Fic: Forever After

[badly_knitted]

 


Title: Forever After
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, TARDIS.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Discovering his immortality had left Jack feeling like he was doomed to a life of eternal loneliness. They Ianto Jones came into his life.
Word Count: 1320
Written For: Prompt 117 – Happily Ever After at fandomweekly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
A/N: Set in my Through Time and Space ‘verse.
 


 
When he’d first come to the realisation that he was doomed to live forever, ageing so slowly it would barely be noticeable even to himself, the shock had numbed Jack to the depths of his being. Forever was such an unimaginably long time; how could anyone be expected to endure the passage of millions, maybe even billions of years without losing their sanity? It would be torture, century upon century of loneliness and isolation, because his immortality would inevitably set him apart from even the most long-lived people in the universe. He could expect to be shunned by most of them, if the Doctor’s attitude towards him was any indication.

 
A man who was incapable of staying dead didn’t have much to look forward to beyond that endless round of death and resurrection. While everyone else developed friendships, embarked on romantic relationships, perhaps raised families, and eventually grew old and died, he would just carry on, largely unchanged, but gradually withering away inside. It was hard to imagine a bleaker or more hopeless prospect.

 
Jack was still mostly human, despite having been born on another world, several thousand years in the future. He needed companionship as much as anyone, needed to interact with other people, to have friends, to love and to be loved in return. Being immortal just complicated such matters. It was necessary to hide the truth about himself from anyone outside of the team he worked with, simply because most people wouldn’t understand, and those that did would seek to exploit him, just as Torchwood had in the early days.
 

Still, he couldn’t have avoided people even if he’d wanted to. There were his Torchwood colleagues over the years, many of whom he considered friends, and some who became lovers. There were the men he served alongside during two world wars, and the civilians he met at dances, in pubs and clubs, on the street, or in the course of his work. Everywhere he went, he watched people pair off, and he envied them. His own relationships could never last, no matter how much he might want them to. There could be no Happily Ever After for the only being in the universe who would outlast the stars.
 

Then Torchwood One fell, and Ianto Jones stumbled into his life. Fair to say, from Jack’s point of view it was lust at first sight. Ianto was pretty to look at, while his deep voice and Welsh vowels sent shivers through every inch of Jack’s body. There followed a lot of ups and downs that don’t need to be rehashed, a lot of misunderstandings and betrayals, and a lot of deaths, most of them Jack’s.
 

Looking back, none of those things had been quite as important as they’d seemed at the time, although all of them, no matter how unpleasant, had perhaps been necessary in their way. Cause and effect were tricky things to juggle. It was entirely possible that if one tiny, seemingly insignificant detail had been altered, this version of Jack’s life might never have happened. It didn’t bear thinking about.
 

“Where to now?” he asked as they left the planet Morbeninx, having successfully reunited a family who’d been separated during the evacuation of their doomed homeworld.
 

“Does it matter?” Ianto replied from where he was relaxing in one of the comfy chairs set around the walls of their TARDIS’s console room. In a minute he’d get up and make some coffee, but right now he just wanted to be off his feet. The last few days had been quite hectic. “I think we’ve earned ourselves a break, so how about somewhere with a beach? The rest of the universe isn’t going anywhere.”
 

“Feeling your age, are you?” Jack teased, sauntering over to join his husband, and dropping into the adjacent chair.
 

Ianto snorted. “That’s rich, coming from the oldest person in the room. I feel as young as ever, but I’m not the energizer bunny; we’ve barely stopped for breath in the last three weeks, so excuse me if I’m tired and my feet hurt.” Kicking off his shoes, Ianto yawned and stretched. “Evacuating half a planet would tire anyone.”

 
“We’re not just anyone though.”
 

“No, we’re the immortal righters of wrong.” Ianto grinned at Jack. “I suppose I should be grateful you haven’t started dressing in Spandex and a Superman cape.”
 

“Now there’s an idea! We could wear masks and everything! I always wanted to be a superhero.”

 
‘Such attire could be provided quite easily if you should wish it,’ their TARDIS informed them helpfully.
 

Ianto shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think not. Jack doesn’t need to draw even more attention to himself. He’s got a big enough head as it is.”
 

Jack pouted. “It was your idea!”

 
“I wasn’t suggesting you try it! Quite the opposite, in fact. Of course, if you want to dress like that the next time we visit the Vegas Galaxy, I wouldn’t object. You can get away with anything there; nobody bats an eye.”

 
“Oooh, I could design costumes for both of us!”
 

Ianto inclined his head. “I’m sure you could, although I won’t promise to wear mine.”

 
“Spoilsport.” Jack stuck out his tongue and Ianto rolled his eyes.
 

“Someone has to maintain a sense of decorum around here, and as you’ve just so ably proved, it’s never going to be you.”
 

“But you love me anyway.” Jack said confidently. He had no doubts on that score.
 

“I do,” Ianto agreed. “Even if I occasionally wonder why.” His smile showed he was only teasing his husband.

 
“And I love you.”
 

“I should hope so; you married me. Five times, in fact. Coffee?”
 

“Bit of a redundant question, don’t you think? Have I ever said no to your coffee?”

 
“Not that I recall, but there could always be a first time.”

 
“Not today. I’m desperately in need of caffeine.”

 
“Thought you might be.” Levering himself out of his comfy chair, Ianto padded barefoot across the polished hardwood floor to the old coffee machine, tucked away in an alcove, and set the coffee to brewing before getting two mugs out of the cupboard. Filling them with the rich, fragrant brew, he carried them back and placed them on the recessed coasters set into the table’s surface. “There you go.” He sank gratefully back into his chair and had the TARDIS extrude a footstool from the floor for him.

 
Jack frowned. “What, no cookies?”

 
“If you want cookies, you can fetch them; I’ve done my part, and I’m not getting up again. You can’t expect me to do everything. The secret to a good relationship is to share responsibilities.” It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation, and they both knew it wouldn’t be the last. As Jack trotted off to fetch the cookies, Ianto sipped his coffee and smiled to himself. There was a lot to be said for the comfort of familiarity.

 
“We have dark chocolate Hobnobs and Jaffa Cakes,” Jack said on his return, dumping everything on the table. “Help yourself. I was thinking maybe Lavellineau.”

 
Ianto blinked across at Jack, who was busily shoving a whole Hobnob in his mouth. “Lavellineau? You’ve lost me. Not for the first time.”

 
“Our next destination. You said you wanted to go somewhere with a beach, remember? Well, Lavellineau should be ideal. It’s a lot like Hawaii, but on a planetary scale; wall to wall sunshine, warm seas, palm trees, or the local equivalent, and endless sandy beaches. Everything you could possibly want for a relaxing vacation.”

 
Leaning back in his chair, Ianto smiled. “Sounds like paradise, the perfect place to unwind.”
 

“It is.” Jack smiled at his husband. “You’re gonna love it!”
 

They’d both had more than their fair share of ups and downs, but the universe must have smiled on them because despite all the odds being against it, they’d found their Happily Forever After.

 
 
The End