Another Cup of Tea [Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Ten, Jack/Ten] (Hope)
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, onesided Jack/Ten, Ianto/Ten, Martha/Ten, Universe/Doctor
Challenge: Hope
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: DW series 4 finale, Torchwood series 2 finale, Torchwood series 3
Summary: Jack doesn't want Ianto to fall in love.
“He’s like poison.”
The voice is unexpected, cutting into his thoughts. It makes Ianto lift his head to see Jack standing in the doorway, looking through the window of the office at the figure sitting in front of the computer, and neither his tone nor the look of affection in his face go along with his choice of words.
“That’s not exactly a nice thing to say about a friend,” Ianto scolds mildly. Jack’s smile widens.
“It’s true though.” He comes in, sits in the spare chair, still looking out. Ianto follows his gaze, sees the back of the tall, thin man, a few metres away from them. Martha and Mickey are with him, staring over his shoulder. Occasionally the three of them exchange words, and while they can’t hear them through the glass their easy smiles assure the two men in the office that there is no risk of the world ending within the next five minutes.
Not anymore.
Ianto still can’t get used to the new members of the team in the places Toshiko and Owen used to fill. They are nice enough, fun to be around, but their presence feels wrong somehow.
He feels like accepting them as part of Torchwood would mean letting his friends go.
But he also knows that one day he will have to do exactly that.
“Look at them,” Jack muses. “They have other things to take care of right now. And the Doctor really doesn’t need anyone to keep looking over his shoulder while he’s working. Of course he likes having an audience to tell what he’s doing, knowing no one can understand what he’s talking about.”
Ianto doesn’t need to look at him to know there is an amused twinkle in his eyes. The fondness in his voice tells him enough.
Jack has more experience with letting go. And he’s met both Martha and Mickey before, doesn’t have to get used to new faces. Ianto has never gotten around to talk to Martha much during her first stay with the team, and Mickey was a complete stranger when he first showed up here. Now he knows them a little more but not as much as he could, because he’s never made the effort. Still he can tell there’s a change in their behaviour whenever the Doctor is around. They seem less professional, less hard. More like children, relaxed and happy. Even Mickey. Ianto wonders if the other man has any idea how much the hero-worship is radiating from his every gesture.
“You know, sometimes I feel like I’m getting careless,” Jack suddenly confesses. Ianto turns his head in surprise but his lover’s eyes are still firmly fixed on the skinny alien and his friends. “Ever since Martha has left him her phone. It feels like we can’t fuck up anymore. Even if things go wrong, even if something proves too much for Torchwood to handle we can still call the Doctor and he’ll fix it for us.”
“You have a lot of faith in that man,” Ianto observes. Jack snorts softly.
“He deserves it. Has saved this stupid planet often enough.”
“Maybe one day he won’t. We shouldn’t have to rely on him anyway. This is our work and we should do it as best we can.”
“Well spoken,” Jack agrees. “Except he’s saving Cardiff right now, when we couldn’t.”
There’s nothing Ianto can say in return, really. Jack has a very good point.
“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of backup when you need it,” he tells the Welshman with a smile.
He’s right. It’s not the fact that they need backup, it’s the Doctor himself that’s making Ianto feel uneasy. He doesn’t quite understand why, because he’s not looking forward to seeing him go again. He’s thought he would - this is the man his lover keeps fantasizing about. Jack doesn’t even have the decency to be embarrassed when he calls out the wrong name in bed.
Ianto hasn’t been particularly happy when Jack decided to call the alien for help, but when his weird box materialized in the hub he had found himself nervous instead of annoyed. This is someone who’s known Jack for a long time, and cares for him deeply. It was a bit like meeting the lover’s family. He found himself hoping he was approved of.
Also it was meeting the man who has saved the world countless times. In fact the first time Ianto has seen him, on the screen of their (Toshiko’s) computer, he was in the process of saving, as later they learned, all of reality. Being in his presence could only be humbling.
Or so Ianto has thought.
