Ficlet: Chance Meeting
Mar. 30th, 2026 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badly_knittedTitle: Chance Meeting
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Past Jack.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 713
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto unexpectedly runs into a past version of Jack on the streets of Cardiff.
Written For: The prompt ‘Any, any, meeting a past version of a loved one before they knew you,’ at
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threesentenceficathon.Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Torchwood constantly throws the unexpected at its agents, what with the Rift and the sundry items and beings that can fall through it at any hour of the day or night. Everyone working for the secret alien hunting organisation knows that they need to be ready to deal with anything, anytime. Even so, there’s unexpected and then there’s… this.
It’s beyond awkward, partly because they practically collided with each other, coming around the same corner at the same time, in opposite directions, and partly because of the other person’s identity. Ianto’s breath catches, and he just barely manages not to yelp Jack’s name, because while this is, quite obviously, Jack, it’s not HIS Jack. This one is noticeably younger; his hair is cut shorter, and his clothes are very different from the World War Two style the Jack in this time favours. To make matters worse, Ianto knows for a fact that the version of Jack he knows, the one he loves, never met him before that day in Bute Park, with the Weevil.
But this Jack is looking at him in a very familiar way, smiling, flashing those too-white teeth with all his usual confidence and flirtatiousness, and despite knowing he probably shouldn’t, Ianto can’t quite keep from smiling back. It’s inevitable, because Jack at any age is irresistible; it’s practically encoded into his genes. Anyway, since the Jack from this time is currently in London, at least he and his younger self aren’t likely to run into each other, so Ianto doesn’t need to worry about that complication. It also means Ianto is free to deal with the situation in whatever way he considers the most appropriate. Present Jack need never even know about this little encounter, because if Ianto plays this right, neither Jack will remember it.
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take much to persuade younger Jack to buy him a drink. One drink leads to another, and another, although Ianto makes sure not to overdo the alcohol. After that, it’s simplicity itself to invite past Jack back to his place, or actually one of Torchwood’s vacant but fully equipped safe houses, where they spend a very enjoyable evening getting to know each other a bit, in all manner of interesting ways. It’s not exactly cheating, after all, more of a sneak preview of what’s to come for Jack, and a chance for Ianto to discover if young Jack is as skilled as his own version of the man. One thing’s for sure; those fifty-first century pheromones are as potent as ever.
Of course, Ianto doesn’t use his real name; instead, he introduces himself as Gareth Lloyd. He might have felt a bit guilty about that, if not for the fact that Jack is using a different name too. Ianto assumes he’s on Time Agency business; it’s the most likely explanation. Among his many tales of his past adventures and misadventures, Jack has mentioned several times about coming to Cardiff a time or two in his past life, and when Ianto asks how long he’ll be in town, the younger version tells him he wishes he could stay longer, but he’ll be leaving in the morning. Really, he should already have left…
It makes Ianto feel a little less guilty about retconning past Jack and dumping him in an alley with an empty bottle of booze or two to explain his lack of memories regarding the previous night. He knows there really wasn’t any other choice, the Retcon will preserve the timeline so that next time they meet will be the first time for both of them, as far as either of them are concerned.
Past Jack will remember nothing of what happened, only that he drank too much, which, according to Jack’s reminiscences, isn’t unusual for his past self. Ianto leaves his own memories intact, though, because it won’t harm anything for him to remember. It was a fun night, a bit like test-driving an earlier model of his current car, but on the whole, Ianto prefers his version of Jack, the one who already knows all his likes and dislikes, just as Ianto knows Jack’s. Perhaps someday he’ll tell his lover about his encounter with the Time Agent, but for now, he intends to keep the memory to himself.
The End
It’s beyond awkward, partly because they practically collided with each other, coming around the same corner at the same time, in opposite directions, and partly because of the other person’s identity. Ianto’s breath catches, and he just barely manages not to yelp Jack’s name, because while this is, quite obviously, Jack, it’s not HIS Jack. This one is noticeably younger; his hair is cut shorter, and his clothes are very different from the World War Two style the Jack in this time favours. To make matters worse, Ianto knows for a fact that the version of Jack he knows, the one he loves, never met him before that day in Bute Park, with the Weevil.
But this Jack is looking at him in a very familiar way, smiling, flashing those too-white teeth with all his usual confidence and flirtatiousness, and despite knowing he probably shouldn’t, Ianto can’t quite keep from smiling back. It’s inevitable, because Jack at any age is irresistible; it’s practically encoded into his genes. Anyway, since the Jack from this time is currently in London, at least he and his younger self aren’t likely to run into each other, so Ianto doesn’t need to worry about that complication. It also means Ianto is free to deal with the situation in whatever way he considers the most appropriate. Present Jack need never even know about this little encounter, because if Ianto plays this right, neither Jack will remember it.
Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t take much to persuade younger Jack to buy him a drink. One drink leads to another, and another, although Ianto makes sure not to overdo the alcohol. After that, it’s simplicity itself to invite past Jack back to his place, or actually one of Torchwood’s vacant but fully equipped safe houses, where they spend a very enjoyable evening getting to know each other a bit, in all manner of interesting ways. It’s not exactly cheating, after all, more of a sneak preview of what’s to come for Jack, and a chance for Ianto to discover if young Jack is as skilled as his own version of the man. One thing’s for sure; those fifty-first century pheromones are as potent as ever.
Of course, Ianto doesn’t use his real name; instead, he introduces himself as Gareth Lloyd. He might have felt a bit guilty about that, if not for the fact that Jack is using a different name too. Ianto assumes he’s on Time Agency business; it’s the most likely explanation. Among his many tales of his past adventures and misadventures, Jack has mentioned several times about coming to Cardiff a time or two in his past life, and when Ianto asks how long he’ll be in town, the younger version tells him he wishes he could stay longer, but he’ll be leaving in the morning. Really, he should already have left…
It makes Ianto feel a little less guilty about retconning past Jack and dumping him in an alley with an empty bottle of booze or two to explain his lack of memories regarding the previous night. He knows there really wasn’t any other choice, the Retcon will preserve the timeline so that next time they meet will be the first time for both of them, as far as either of them are concerned.
Past Jack will remember nothing of what happened, only that he drank too much, which, according to Jack’s reminiscences, isn’t unusual for his past self. Ianto leaves his own memories intact, though, because it won’t harm anything for him to remember. It was a fun night, a bit like test-driving an earlier model of his current car, but on the whole, Ianto prefers his version of Jack, the one who already knows all his likes and dislikes, just as Ianto knows Jack’s. Perhaps someday he’ll tell his lover about his encounter with the Time Agent, but for now, he intends to keep the memory to himself.
The End
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-30 05:41 pm (UTC)Past Jack will remember nothing of what happened, only that he drank too much, which, according to Jack’s reminiscences, isn’t unusual for his past self.
-- Yeah, that's probably because you keep having one-night stands with him and retconning him! 😁😂🤣😉
(no subject)
Date: 2026-03-30 05:43 pm (UTC)Thank you!