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The Ballad of Jack and Ianto - Take 2: part one
Title: The Ballad of Jack & Ianto - Take 2
Author: Ru_salki99
Rating: NC 17
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood belongs to BBC
Warnings: Spoilers for entirety of season two.
Summary: Sequel to The Ballad of Jack and Ianto. The story of Jack and Ianto's relationship throughout season two.




When Jack had turned up at the house Ianto had been too shocked to act. Over the past couple of months he had pictured himself hitting Jack, kissing him, shouting at him and just walking away from him. But he wasn’t able to do any of that. He had been frozen to the spot until Gwen had started giving him orders and he was able to concentrate on that for a while.

And of course he had been slightly taken a back when Jack had said he came back for him. But what did that mean? Did he realise he had feelings for Ianto or did he just miss having sex? If Ianto were a betting man he would have put all his money on the latter. Especially after they met Captain John Hart. Ianto hadn’t been impressed with him at all (even if he was kind of pretty) and couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Jack would just end up buggering off with him again.

When it was decided that they would split up to look for the canisters, Ianto had secretly hoped to be paired with anyone but Jack. Even John would have been preferable. But no, Gwen had other plans for him and so he ended up going with Jack to the office building.

The car ride had been anything but comfortable. Jack kept looking at him out of the corner of his eye as if he wanted to say something. But instead he just made small talk. Ianto could feel a headache coming on as he tried to process just what the hell was going on with Jack. First he had said he came back for him and then he reverted back to his usual annoyingly flirty self. He was like a hyper active yo-yo.

But it wasn’t until Jack had asked him out on a date (or at least attempted to) that he realised that it had been nerves that had Jack acting all strange. Now that really was a turn up for the books. It must have been the feelings thing that brought him back rather than sex then. But they didn’t really have time to talk about it all just now and so he had agreed to the date telling himself that as soon as he got Jack alone he would sit down with him and make him talk about all this properly. It would need to be done before they went on any date or else it would just be a disaster.

Now that was a weird concept. He hadn’t been on a date since well before Canary Wharf… almost two years now. And God knows how long it had been for Jack.

“Right well, if we’re avoiding ourselves I’m going to avoid myself at the hospital,” Owen said as he flung the car keys to the sports car to Tosh, “You can drive me.”

Gwen looked at them and then back at Jack and Ianto, “Hold on I’ll come with you,” she said, “I can’t go home just yet. Told Rhys I’d be working all night.”

“Ah, my guardian angels,” Owen said as he slumped into the backseat, “What would I do without you two?”

Ianto never heard the answer as Tosh started up the engine and headed out of the car park.

“Come on then,” Ianto said as he pocketed the stopwatch and climbed into the driver’s seat of the SUV.

Jack followed him and sat quietly next to him as Ianto began driving, “Where are we going?” he finally asked.

“My place,” Ianto said, “Unless you have somewhere better in mind?”

“Uh no. Your place is fine.”

They didn’t say anything else until they were inside Ianto’s flat, “You want a coffee?” Ianto asked him.

“God yes,” Jack said, not meaning to sound so enthusiastic, “Sorry, I’ve just missed it is all.”

Ianto rolled his eyes and took his suit jacket off. He had to bite back a retort about Jack only missing him for his coffee, “It was only seven weeks Jack,” he said instead.

Jack’s smile wavered a bit at that, “Yeah. Seems like longer though.”

Ianto looked at him curiously before going into the kitchen to make their coffee. As he waited for it to brew he leaned on the worktop and took a deep breath. This was harder than he thought it would be. But he had to do it. They would never be able to get back to anywhere near where they were if he didn’t.

“Thanks,” Jack said as Ianto handed him his coffee.

Jack was sat on the sofa and Ianto plopped down at the opposite end, loosening his tie and kicking his feet up onto the coffee table as he did so.

“Is that a new TV?” Jack asked him.

“Yeah. My parents got me it for my birthday,” Ianto explained.

Jack bit his lip and looked down at his coffee, “Sorry,” he said, “I thought I would be back in time for that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ianto told him, “The important thing is that you came back full stop.”

Jack sighed, “I know I should have told you I was going…”

“Yes you should have,” Ianto agreed.

“I’m sorry.”

Ianto sighed, “Fine Jack. I get it, you’re sorry. But do you have any idea what you put us through? What you put me through?”