He isn’t sure what he’s expected, but this man is a legend, and surely he had expected something. He can’t even say he was disappointed when the doors opened and this skinny, utterly normal looking (if attractive) guy stepped out. More like surprised. The Doctor has greeted him and Gwen with childlike enthusiasm before hugging Martha and Mickey. To Ianto’s surprise his Captain put an end to the three-way cuddle without insisting on a place in it. From one second to the next the Doctor got to work, jumping through the hub in search of the computer and making Jack run after him like he so much tended to do. He started solving the problem before they were done explaining what the problem was and Jack laughed and looked like he was the biggest hero of Earth, simply by knowing this man and calling him for help. Ianto hasn’t felt jealousy then, and he doesn’t now, when Jack sits beside him and watches the Doctor with a love in his eyes that transcends all sexual attraction.
Outside the window the Doctor reaches for his cup of tea and tries to take a sip, only to realise that it’s empty. From were he’s sitting Ianto can’t see his face but Martha and Mickey laugh as he turns the cup upside down and peeks into it as if trying to find out where its contents has gone. He decides to bring him a new one.
There should be tea left in the pot.
Of course it has been Ianto’s job to care for their drinks. While he busied himself in the kitchen Jack came it, to inform him that the Doctor preferred tea over coffee, and Ianto was glad that he’s been spared the embarrassment of serving this man the wrong drink though he can’t explain why he would care. If anyone else had been told by the guy they were shagging to serve the man their lover wanted to shag they would have emptied the pot over their loins.
Though, watching the childlike behaviour of the Doctor, Ianto begins to understand why he doesn’t exactly feel threatened by him.
While the Doctor clearly likes Jack as a friend he just as clearly isn’t interested in him sexually - or in anyone else in this room. Jack knows and accepts that and keeps loving him from a distance.
Come to think of it there is nothing comforting about that…
But the Doctor has been delighted by Ianto’s tea and Ianto has felt proud as if he’d just done something incredibly heroic.
Behind him Jack chuckles.
“Don’t fall in love,” he tells him.
‘Like you?’ Ianto almost says. “What makes you think I’d do that?”
“Because he’s the Doctor.” It seems answer enough. Jack still adds: “It just happens. We’ve got no choice, really.” He smiles wistfully. “You were lost the moment he stepped into the room. Not your fault - there’s nothing you could do about it. He just has this reputation that makes him special, makes him have everyone’s attention. And you just want some of his attention in return, want his approval. You want to be special in his eyes, prove to him that his belief in humanity isn’t wasted.”
Jack is right, Ianto realises. That is the cause of the nervousness he’s feeling around the alien: He’s worried of doing something wrong.
Jack laughs softly. “Of course that goes only for those who already knew who he is. Those who have never heard of him before fall in love even faster - they don’t have to get over the initial shock because he’s nothing like they expected.”
Ianto has to admit that he is impressed by the Doctor, in an unfamiliar, distant way. He remembers his heart beating a little faster the moment Jack’s friend beamed at him over his tea. And he does feel more envy towards Martha and Mickey for being so close to him than he feels towards the Doctor for holding Jack’s heart firmly in his long, slender hands. But he wouldn’t call it love, not even fancy. The Doctor is just too unreal, like he doesn’t really belong to this world. Untouchable.
There is no risk of him running off with that man, and he nearly tells Jack so. But strangely he feels no need to defend himself against Jack’s observation.
So he gives his lover a little smirk and asks:
“Jealous?”
Jack shakes his head. He is still smiling but Ianto can see he means what he says when he answers:
“Concerned. The Doctor is dangerous. He destroys those who love him.”
Ianto doesn’t know what to say and Jack doesn’t give him a chance to think of something. “He doesn’t meant to, of course,” he continues. “I don’t know if he even notices what he does to us. But he’s like a force of nature. He’s dragging us along and we try to follow, but no one can keep up with him forever. Eventually you are left behind, but you’re not the same anymore.”
“That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, though,” Ianto points out. “You once told me you don’t like the person you were before you met him.”
“That’s true,” Jack agrees. “But I like you the way you are. You don’t need changing.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to Ianto’s forehead.
“I don’t see how I would, anyway.”
“You’d find out. Being with the Doctor you are willing to do anything for him. Throw away your life in an act of heroism you didn’t know you were capable of just to prove your worth to him. And even if you managed to survive him you can never go back to your old life. To the real world.” His eyes are suddenly distant. “It’s like a dream - a part of you constantly thinks this can’t be true, even if like me you were used to time travel and all that stuff. Just the presence of the Doctor makes it special, and you begin to see the world like he does. But you can never fully understand it. Never be part of it. You can never reach him.
