
<< Chapter Eight
<< Chapter Nine
<< Chapter Ten
<< Chapter Eleven
<< Chapter Twelve
<< Chapter Thirteen
<< Chapter Fourteen
<< Chapter Fifteen
<< Chapter Sixteen
<< Chapter Seventeen
<< Chapter Eighteen
<< Chapter Nineteen
<< Chapter Twenty
<< Chapter Twenty One
<< Chapter Twenty Two
<< Chapter Twenty Three
<< Chapter Twenty Four
<< Chapter Twenty Five
>> Chapter Twenty Seven
>> Chapter Twenty Eight
Warning: This is the most sexually explicit chapter of the entire series, and is definitely NSFW.
Oh, and thank you, anonymous person who nominated 'Belonging' in round 2 of the Children of Time Awards. I'm very flattered :)
Title: Belonging - Chapter Twenty Six
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Characters: Jack/Ianto/Ten
Rating: This Chapter - NC-17 for explicit sexual content and language
Spoilers: The Stolen Earth, Journey's End
Disclaimer: The BBC own it all, the little tinkers
Warnings: m/m slash | threesome | angst
Description:
Set immediately after the events of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End.
The Torchwood team members are struggling to get back to normal after recent shattering events, when the Doctor turns up in the Torchwood Hub in the middle of the night; alone, heartbroken, guilt-ridden, and needing somewhere to belong.
The mental, emotional energy the three of us shared burned through me so powerfully that I forgot where I was. I was jackiantodoctor and the three of us were one.
Chapter Twenty Six
The journey from the faux park in the TARDIS to the Doctor's bedroom consisted of three corridors, and involved two turnings and a short passageway. That's when the TARDIS hadn't decided to shuffle things around when you weren't looking.
In the end, however, the short journey took far longer than it should have. As soon as we turned the first corner, Ianto gave me a wild look, pushed me up against the wall and plundered my mouth with his. I dimly felt the roundel shapes in the wall digging uncomfortably into my back as Ianto pressed up hard against me, his hands pulling down my braces and grasping at the hem of my t-shirt, pulling it out from under the waistband and tugging it upwards eagerly.
By the time Ianto drew away, I was breathless. He lifted the t-shirt the rest of the way up and off me. I heard him laugh softly through a temporary barrier of white cotton as my head and arms became entangled in the garment as he pulled it away.
The weight pushing me against the wall increased as the Doctor leaned into Ianto's back, pressing him in-between us, as Ianto lost himself in kissing and licking at my exposed neck and chest.
The Doctor fumbled at Ianto's chest from behind, blindly unfastening the buttons of the smart burgundy shirt Ianto had worn for our date. I began to help, undoing the buttons at Ianto's collar while the Doctor started from the bottom and worked his way up. After a moment our fingers met in the middle, and then I felt the material of Ianto's shirt sliding out from under my fingers as the Doctor pulled the shirt backwards and off.
The Doctor leaned forward and kissed the back of Ianto's neck, almost cautiously, and then I saw a hint of amusement on the Time Lord's face as he wrapped his arms around Ianto's bared torso and bodily pulled him away from me. "Bed," he muttered insistently in Ianto's ear, as though scolding him.
Ianto behaved himself until halfway along the next corridor, when he shifted his focus on to the Doctor, his mouth going straight for the Doctor's lips, his hands reaching for the fastenings of his blue suit trousers.
After that, we unconsciously decided to make it part of a game, the three of us laughing together; kissing, fondling and undressing each other every few feet of our journey until we reached our destination. We left a trail, made up of parts of each other's outfits, along the corridors as we went.
By the time I pushed open the door of the Doctor's bedroom, I was completely naked, Ianto was down to his boxer shorts, and the Doctor was wearing only his unfastened white shirt and, rather incongruously, his tie, although it was fastened so loosely around his neck it was almost falling off.