Jack put his coffee down, “You’re right. I wasn’t really thinking. But then stuff happened and I tried to get hold of you but, well you were in the Himalayas.”

“How do you know about that?” Ianto asked with a frown.

“It’s a really long story,” Jack said as he picked his coffee back up and sipped at it. God it was better than he remembered, “And I want to tell you and I will someday, but… just not tonight. Please don’t make me talk about it tonight.”

Ianto nodded, “Okay. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to.”

“Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Ianto finally decided to ask Jack what he had been dying to ask him for the past two hours.

“Why did you ask me out on a date Jack?”

Jack turned to him and smiled slightly, “While I was away I couldn’t stop thinking about you and how much I wanted you to make love to me and hold me the way you did after I came back from 1941,” he explained. Ianto didn’t say anything, just gestured for him to continue, “And well, there was this girl with us and we were talking about men and I kind of told her about you. But that I had probably messed things up and she suggested that I, that we start from scratch. Do things properly this time and you know, don’t just make it about sex.”

Ianto breathed deeply before reaching over and taking hold of Jack’s hand, “She sounds like she knows her stuff.”

Jack looked down at their joined hands, “Yeah. She’s a smart cookie that one,” he said through a yawn.

“You tired?” Ianto asked in surprise. He didn’t think he’d actually ever seen Jack yawn before.

“Yeah. Not slept in what seems like forever,” Jack said with a nod.

Ianto bit his lip in consideration, “Why don’t you go lie down then?” he suggested as he nodded his head towards the bedroom.

“You sure?” Jack asked in surprise.

“Yeah it’s fine. Go on.”

Jack put his coffee down, “Will you be uh…”

“Not yet,” Ianto said, “I’m still pretty wired from earlier. I’ll probably be up for another hour or so.”

Jack nodded, “Okay. I’ll uh… good night then.”

“Night,” Ianto said as watched Jack leave the room.

It was kind of a relief to be on his own for a while. Knowing that Jack had thought about him almost as much as he had thought about Jack the entire time he’d been away had sparked something inside him. Hope perhaps? Anyway, he needed some time to gather his thoughts before he decided on a next move. Sighing he gathered up his and Jack’s mugs and took them into the kitchen. He quickly washed them before going back into the living room and turned on the TV.

Because it was coming up for one am, there wasn’t much on the TV and so he switched it to the news channels. He smiled to himself as he watched the news report about the body that had been thrown off the roof earlier. He just managed to make out the SUV leaving the scene and Serco moving in to do their thing.

He had been sitting there for about twenty minutes or so when he felt his phone vibrate in his trouser pocket. Gwen had sent him a message asking how things were going with Jack.

“Fine. He’s asleep. I’m watching the news. How’s Owen?”

“Whining like a stuck pig. Apparently NHS staff don’t know how to do their job. He forgets he used to be one of them.”

“No one will ever be as good at emergency medicine in his eyes.”

“True. Well try and get some sleep yourself. We still have a dead blowfish to deal with.”

Ianto rolled his eyes at that. How could he forget? And of course, it would be left for him to deal with after he had fed the weevils and Myfanwy and made everyone coffee and made sure they were all set for the day. Even the thought of it exhausted him and he had to fight against the overwhelming urge to just go to sleep there on the sofa.

Sighing he pushed himself up and made his way into the bedroom. Jack was curled up into a tiny ball and was fast asleep. Ianto watched him as he begun to get undressed. He didn’t like the way he had a frown set on his face as if having a bad dream.

Carefully crawling underneath the covers he stroked a gentle hand over Jack’s brow and his features immediately relaxed. Smiling to himself he lay down and closed his eyes. But just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt Jack curling round him, holding on tight as if his life depended on it.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the sleeping figure who had his head resting on his chest. The covers had slipped down to his waist and Ianto frowned as he saw a dark shadow on his lower back. Using the light filtering in through the curtains from the street he managed to figure out that it was a bruise. A really large bruise. It must have been from when John shoved him off that building. It would of course be gone by the time he woke up, but it must be painful. He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Jack’s head, inhaling the scent that was lingering to his hair. He had missed that scent. It made him feel not only happy but also safe.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Things between Jack and Ianto were certainly a hell of a lot different than they had been before he had left. For starters, Jack had been back for a week and they were yet to have sex even though Jack had spent every night sleeping in Ianto’s arms. He said he wanted to wait, that it would be better if they waited and so Ianto conceded and had to savour every touch they shared between them.

