Immortals and Their Coats

Disclaimers!!  The usual...  Jack belongs to Ianto, the Doctor belongs to Rose.  All of them belong to
Russell T Davies and the BBC. Although I feel fairly sure that they don't deserve them.




Ianto took Jack's coat from him as he walked by... Jack had returned that week and helped them take out the Blowfish. Since then it had been a whirlwind of activity. John Hart, the explosions, all of the problems and near deaths. Sighing,  Ianto looked at the coat, and pulled it in close. He could smell Jack's infamous scent on it...  and it made his heart beat faster. He thought back to Jack's response to him...

"I came back for you"

Ianto couldn't let himself hope that Jack had meant that. He closed his eyes and breathed deep, smelling those pheromones, breathing in the scent of the man he loved.

Jack watched Ianto as he hugged Jack's jacket. He felt a wave of emotion for the young man wash over him.  His mind wandered to Utopia.... the Master...  the Doctor himself. The Doctor was one of the only people who Jack had ever looked up to. Jack loved him like no other. On Professor Yana's ship he had taken the Doctor's coat, much as Ianto had just taken his. He remembered the words the Doctor had said to him, and how it had hurt. He'd had such hope, when he heard the TARDIS land. The man he'd been waiting for for over a century had finally come, but then... when the Doctor had told him he was wrong... what's that then? Wrong... what did he mean by that? The Doctor didn't even realize. They were the two men that would outlast the universe, and the Doctor hadn't even cared or thought about what he said. The Doctor was brilliant but he never thought too hard about his effect on those around him. Oh, he loved the humans, and he loved Rose, and he cared so much for everyone around... but he held everyone so far away. The Doctor saved so many, but so many would sacrifice themselves in his name, out of love for the distant Time Lord. And the Doctor never noticed.

Jack wondered, was that how he had become? Caring so much, but not ever showing it? Looked down at Ianto, as he brushed a bit of dust off of Jack's jacket, and carefully hung it up. Ianto closed his eyes in near reverence for his Captain, his lover. Jack resolved not to be that. He loved Ianto, perhaps not as much as he loved the Doctor, but it was there. It had potential. And he was not going to allow himself to miss this chance. He would not be that man.

"Ianto!"

Ianto opened his eyes, and looked up at Jack with guilt, his cheeks flushing a bit. Arriving at the door to Jack's office, he stood there, slightly unsure of himself.

"Yes Jack?"

Jack looked at the young and beautiful Welshman, unsure of what to say, now that he had Ianto up here. He looked at the man, running his eyes up Ianto's slim body, landing on his eyes. Blue locked on blue, and they both could feel the sparks.

"Sir?"

Ianto was getting uncomfortable. Jack's mind flashed back to the Doctor and what he had said and he felt tears spring to his eyes. Blinking them away, he took the two steps that would bring him to the young Welshman and took Ianto into his arms. Jack could feel him trembling in his arms, and hugged him tighter, feeling Ianto's racing heart.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. I'm so sorry."

The man in his arms finally melted into Jack's embrace. They hadn't really had time to speak since Jack had asked him on the date let alone had time for the date itself. Ianto had begun to wonder whether it was real or not, whether Jack actually cared or whether it was all just empty words. He buried his face in Jack's chest, holding him as close as he could.

"Jack..."  Ianto breathed.

Jack pulled Ianto back, and looked into his eyes, hating the uncertainty and fear he saw there. Ianto was supposed to be so sure of himself, and Jack had put that look there. He leaned in and brushed his lips across Ianto's. Not moving away, he murmured "I'm not going to leave you again, Ianto... I'm here."

Jack led him down the ladder to his cubbyhole bedroom. He used the Vortex Manipulator to shut down the HUB from there, and then took a very long time showing Ianto just how much the Welshman meant to him.

The two men then slept, arms still wrapped around each other, small smiles on their faces. Both of them knowing that they needed each other and understanding their place in each other's lives, together for as long as they could be.