The candles in the bedroom were dimmed enough to create just the right amount of sensual ambiance, the scent of perfume was subtle but stirring. I watched Ianto as he looked around the room, a faint smile on his face.
"Like it?" I asked softly. Ianto looked at me and nodded, his eyes dark with desire. Any trace of his previous nervousness was gone now, I think. And of course, the Doctor and I were perfectly at ease with each other in this room.
The Doctor stood in the doorway behind Ianto, looking at us both, his eyes glittering in the ersatz candlelight.
I took a step forward, to Ianto's left, and reached out for the Doctor's tie. I unfastened it completely, and then tugged on one end until it slipped all the way round the Doctor's neck and off.
With a small smile, I stepped back in front of Ianto and gently placed the tie flat across his eyes, pulling both ends taut at the back and making a loose preliminary knot. The Doctor stepped forward to help me, tugging at the tie and ensuring it wasn't too tight, but that it was serving its purpose as an impromptu blindfold.
Ianto made a sound of protestation at first, but I leaned in close to his ear, as the Doctor finished securing it at the back Ianto's head.
"I want you to feel us both, inside and outside. This way, there's less distraction, so you can focus," I said coaxingly. He let out a slow breath.
I kissed the side of his neck softly. "You know you like it, baby..." He must have heard the smirk in my voice, because he smiled a little back. After a moment, he nodded.
"You can take it off, any time you like," I promised quietly, as I stepped away from him. I climbed onto the bed and sat upright with my back against the headboard. I spread my thighs, noting how the Doctor stared at my aroused nakedness with a look of hunger in his eyes.
"Ianto…come here, angel," I said. My voice rang out loudly in the stillness of the room, and Ianto blindly followed its direction, climbing onto the bed, a little unsteadily, towards me. I took a hold of his body as he neared and turned him round, pulling and manoeuvring until he was sitting between my legs, with his back to me. After a few moments of shuffling I had him half-sitting, half-recumbent in front of me, his body comfortably supported against mine, and his head nestled in the crook of my neck and shoulder.
My erection brushed against the slippery silk of his boxers, nestling deliciously in the soft cleft of his buttocks. I felt him wriggle back against me mischievously, making me gasp into his ear.
I nuzzled at the side of his face and ear as I arranged him against me, his knees bent and legs spread out between mine, his feet resting flat on the mattress. I hooked my own feet gently over his ankles, locking his legs in place. I took his arms and tugged them upwards and over, bending them backwards at the elbows as though to put his hands behind his head, except I kept pulling them further backwards until his fingers locked behind my own head, instead. I felt his fingers entwine in my hair. My arms emerged from underneath his, his torso completely bared to my touch.
I ran my fingers over the downy hair on his chest and lightly upwards along the sensitive undersides of his exposed inner arms. I nuzzled against his hair, feeling him shudder against me.
"Cariad..." he murmured, close to my ear. Ianto's special Welsh pet name for me, reserved only for our most intimate moments. I squeezed him tightly against me.
Then I looked at the Doctor. Our psychic energy had been largely pushed aside up until now, we'd focussed so much on undressing each other, excited at being able to share in each other's nakedness on the journey to this room, but now I concentrated on it, spreading it out as equally as I could between the Doctor and Ianto.
I wondered briefly whether I'd be able to send a thought to one of them individually, or whether they would both hear it. It didn't matter, anyway. We were all one, now.
I saw the Doctor look Ianto up and down, as though appraising him. Ianto was naked except for red silk boxer shorts and the tie covering his eyes. He was reclined against me like a delicacy on a platter, all four of his limbs splayed invitingly.
Ianto looked exposed and vulnerable, and I saw the Doctor hesitate for a second. I know he would never knowingly take part in anything that had Ianto at a disadvantage, but he had to know that Ianto was completely acquiescent to being in such a position. Ianto trusted us both completely, I knew that.