Of course, it was more than nice to wake up every morning in Jack’s arms. It had left him feeling fuzzy and so for once instead of acting like a sixty year old, he was acting like the twenty six year old male he actually was. The others noticed (naturally) and Owen had voiced their collective opinion that they all believed that he and Jack were sleeping together again. Ianto just smiled at him and headed up the stairs to the tourist office, neither denying nor confirming their beliefs.

And then to make up for breaking the car aerial, Jack had taken Ianto out on that date he had promised. And as far as dates went, it was pretty amazing. Jack was the perfect gentleman, doing everything except holding Ianto’s chair out for him. They hadn’t made it to the cinema. They decided to leave that for another day and so they instead ended up walking around the bay, hand in hand until they got to Ianto’s flat.

They stopped outside and Jack looked up to where he knew Ianto’s bedroom window to be.

“We don’t have to have sex,” Ianto said, trying to alleviate any pressure Jack was feeling.

Jack looked at him with an amused smirk, “And what if I want to have sex?” he asked as he moved closer.

“Well, then I’m sure I can accommodate, you,” Ianto smiled back, “I just don’t want you to feel that you have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“And I wont,” Jack said as he took hold of Ianto’s hand.

Ianto leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Jack’s lips before leading the way inside and up the stairs to his flat.

Once inside, things moved along at a very pleasant pace. Jack was right, it was worth the wait as they hadn’t even got all their clothes off yet and the intensity of the situation was driving him mad already. They were on the bed in their underwear and Jack was doing wonderful things to Ianto’s nipples with his teeth when both of their phones rang simultaneously.

Jack looked up at Ianto and both of them sighed before reaching for their phones. Gwen was on Jack’s phone and Owen on Ianto’s. There was apparently some new rift activity and they were needed to deal with it. Ianto would have been angry but he managed to rationalise that the others weren’t psychic and so had no idea that they were about to consummate their relationship for the first time. However, it didn’t stop Jack from snapping at everyone once they got to the hub.

Everyone of course looked to Ianto for an explanation, but he just shook his head and told them to leave it. And so they did.

When they were finished, Jack stayed at the hub, telling Ianto he wanted to finish up on his paperwork before the tomorrow as they would have their hands full with Tommy. Ianto nodded and left without him and for the first time since Jack had come back, he found himself unable to sleep properly.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

This whole talking about sending Tommy back to his own time had got Ianto thinking. Jack had always seemed out of place. He was from the future, that much he was sure of, yet he dressed like he was from the past. What did he consider his time to be?

“Would you go back to yours?” he had asked. He hadn’t really expected a straight answer, and he never got one. What he did get though was quite a surprise to him.

“I’ve seen things I would never have got to see, loved people I would never have known if I’d just stayed where I was,” Jack had said. Ianto of course had nodded, he knew Jack must have loved in his long life, but the look in Jack’s eyes said what his mouth couldn’t. He loved Ianto, “And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”

Ianto’s heart was beating faster than he had thought was possible. Jack loved him. And so doing the only thing he could think of, he leaned down and pulled Jack into a fierce kiss.

Jack wrapped his hands around Ianto’s neck and used his grip on him to pull himself up to a standing position so he could pull Ianto close to him. He walked them backwards towards his bedroom only finally breaking the kiss to jump down the ladders. Ianto quickly followed him and pulled the hatch over behind him. His feet hadn’t touched the floor and he was being pulled back into another passionate kiss.

He wrapped his arms around Jack’s waist and held him close to him. Jack’s hands slipped from his neck and inside his jacket gently pushing it off his shoulders without breaking the kiss. He then let his hands slip round to Ianto’s stomach and started to unbutton his waistcoat. Ianto waited until it was lying on the floor with his jacket before he pushed Jack’s braces off. Gently trailing his fingers down Jack’s arms as he did so.

Once Jack’s shirt was unbuttoned he set about taking off Ianto’s tie. He let it slip through his fingers and land at his feet as he shrugged his shirt the rest of the way off. Now that Ianto’s neck was bare, Jack broke free from his lips and began placing butterfly kisses along his jaw and down his neck, unbuttoning the shirt the rest of the way and letting Ianto untuck his t-shirt from his trousers.