That’s the dilemma: eventually you have to leave that life, but everything else just pales in comparison. He ruins it for you, this mundane life he wishes for so much. Just look at Martha.” He gestures out of the window where Martha Jones is leaning on the Doctor’s shoulder while watching columns of numbers that can’t mean anything to her run over the screen. “She’s fighting aliens, sitting on top of the rift, engaged. She has her family, her beloved boyfriend, and that extraordinary life others can only dream of. But if the Doctor told her he needed her, if there was only one tiny chance that he might one day love her the way she believes she doesn’t love him anymore she’d turn her back on all this and never return.”
“But you did return,” Ianto says. “For us. You turned your back on him.”
“For you.” Jack nods. “And that’s why I can never go with him again, not even for one single trip. Because if I did I could never come back.”
He speaks with an honesty Ianto could have done without. He understands what the Captain is telling him though: He has chosen them, and is choosing them again every day.
Even if it’s hard.
“Eventually you realise that he can’t give you what you want from him. You can’t stay with him, but you can’t get over him either. And it’s leaving you broken.” Jack sighs. “So don’t fall for him any more than you already have. It’s impossible not to love him, I know. It’s okay to love him, but don’t give him your heart. You wouldn’t get it back in one piece.”
Ianto is silent for a long time, not knowing why Jack’s speech has left him feeling lost and unhappy. Eventually he says:
“He must be terribly lonely if he breaks everyone who loves him.”
Jack’s smile is sad this time. “He is. That’s the price he has to pay. It’s unfair, of course; it’s really not his fault the entire universe is in love with him. Even his enemies: if they fight him and live they’re left feeling unfulfilled by everyone else they battle. And so they keep coming back to him.”
Ianto thinks there’s something wrong with the fact that only the Doctor’s enemies come back while his friends always leave him. The man he sees though the window doesn’t look lonely, but Ianto imagines him leaving his friends behind to return to his empty phone box, facing his enemies on his own, and wants him to stay.
“You know,” Jack muses, “every time I leave him there’s someone else with him, and that makes it easier to go. The next time I hear from him he’s alone again. Looks like the circle can’t be broken.”
“Look at him,” Ianto tries to lighted the mood. “He’s fine. He’s strong enough to take it.”
“But that’s the problem,” Jack snorts. “We all love him, but he’s too damn strong to keep us - everyone of us has someone who needs us more then he does.”
“So basically Torchwood is the reason for him to be on his own, because if not for us you’d stay with him,” Ianto observes. He doesn’t know if he feels anger or guilt, only that it’s not a very nice feeling. Jack takes his time before he answers.
“We call ourselves his friends but we only see each other if there’s danger to be faced. He isn’t one for social visits because he wants a life like this and can’t have it. And we love him, but not enough to stay. So our contact is generally reduced to times of crisis. Like now. Because he might not know how to handle a friendship but if there’s an evil to be fought, a life to be saved he’s the most reliable man there is. He’s the hope of this world, this entire cosmos. When there seems to be no hope left we call for him. We know of the dangers that surround us but we go on without fear because we know he’ll save us. I just don’t know if he is hoping for anything, anymore. He’s learned too well that everyone will leave him, in the end. If they don’t he makes them. How can you enjoy anyone’s friendship if you know your days are numbered?”
The Doctor seems to have finished his work. He turns in his seat and grins at them, giving them the thumbs-up. Gwen comes into view and Mickey places his arm around the alien’s shoulders and obviously tells her that his friend has just saved the world once again.
Or at least the city.
“I sometimes think he’s living only to help us now,” Jack confesses. “That he’s forgotten how to live for himself.”
The sight of the Doctor gesticulating with his empty cup reminds Ianto that he wanted to refill it. He wishes Jack had never come to talk to him, for he can’t leave the office now - not without going to the Doctor and asking him to stay here with them, at least for a while. And he knows the man would never agree but still fears that he might. Because watching this brilliant and wonderful and lonely man laughing with the rest of the team he doesn’t know how long he could keep himself from falling in love with him, completely.
Not the kind of love that would lead to sex. The kind of love that would make him throw his life away for a smile.
The day is saved. If Ianto wants to gift him with another cup of tea he’ll have to do it now. Already the Doctor is rising from the chair, stretching his long limbs. The men behind the window catch a glimpse of his grin as Gwen hugs him.
“He looks happy,” Ianto says. Jack’s smile is gone.