Ianto and I had played light-hearted games like this before, and I knew Ianto was excited by being submissive now and then, when the mood took him. There was no balance of power in it; I think he just enjoyed the feeling of being out of control occasionally, when in all other aspects of our lives we bore so much responsibility.
That was okay. Sometimes, we all need taking care of. The Doctor had shown me that, too.
I ran my hands along the undersides of Ianto's bare arms again, a little harder this time, rubbing the palms of my hands firmly along his flesh, feeling the tautened muscles beneath. I concentrated and pushed a fizz of mental energy into his loins, and Ianto shuddered and rubbed the side of his face against me, moaning softly.
I stared at the Doctor, pressed an explicit thought into his head. I'm not sure whether Ianto caught the gist of it or not, but the Doctor obviously received the message loud and clear.
He climbed onto the bed, carelessly shedding his shirt as he went. He crawled up to us both, pressed his naked chest against Ianto's and wrapped his arms around us, trying to encompass both of us in a single embrace. Then the Doctor leaned up and kissed me deeply over Ianto's shoulder. Ianto heard the sound of it; I saw him out of the corner of my eye as he turned his head towards us, his lips parting hungrily.
The Doctor moved his mouth from mine to Ianto's, tasting us both one after the other. Then he pulled away and looked at me, his left hand trailing abstract patterns over Ianto's shoulder, his right stroking at my face.
"He's beautiful, isn't he?" I murmured, rubbing my chin against the side of Ianto's head. The Doctor nodded, wide-eyed.
"Do you want him?" I said. Ianto's fingers grabbed at the hair at the back of my head, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The Doctor nodded again. I don't think he dared speak.
I pressed the words into the Doctor's head.
then taste him
The Doctor swallowed audibly, and then bent his head and ran a trail of soft kisses down the side of Ianto's neck, the side furthest from me. I pressed my lips to the other side of Ianto's neck, kissing and nibbling softly, my eyes fixed firmly on the Doctor, and what he was doing to our Ianto.
From my position, I couldn't reach down much further than Ianto's hips, but I ran gentle fingers along his sides, raking my fingernails lightly over his ribs, pinching his nipples between thumb and forefinger in the way I know he likes. I occasionally ran an encouraging hand over the Doctor's shoulder or hair whenever I could reach him, as he slowly moved down Ianto's body.
Our shared psychic connection was burning through us now; whenever the Doctor's mouth found a particularly sensitive spot on Ianto's torso, I felt a spark of pleasure in the same spot on my own body. Ianto murmured; words of encouragement mixed in with incomprehensible sounds. Ianto is quite a talker during sex; I could tell the Doctor was half-surprised and half-excited by it.
Ianto must have been easily able to tell which one of us was touching him; my hands were heated, whereas the Doctor's hands are always much cooler, but my spontaneous idea of blindfolding Ianto had been good; I could tell that taking his sight away was exciting him, that his other senses were keener as a result. Every point of contact with his skin made him shudder and arch his body towards the touch.
I leaned eagerly into Ianto's shoulder, almost unconsciously sinking my teeth gently into the muscle there, sucking and marking him, as I watched the Doctor make his way further and further down his body until his tongue reached the waistband of Ianto's underwear. I felt myself twitching against him from behind as, after a second's hesitation, the Doctor moved his mouth over the desperate bulge trapped behind the red fabric, leaving a dark, wet stain over the silk. Ianto groaned so deeply I felt the vibration of it against my chest.
I felt Ianto lift himself up an inch or two as the Doctor slowly pulled down his boxers, hearing him moan as the silk ran over the sensitive, heated flesh of his erection on the way down.
When Ianto settled his bottom back down on to the bed I pressed my hardness against the hot nakedness of him, and wrapped my arms around his torso from behind, pressing into him desperately.