When they were both topless, Jack found himself being thrown back onto the bed. He looked up to see Ianto smile at him before he crouched down and begun unlacing Jack’s boots, pulling them off and flinging them behind him, his socks soon following. Jack then watched as he stood up and kicked his own shoes off and quickly tossed his socks in the same direction as Jack’s boots.

Jack smiled when Ianto climbed on top of him and began kissing him again. God he loved the feel of Ianto’s soft skin, especially when it was against his own. Ianto leaned to the side slightly as he let his hand trail to Jack’s belt. It had always confused Ianto as to why Jack wore both a belt and braces, but he never asked. He was too busy trying to get the damn belt off.

When he finally managed to get the belt undone he sat back and pulled the trousers off. But before he got the chance to settle back down on top of Jack, Jack reached up and started undoing Ianto’s belt. Ianto stayed on his knees and watched Jack’s deft hands do their work and within seconds he was on his back in nothing but his boxers.

Jack trailed a gentle hand all the way down his abdomen, resting softly on top of the waistband of his underwear. He however, didn’t make any move to remove the offending garment and so it was left to Ianto to push himself out of them and then shove Jack’s off his hips, finally leaving them both naked.

It was then that Jack reached for the lubricant. He squirted some onto his fingers and then some onto Ianto’s. Gasping at the feel of cold wet fingers entering him, Ianto only just managed to gain enough control of his body to start coating Jack, getting him ready to enter him.

Jack kissed him again as he gently massaged his prostate. He was making Ianto flick his hips upwards slightly with the need to feel more. It was one of the most erotic things he had ever seen and so finally giving in, he pulled his fingers out and slowly began replacing them with his cock.

Ianto threw his head back and bit his bottom lip at the feel of Jack entering him. Every time, it felt better than the last and he never wanted it to end. Jack settled himself over Ianto and slowly began to move his hips. Gasping, Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack and pulled him down so that every part of their bodies were touching. As Jack leaned on one arm, he let the hand of the other snake down and caress Ianto’s thigh, trailing a thumb over his hipbone.

As Jack moved inside Ianto, he looked down into those bright blue eyes that were staring right back at up at him and were filled with so much emotion that it nearly brought tears to Jack’s eyes. Ianto could sense that it was getting a bit much for Jack and so he pulled him down into a kiss, letting him lose himself in that instead.

It wasn’t long before both men felt their climax approaching. Jack’s thrusts sped up slightly and became more sporadic, whilst Ianto clung to Jack harder and met his thrusts with just as much vigour.

Jack let out a strangled cry as he came and collapsed on top of Ianto, where as Ianto murmured something in Welsh that Jack couldn’t quite make out. When he finally rolled off of Ianto and lay down beside him, he noticed he was being watched.

“What?” he asked curiously.

“I love you too,” Ianto told him, smiling as Jack leaned down and kissed him again.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Ianto turned to Jack as he watched Gwen on the CCTV. Owen and Tosh had immediately looked at him, waiting for his cue, neither of them knowing themselves how to react to that little outburst. Sighing he closed the office doors (which in retrospect was pretty pointless as they still hadn’t put up new doors on the other side) and turned back to Jack.

“You knew what she was like when you hired her,” he said quietly.

Jack just ignored him and continued to watch the CCTV, Gwen now leading Rhys by the hand off home.

“You have no right to be angry at her…” Ianto was cut off as Jack’s bottle of water went flying past his head, “Damn it Jack!”

Jack finally turned the CCTV off and cradled his head in his hands, “She’s going to get herself killed,” he said so quietly that Ianto hadn’t thought he heard him properly.

“Sorry?” he asked as he picked up the water and stepped towards Jack.

“Gwen,” Jack said as he sat up and looked at Ianto, tears in his eyes, “I’ve seen this before. People trying to have two lives. The truth is you can’t. It’s either all or nothing with this job. I’ve seen it too many times and people always end up dying. Gwen and Rhys will not be the exception.”

Ianto sighed and leaned against the desk, aware that Tosh and Owen were watching them through the window. He set both his glass and Jack’s water down on the desk and took hold of Jack’s hand, “We all die someday Jack,” he said, “And Gwen, if it happens because she loves Rhys, or if Rhys dies because he loves Gwen, then you’re not going to stop that. No one can.”