“Yeah,” he agrees grimly. “And doesn’t that break your heart?”
It does.
July 17, 2008
Challenge: Hope
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Spoilers: DW series 4 finale, Torchwood series 2 finale, Torchwood series 3
Summary: Jack doesn't want Ianto to fall in love.
“He’s like poison.”
The voice is unexpected, cutting into his thoughts. It makes Ianto lift his head to see Jack standing in the doorway, looking through the window of the office at the figure sitting in front of the computer, and neither his tone nor the look of affection in his face go along with his choice of words.
“That’s not exactly a nice thing to say about a friend,” Ianto scolds mildly. Jack’s smile widens.
“It’s true though.” He comes in, sits in the spare chair, still looking out. Ianto follows his gaze, sees the back of the tall, thin man, a few metres away from them. Martha and Mickey are with him, staring over his shoulder. Occasionally the three of them exchange words, and while they can’t hear them through the glass their easy smiles assure the two men in the office that there is no risk of the world ending within the next five minutes.
Not anymore.
Ianto still can’t get used to the new members of the team in the places Toshiko and Owen used to fill. They are nice enough, fun to be around, but their presence feels wrong somehow.
He feels like accepting them as part of Torchwood would mean letting his friends go.
But he also knows that one day he will have to do exactly that.
“Look at them,” Jack muses. “They have other things to take care of right now. And the Doctor really doesn’t need anyone to keep looking over his shoulder while he’s working. Of course he likes having an audience to tell what he’s doing, knowing no one can understand what he’s talking about.”
Ianto doesn’t need to look at him to know there is an amused twinkle in his eyes. The fondness in his voice tells him enough.
Jack has more experience with letting go. And he’s met both Martha and Mickey before, doesn’t have to get used to new faces. Ianto has never gotten around to talk to Martha much during her first stay with the team, and Mickey was a complete stranger when he first showed up here. Now he knows them a little more but not as much as he could, because he’s never made the effort. Still he can tell there’s a change in their behaviour whenever the Doctor is around. They seem less professional, less hard. More like children, relaxed and happy. Even Mickey. Ianto wonders if the other man has any idea how much the hero-worship is radiating from his every gesture.
“You know, sometimes I feel like I’m getting careless,” Jack suddenly confesses. Ianto turns his head in surprise but his lover’s eyes are still firmly fixed on the skinny alien and his friends. “Ever since Martha has left him her phone. It feels like we can’t fuck up anymore. Even if things go wrong, even if something proves too much for Torchwood to handle we can still call the Doctor and he’ll fix it for us.”
“You have a lot of faith in that man,” Ianto observes. Jack snorts softly.
“He deserves it. Has saved this stupid planet often enough.”
“Maybe one day he won’t. We shouldn’t have to rely on him anyway. This is our work and we should do it as best we can.”
“Well spoken,” Jack agrees. “Except he’s saving Cardiff right now, when we couldn’t.”
There’s nothing Ianto can say in return, really. Jack has a very good point.
“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of backup when you need it,” he tells the Welshman with a smile.
He’s right. It’s not the fact that they need backup, it’s the Doctor himself that’s making Ianto feel uneasy. He doesn’t quite understand why, because he’s not looking forward to seeing him go again. He’s thought he would - this is the man his lover keeps fantasizing about. Jack doesn’t even have the decency to be embarrassed when he calls out the wrong name in bed.
Ianto hasn’t been particularly happy when Jack decided to call the alien for help, but when his weird box materialized in the hub he had found himself nervous instead of annoyed. This is someone who’s known Jack for a long time, and cares for him deeply. It was a bit like meeting the lover’s family. He found himself hoping he was approved of.
Also it was meeting the man who has saved the world countless times. In fact the first time Ianto has seen him, on the screen of their (Toshiko’s) computer, he was in the process of saving, as later they learned, all of reality. Being in his presence could only be humbling.
Or so Ianto has thought.
He isn’t sure what he’s expected, but this man is a legend, and surely he had expected something. He can’t even say he was disappointed when the doors opened and this skinny, utterly normal looking (if attractive) guy stepped out. More like surprised. The Doctor has greeted him and Gwen with childlike enthusiasm before hugging Martha and Mickey. To Ianto’s surprise his Captain put an end to the three-way cuddle without insisting on a place in it. From one second to the next the Doctor got to work, jumping through the hub in search of the computer and making Jack run after him like he so much tended to do. He started solving the problem before they were done explaining what the problem was and Jack laughed and looked like he was the biggest hero of Earth, simply by knowing this man and calling him for help. Ianto hasn’t felt jealousy then, and he doesn’t now, when Jack sits beside him and watches the Doctor with a love in his eyes that transcends all sexual attraction.