Our chests rose and fell rapidly as one as I leaned over Ianto's shoulder and watched the Doctor put his mouth back onto Ianto, running his tongue over his sensitive inner thighs and scrotum. Then the Doctor took Ianto fully into his mouth, and I felt my breath catching in my throat at the sight. Ianto bucked against me and cried out, and a sudden fizz of energy shot its way through my body, making me grip him even more tightly. I'd never even imagined Ianto kissing anyone else, and now I watched our Doctor pleasuring him, just the way I had taught him, and Ianto reacted like a musical instrument being played by a maestro.
Ianto started babbling, the way he does, and I couldn't tell whether he was directing his words to me, or to the Doctor. I was no longer cradling Ianto; we were clutching each other, giving ourselves something to anchor on to.
Before too long, I could tell Ianto was close to orgasm. I hadn't quite got the hang of it with the Doctor, but my highly evolved senses mean that I can literally smell when Ianto is close to spilling over the edge; there is subtle change in the notes of his pheromones. I find it incredibly stimulating.
Something else to love about humans, I guess.
I could tell the Doctor was hesitant about taking Ianto all the way, not wanting things to end too quickly, but I wasn't worried about that. I know Ianto. He's young and virile, and I knew that I could have him aroused and ready for more in a short period of time.
Ianto was whimpering, panting, squirming against me. I concentrated on our psychic link and pressed words into the Doctor's mind.
make him come
Ianto slipped his arms down from around the back of my neck and grasped handfuls of the Doctor's brown spiky hair, thrusting shallowly upwards into his mouth. I felt the movement of the Doctor pushing up against Ianto as he took him to the edge, and then beyond. Ianto's toes clenched against the silk sheets as he came hard, his legs shaking, his whole body shuddering, and my moans matched his I shared the echo of Ianto's orgasm. I knew the Doctor felt it too; he was gripping my left thigh hard enough to leave temporary white marks in my flesh.
Ianto fell back against me, limp and breathless. I pulled the tie away from his head and threw it over the side of the bed onto the floor. He slid down the bed a few inches through lack of strength, and I buried my face in the top of his head, inhaling the musky scent of his sweat-dampened hair. I could still feel the aftershocks of his climax, and I held him tightly against me, feeling the final tremors racking his body.
I watched as the Doctor shakily made his way up to Ianto and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. After a short while, I made soft keening noises, wanting the same. The Doctor relinquished Ianto's lips, gazed at me for a moment with lust-darkened eyes, and then leant up and kissed me. I could taste Ianto on his tongue; the sweet hint of his saliva, and the familiar tang of his fluids. I grabbed the Doctor almost roughly by the back of his head and kissed him back greedily, tried to steal every last trace of Ianto's flavours from his mouth.
I felt Ianto slide on to the bed to my side, and I brought my legs closer together to give him room to spoon up next to me. I felt him reach up and shakily probe with his fingers at the moist union of mine and the Doctor's lips, as I had done back in the park; tracing the tip of his index finger along our cheeks, feeling the movement of facial muscles beneath as the Doctor and I kissed.
I felt the Doctor shift as he moved to lie on top of me, and I wrapped my legs around his slender frame as the Doctor pushed his hardness against mine, rubbing hard, and all three of us let out a gasp of pleasure.
I felt soft, wet kisses work their way down from my shoulder to my pectorals and on to my stomach, and I instinctively curled one arm around Ianto's shoulders as he ran his mouth over me. Then I felt him sit up as the Doctor and I were necking, and realised that Ianto had moved his attentions on to the Doctor's body. I grasped at them both. With my hand on the back of Ianto's neck, I gently guided his mouth over to that sensitive spot between the Doctor's hip and ribcage and smiled against the Doctor's lips as he groaned and rubbed his body even more frantically against me.
Ianto slid his hands in between our stomachs, and the Doctor let himself be pushed back a few inches so that Ianto could reach in between us more easily. He took our erections in his warm hands, and stroked us both in tandem. I glanced down at Ianto, saw his flushed face gazing at us almost in awe, as though he couldn't believe that this wasn't a dream.