Jack clenched Ianto’s hand tight in his own as he bowed his head, trying to hide the tears, “I can’t do this anymore Ianto. I can’t watch the people I care about die whilst I carry on living.”

Ianto crouched down so that he was level with Jack and no longer in view for the other two to see, “Well, that’s just tough Jack. Because at the end of the day, you’re going to outlive all of us, just like you have outlived the others in the past.”

Jack looked at him in shock as if Ianto had just slapped him.

“You can either wallow in here, in self pity and feel sorry for yourself,” Ianto said as he stroked a hand through Jack’s hair, “Or you can stop thinking about it and just enjoy the time you do have left with us.”

“But what if you die tomorrow?” Jack asked.

“But I might not,” Ianto pointed out, “I might live until I’m an old man. You can’t know what’ll happen Jack. And that’s what Gwen was trying to tell you. She loves Rhys, she wants to marry him and possibly have children even though she knows there is a high risk that she’ll die and leave them all behind. But that’s why she’s doing it. She wants to live. She needs to, we all do.”

Jack sighed and lowered his eyes. He knew Ianto was right, he just… “You want to go out for dinner tonight?” he asked, head suddenly snapping up.

Ianto smiled, “Only if I get to pick the restaurant. I know this little place you’ll just love.”

“Deal,” Jack said with a slight smile as he let Ianto rub the last of the tears from his cheeks, “Do I need to get dressed up?” he asked.

“No. You’re fine as you are,” Ianto said as he placed a soft kiss on his lips and stood up, “Come on, let’s go.”

“Now?” Jack asked in surprise, “I still have that report to finish.”

“It can wait,” Ianto said uncharacteristically as he pulled Jack out of his seat. He handed Jack his coat and led them out of the office via the kitchen area so he could grab his suit jacket and coat, “We’re done for today,” he shouted over to Owen and Tosh, “See you tomorrow.”

Owen and Tosh watched in slight disbelief as Jack allowed himself to be dragged out of the hub by a determined looking Ianto.

“They’re definitely shagging again,” Owen said once they were gone.

Tosh sighed, “Well at least someone is.”

When they walked into Ianto’s flat Jack was more than a little confused, “Um, Ianto? I thought we were going to have dinner?” he asked as he followed Ianto into his kitchen.

Ianto turned and smiled at him, “We are,” he said as he took Jack’s coat off him and hung it up in the hall with his own. When he came back into the kitchen he manoeuvred Jack into a seat at the kitchen table and then rolled up his sleeves, “We’re having it here.”

“We are?” Jack asked in slight surprise.

Ianto nodded, “I like going out for dinner, it’s nice and all, but sometimes it’s nice to just sit in and have dinner. You know, just the two of us, no interference from anyone.”

Jack smiled and got up from the table. He walked over to where Ianto was currently pulling ingredients out of his fridge and wrapped his arms around his waist, “You’re too good to me,” he said as he buried his face in the back of Ianto’s neck.

Ianto dumped his ingredients on the counter and turned to face Jack, “You deserve it,” he said.

Jack scoffed at that, “Doubtful.”

Ianto frowned, “Everyone deserves a bit of pampering now and again Jack, and who better to do that than your lover?”

Jack smiled slightly, “I think we’ve went beyond the whole ‘lover’ stage don’t you?” he asked as he stroked a thumb over Ianto’s bottom lip, wanting nothing more than to capture it between his own.

“What do you suggest we call us then?”

Jack shrugged, “I’ve never been one for labelling as you know, but if anyone asks, well then you’re my boyfriend.”

Ianto smiled, “You do realise, that if we go down the whole ‘boyfriend’ route, my Mam will want to meet you?”

“The thought had occurred to me,” Jack said with a grin before leaning down and giving in to the urge to kiss Ianto.

Ianto kissed him back, wrapping strong arms around his neck and pulling him as close as he could. He let Jack pin him to the counter, even let Jack lift him up onto it, sweeping the vegetables out of the way, not caring that they were rolling across the kitchen floor.

They never did get round to making dinner, instead settling for filling up on ice cream and chocolate. But Jack had to admit, Ianto certainly had the right idea coming here rather than a restaurant.


TBC

PART TWO