Outside the window the Doctor reaches for his cup of tea and tries to take a sip, only to realise that it’s empty. From were he’s sitting Ianto can’t see his face but Martha and Mickey laugh as he turns the cup upside down and peeks into it as if trying to find out where its contents has gone. He decides to bring him a new one.
There should be tea left in the pot.
Of course it has been Ianto’s job to care for their drinks. While he busied himself in the kitchen Jack came it, to inform him that the Doctor preferred tea over coffee, and Ianto was glad that he’s been spared the embarrassment of serving this man the wrong drink though he can’t explain why he would care. If anyone else had been told by the guy they were shagging to serve the man their lover wanted to shag they would have emptied the pot over their loins.
Though, watching the childlike behaviour of the Doctor, Ianto begins to understand why he doesn’t exactly feel threatened by him.
While the Doctor clearly likes Jack as a friend he just as clearly isn’t interested in him sexually - or in anyone else in this room. Jack knows and accepts that and keeps loving him from a distance.
Come to think of it there is nothing comforting about that…
But the Doctor has been delighted by Ianto’s tea and Ianto has felt proud as if he’d just done something incredibly heroic.
Behind him Jack chuckles.
“Don’t fall in love,” he tells him.
‘Like you?’ Ianto almost says. “What makes you think I’d do that?”
“Because he’s the Doctor.” It seems answer enough. Jack still adds: “It just happens. We’ve got no choice, really.” He smiles wistfully. “You were lost the moment he stepped into the room. Not your fault - there’s nothing you could do about it. He just has this reputation that makes him special, makes him have everyone’s attention. And you just want some of his attention in return, want his approval. You want to be special in his eyes, prove to him that his belief in humanity isn’t wasted.”
Jack is right, Ianto realises. That is the cause of the nervousness he’s feeling around the alien: He’s worried of doing something wrong.
Jack laughs softly. “Of course that goes only for those who already knew who he is. Those who have never heard of him before fall in love even faster - they don’t have to get over the initial shock because he’s nothing like they expected.”
Ianto has to admit that he is impressed by the Doctor, in an unfamiliar, distant way. He remembers his heart beating a little faster the moment Jack’s friend beamed at him over his tea. And he does feel more envy towards Martha and Mickey for being so close to him than he feels towards the Doctor for holding Jack’s heart firmly in his long, slender hands. But he wouldn’t call it love, not even fancy. The Doctor is just too unreal, like he doesn’t really belong to this world. Untouchable.
There is no risk of him running off with that man, and he nearly tells Jack so. But strangely he feels no need to defend himself against Jack’s observation.
So he gives his lover a little smirk and asks:
“Jealous?”
Jack shakes his head. He is still smiling but Ianto can see he means what he says when he answers:
“Concerned. The Doctor is dangerous. He destroys those who love him.”
Ianto doesn’t know what to say and Jack doesn’t give him a chance to think of something. “He doesn’t meant to, of course,” he continues. “I don’t know if he even notices what he does to us. But he’s like a force of nature. He’s dragging us along and we try to follow, but no one can keep up with him forever. Eventually you are left behind, but you’re not the same anymore.”
“That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, though,” Ianto points out. “You once told me you don’t like the person you were before you met him.”
“That’s true,” Jack agrees. “But I like you the way you are. You don’t need changing.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to Ianto’s forehead.
“I don’t see how I would, anyway.”
“You’d find out. Being with the Doctor you are willing to do anything for him. Throw away your life in an act of heroism you didn’t know you were capable of just to prove your worth to him. And even if you managed to survive him you can never go back to your old life. To the real world.” His eyes are suddenly distant. “It’s like a dream - a part of you constantly thinks this can’t be true, even if like me you were used to time travel and all that stuff. Just the presence of the Doctor makes it special, and you begin to see the world like he does. But you can never fully understand it. Never be part of it. You can never reach him.