I was beginning to doubt that something this amazing could actually be happening myself. But it was. Oh God, it was...
Ianto knelt up and pushed further into the gap between us, his mouth licking at our flesh and his hands stroking us, pushing our erections together, working up such a delicious friction that I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. I kissed the Doctor, and then Ianto, and then used my hands to push them together so that they kissed each other.
It was all so much, so much all at once, and our shared psychic energy rushed round our bodies, making me dizzy but filling me with such heat and love and excitement that I never wanted it to end. "You're so amazing… love you both so much…" I could hear myself muttering.
The next time Ianto's mouth found mine, I pushed against him until he fell backwards on to the mattress, kept pushing until I could lean over him, hanging off the side, and pull open the top drawer of a little cabinet that had appeared next to the bed a week or so ago. I wasn't sure if the Doctor had put it there or whether the TARDIS had gotten a little sulky about our slightly sloppy housekeeping, and had made it just materialise when we weren't looking.
All I knew was that that was where we kept the lube these days. I pulled out the tube, sat up and looked at both of my beautiful lovers. As I had thought, Ianto was already aroused, breathless, wanting us all over again.
The Doctor kept looking at us both, as though he couldn’t decide which one of us he wanted more.
But I know what I wanted. I glanced at the Doctor… and then back at Ianto.
Without a word, the Doctor reclined back onto the bed and watched us, his tongue dancing against the roof of his slightly opened mouth.
Ianto lay alongside the Doctor with his back to me. I watched as he leaned over the Doctor and ran his tongue over his collarbone, leaving a new sheen of saliva over his chest. The Doctor tipped his head back against the crumpled pillow, breathing deeply through his nose.
I was lost in the wonderful sight for a few moments, but then I remembered what I was supposed to be doing, and ran my oiled fingers softly down the cleft of Ianto's buttocks, pushing my face against the warm flesh of his shoulder as I felt him shift his legs, letting me into his body with the same amount of trust and willingness that he always displayed. I nibbled his shoulder as I prepared him, I kissed him softly on the neck, and murmured into his ear, told him how beautiful he was, and how much I loved him. On the other side of him, The Doctor moved over onto his side, resting his head on his hand. He reached out and caressed Ianto's hip and thigh, then stretched his arm over Ianto's body and stroked at my face and hair.
After a while, Ianto murmured that he was ready, fell onto his back and looked up at me. I leaned over and pressed a kiss onto his stomach. Then I looked up at the Doctor. And then back at Ianto.
Yes. It seemed right, in the circumstances.
I sat up and leaned right over so I could whisper into the Doctor's ear.
"I want you to fuck him," is what I said to him. The words came out in a rush of hot breath, and the Doctor shivered.
And just as I said the words, the rush of electricity inside me burned. Inside all of us, I think. A sudden intense rush of desire, and it was impossible to tell which one of us it originated from. Perhaps it was mutual.
I knelt to the left side of Ianto, giving the Doctor room to cover Ianto's body with his own. I fussed around them, putting a cushion behind Ianto's head, running a soothing hand down his thigh and the Doctor's back. Ianto was nervous, he'd never been all the way with any other man but me, I knew that. But I was right there with him, and I wanted it to happen just as much as he did.
I gasped along with them as the Doctor entered Ianto. He slid one arm under Ianto's neck and shoulders, holding him close to his body as he settled into place between his thighs. I closed my eyes a moment, rested my forehead against the Doctor's shoulder, concentrated on the psychic energy passing through the three of us.
The look on Ianto's face was indescribable. Conflicting emotions of apprehension, excitement, lust and overwhelming awe were sketched onto his features. I wondered if that's how I'd looked the first time the Doctor and I had made love.
I placed my hand on the small of the Doctor's back, encouraged him to move against Ianto. As soon as he did, the static fizz of energy inside me began to build as I shared in their physical sensations.
I was more aroused than I can ever remember at that point, so much I could almost see stars whenever I closed my eyes. I stroked at their flesh, kissed the sides of their faces and bodies, caressed and pinched and tickled and licked at all their most sensitive places, desperate to give them both as much pleasure as possible.
Then the Doctor slowed down and stopped.
I suddenly got an explicit, clear image in my head. I looked down at my two beautiful men, wide-eyed. I couldn't tell whether it was an inadvertent ghosting of one of their thoughts, or an intentional, unspoken message to me.
I assumed it was the latter as I saw the Doctor bend his legs and lift his body off the mattress, kneeling over Ianto but without breaking contact, panting and looking at me with a dark expression in his eyes.
Ianto reached out and took my wrist, clutching tightly at it and making soft whimpering sounds.
Wordlessly, I paused to squeeze more jelly on to my fingers, reached out between the Doctor's thighs and pressed my fingers into him, not wanting it to take too long, but fearful of trying too much too soon. It was only a few moments before he started pushing back against me, telling me without words that he was ready. I withdrew my fingers, positioned myself behind the Doctor and holding on to them both in whatever way I could, I coupled myself with the Time Lord, pushing into him in one swift, hard motion. The movement made him slide an inch or two further into Ianto, and the three of us groaned.
The mental, emotional energy the three of us shared burned through me so powerfully that I forgot where I was. I was jackiantodoctor and the three of us were one.
Ianto reached up, brushed his hand over the Doctor's cheek and then stretched as far as he could until he made contact with my face. He ran the tips of his fingers over my lips, and then pushed a couple of digits into my mouth so that I could suckle them. We stayed like that for a moment, not moving, the three of us connected like a circuit.
Then we made love to each other, with our minds and our bodies.
We moved against each other until we settled into a slow, steady, delicious rhythm, and the pleasure coursing through my body was so unspeakably good that I can't put it into words. I could feel their energy, the sweet electric power of the both of them, ebbing and flowing and racing round my body.
The universe could have ended at the moment, and I wouldn't have noticed. I'm not entirely sure I would have cared.
The Doctor came first, and the pulsing of his body and mind around me and inside me made me come undone a few moments later. I think Ianto's second orgasm took all three of us by surprise. After that, all I can remember is that we came to rest in a quivering, chuckling, moaning heap, and eventually the Doctor and I slid limply either side of Ianto onto the bed.
I might have passed out for a moment or two, because all I know is that the next moment I was curled up against Ianto's left side with my head resting on his chest, and the Doctor was on his other side, snuggled up close to him with his lips pressed to Ianto's temple. The Doctor reached out his right hand across Ianto's stomach, and I stretched out my left, entwining my fingers with the Doctor's somewhere above Ianto's navel.
Ianto was already asleep. The Doctor and I gazed at him, and back at each other.
"Thank you," I said quietly, so as not to wake Ianto.
The Doctor smiled. "I think, whenever I've used the phrase 'my pleasure', I've never meant it quite as literally as I do now."
I chuckled softly in response. I looked back at Ianto. "He's amazing, isn't he?" I murmured, almost to myself.
The Doctor nodded, and smiled. "He's marvellous."
I swallowed hard. "And you were right... about what you said before. I was taking him for granted." I rubbed my cheek against the warmth of Ianto's chest softly. "But I won't from now on. I swear."
The Doctor squeezed my fingers. "You should make the most of him. Treasure him, Jack."
I nodded and smiled weakly, not wanting to show the pang of sadness I suddenly felt. I knew the Doctor would be gone soon. I wanted to ask him if that was true, but I didn't want to hear the answer, in case it was.
"I wish we could always have this," I said softly. "Me and Ianto. I wish we could keep the psychic connection when..." I swallowed. "…When you're not here."
The Doctor smiled. "Oh, Jack... you don't need me. You and Ianto... you've had a special connection with each other all along. I can feel it. I can see it. It's always been there."
I smiled, and nodded. Somehow, I'd always known that. I blinked away sudden tears.