That’s the dilemma: eventually you have to leave that life, but everything else just pales in comparison. He ruins it for you, this mundane life he wishes for so much. Just look at Martha.” He gestures out of the window where Martha Jones is leaning on the Doctor’s shoulder while watching columns of numbers that can’t mean anything to her run over the screen. “She’s fighting aliens, sitting on top of the rift, engaged. She has her family, her beloved boyfriend, and that extraordinary life others can only dream of. But if the Doctor told her he needed her, if there was only one tiny chance that he might one day love her the way she believes she doesn’t love him anymore she’d turn her back on all this and never return.”
“But you did return,” Ianto says. “For us. You turned your back on him.”
“For you.” Jack nods. “And that’s why I can never go with him again, not even for one single trip. Because if I did I could never come back.”
He speaks with an honesty Ianto could have done without. He understands what the Captain is telling him though: He has chosen them, and is choosing them again every day.
Even if it’s hard.
“Eventually you realise that he can’t give you what you want from him. You can’t stay with him, but you can’t get over him either. And it’s leaving you broken.” Jack sighs. “So don’t fall for him any more than you already have. It’s impossible not to love him, I know. It’s okay to love him, but don’t give him your heart. You wouldn’t get it back in one piece.”
Ianto is silent for a long time, not knowing why Jack’s speech has left him feeling lost and unhappy. Eventually he says:
“He must be terribly lonely if he breaks everyone who loves him.”
Jack’s smile is sad this time. “He is. That’s the price he has to pay. It’s unfair, of course; it’s really not his fault the entire universe is in love with him. Even his enemies: if they fight him and live they’re left feeling unfulfilled by everyone else they battle. And so they keep coming back to him.”
Ianto thinks there’s something wrong with the fact that only the Doctor’s enemies come back while his friends always leave him. The man he sees though the window doesn’t look lonely, but Ianto imagines him leaving his friends behind to return to his empty phone box, facing his enemies on his own, and wants him to stay.
“You know,” Jack muses, “every time I leave him there’s someone else with him, and that makes it easier to go. The next time I hear from him he’s alone again. Looks like the circle can’t be broken.”
“Look at him,” Ianto tries to lighted the mood. “He’s fine. He’s strong enough to take it.”
“But that’s the problem,” Jack snorts. “We all love him, but he’s too damn strong to keep us - everyone of us has someone who needs us more then he does.”
“So basically Torchwood is the reason for him to be on his own, because if not for us you’d stay with him,” Ianto observes. He doesn’t know if he feels anger or guilt, only that it’s not a very nice feeling. Jack takes his time before he answers.
“We call ourselves his friends but we only see each other if there’s danger to be faced. He isn’t one for social visits because he wants a life like this and can’t have it. And we love him, but not enough to stay. So our contact is generally reduced to times of crisis. Like now. Because he might not know how to handle a friendship but if there’s an evil to be fought, a life to be saved he’s the most reliable man there is. He’s the hope of this world, this entire cosmos. When there seems to be no hope left we call for him. We know of the dangers that surround us but we go on without fear because we know he’ll save us. I just don’t know if he is hoping for anything, anymore. He’s learned too well that everyone will leave him, in the end. If they don’t he makes them. How can you enjoy anyone’s friendship if you know your days are numbered?”
The Doctor seems to have finished his work. He turns in his seat and grins at them, giving them the thumbs-up. Gwen comes into view and Mickey places his arm around the alien’s shoulders and obviously tells her that his friend has just saved the world once again.
Or at least the city.
“I sometimes think he’s living only to help us now,” Jack confesses. “That he’s forgotten how to live for himself.”
The sight of the Doctor gesticulating with his empty cup reminds Ianto that he wanted to refill it. He wishes Jack had never come to talk to him, for he can’t leave the office now - not without going to the Doctor and asking him to stay here with them, at least for a while. And he knows the man would never agree but still fears that he might. Because watching this brilliant and wonderful and lonely man laughing with the rest of the team he doesn’t know how long he could keep himself from falling in love with him, completely.
Not the kind of love that would lead to sex. The kind of love that would make him throw his life away for a smile.
The day is saved. If Ianto wants to gift him with another cup of tea he’ll have to do it now. Already the Doctor is rising from the chair, stretching his long limbs. The men behind the window catch a glimpse of his grin as Gwen hugs him.
“He looks happy,” Ianto says. Jack’s smile is gone.
“Yeah,” he agrees grimly. “And doesn’t that break your heart?”
It does.
July 17, 2008