The Doctor reached out, ran his fingers lovingly down my face, then leaned over and kissed Ianto softly on the forehead.
The Time Lord let go of my hand and started to slide out of bed. I looked up at him questioningly. I didn't want him to leave us.
The Doctor smiled. "Thought I'd go and make us all a nice cup of tea."
I smiled back, and nodded.
"I'll see if I can find some biscuits, too…" he continued thoughtfully. "Ianto's blood sugar seems a little low."
I frowned. "How do you…?" Then I grinned. "Oh…"
The Doctor gave me a cheeky little smirk. "Then I thought, after a bit of refreshment, we'll be able to work up the energy for round two." I stared at him as he winked at me, and then left the room.
I shifted my gaze back to Ianto, and saw the corner of his mouth twitch. He's not as good at pretending to be asleep as I am.
***
We had another week together, in the end. Another week of me and the Doctor and Ianto, and we abandoned our dating schedule. Every night since then was spent together, all three of us, talking, laughing, loving and sharing. It was the most wonderful week of my life, I think.
Then, one cold December evening, Ianto and I walked into the TARDIS, laughing about some funny incident that had happened during a field mission earlier that day.
We walked up the ramp, and saw the Doctor standing there, staring down at the console. He had a chamois leather in his hand and was dusting unenthusiastically at the buttons and levers on the console.
I stopped talking and stared at the Doctor. So did Ianto. We both knew.
"All done," said the Doctor softly.
I nodded slowly. "So... you'll be going, then."
"Yeah."
I glanced at Ianto. He had that nonchalant facial expression on his face, the one he wore when he was trying hard not to look upset. He was never very good at it.
I took a deep breath. "Not... right now, though. Tomorrow... right?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I was just waiting for you two to turn up, really. Been here long enough. Onwards and upwards."
I swallowed. I wanted to say something encouraging and cheerful, but no words would emerge.
The Doctor walked towards the two of us, his hands in his pockets.
"It's been... wonderful. Amazing. Brilliant." He flashed me a small impersonation of his usual beaming grin.
"Yeah. I never wanted it to end," I said softly. Ianto was nodding.
The Doctor took a deep breath, let his mask slide. He suddenly looked terrified. "I'm scared, Jack. But if I don't go now..."
I nodded. "I know. You don't have to be scared. This is what you do. What you've always done."
The Doctor gave me a frightened little smile. "Back to the old life. Well, sort of. After everything... I don't know how I'll cope on my own. Not at first, anyway."
"You'll be fine," I said. I felt like a mother bird about to shove one of her babies off the end of a branch, hoping it would just… fly.
I felt Ianto's hand brushing mine, and I took it, squeezing his fingers comfortingly.
The Doctor nodded. "It's just... y'know. First time out... and all that. Still a bit..." he shrugged.
There was an awkward pause. I was torn between encouraging him, and telling him not to go.
But then the Doctor smiled. A genuine smile; wide, bright, and just a little anxious. "So I was thinking..." he stretched out his long arms, put one around Ianto's shoulders, the other around mine. Then he squeezed us closer to him.
"I've got a little proposition for you both."
To be continued
<< Chapter One
<< Chapter Two
<< Chapter Three
<< Chapter Four
<< Chapter Five
<< Chapter Six
<< Chapter Seven
<< Chapter Eight
<< Chapter Nine
<< Chapter Ten
<< Chapter Eleven
<< Chapter Twelve
<< Chapter Thirteen
<< Chapter Fourteen
<< Chapter Fifteen
<< Chapter Sixteen
<< Chapter Seventeen
<< Chapter Eighteen
<< Chapter Nineteen
<< Chapter Twenty
<< Chapter Twenty One
<< Chapter Twenty Two
<< Chapter Twenty Three
<< Chapter Twenty Four
<< Chapter Twenty Five
>> Chapter Twenty Seven
>> Chapter Twenty Eight