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The first sign that John's presence in Victorian Cardiff was going to be trouble, besides him being John Hart, was the fact that it had taken him less than five minutes in the Torchwood vaults to initiate a threesome with Alice and Emily. While John was demonstrating how much of an asset his dexterity would be to the women, Jack paced up and down the walkway beside Charlie's medical bay, while Charles Gaskell sat on the steps with his face in his hands. The Torchwood employee, only a few months into the job, was utterly mortified and unable to stop thinking about the lurid and lewd positions he had found his boss and her lover in with the rakish man.
Jack, meanwhile, had paced off his initial fury and frustration, and was now carefully planning how he was going to seduce his ex into using that Vortex Manipulator of John's to drop him off in 2006, where he had been supposed to land.
The plan didn't require that many steps, because, again, this was John; he helpfully jumped Jack first as soon as Emily and Alice had let him go, and they'd arrived at Jack's temporary flat. It was really more like a one-room hovel above a brothel, but Jack was fond of the ladies there.
"How long's it been for you?" John gasped against his mouth, as Jack reversed their positions and pinned John against his door, jerking him off quick and dirty like John liked.
"More than ten years." John didn't deserve the truth, not of his immortality or the decades he'd already been stuck here on Earth. Jack reminded himself of the two years he'd lost to the Agency, and how John hadn't left with him even when Jack had told him what they'd taken. He’d pleaded with John to leave with him. He'd known not to trust John when they'd first met, but when he was reeling from what the Agency had taken from him, part of him had still been the naive boy from Boeshane back then, and he had temporarily fooled himself into thinking that John could be trusted after their years spent together in the time loop.
"You?" He followed up, grinding his still-clothed cock against John's thigh.
"Fuck — Three years," John gasped, and Jack scoffed out a bitter laugh.
"Javic, I—" But Jack kissed him roughly, not wanting to hear any of John's excuses.
"I left that name a long time ago," he breathed into John's ear, as he teased John's slit with his thumb and stroked down to roll his sac with his slick fingers, and dip farther back to stroke over the soft furl of John's hole. "It's Captain Jack Harkness now."
John's groan broke into a laugh halfway through. "Wow," he drawled. "I'm sure you made quite the impression on the ranks." He growled eagerly as Jack withdrew his fingers to dig through his coat for lubricant.
"Maybe I should pick out a new nom de plume too." He stroked his hands down Jack's front, still knowing just how much pressure to touch Jack with, as he kneaded Jack's cock and unlaced the front of his trousers to free him. "How about Captain John Hart? Note the sarcasm." He smirked, as Jack glared at him.
"Be serious."
"You're no fun in your old age," John dramatically sighed, as he lifted a leg for Jack to slide his arm under, and start to slick him open.
"We're the same age now," Jack lied. They should have been, if Jack hadn't been cursed.
"Really? Because those horrendous sideburns tell a different tale."
Later — an impressive number of rounds later, even for them — when they'd both collapsed onto Jack's bed, Jack pretended to be sleepy as John settled over his chest, eyes closed, content and worn out.
As far as their reunion could have gone, this had been the best outcome. The only physical wounds they'd inflicted on each other were the bruises and gouges on Jack's hips from John's fingers, and John's split lip from the force of Jack's biting and kissing when he'd come. It'd be easy to sweeten John up to jumping them both out of 1899 then.
He watched through half-lidded eyes as John dragged his arm to drape over them both, and walked his fingers coyly over Jack's forearm and VM.
"Yours is so big, Captain Jack," John purred, just a bite of mocking that was so characteristic of him. Jack felt ashamed that he'd once found that attractive, when he compared it to Rose's affectionate teasing and the Doctor's stern honesty. It was bad enough to be stuck in the wrong time, but with the man who had been around when Jack had been his worst?
The sooner they parted ways, the better.
John was laying the seduction on thick now, which had Jack's guard slamming up. "Why don't you remind me, with a hands-on demonstration? Say, a quick little jaunt to the parts mecca on Pezzar-F12?"
Oh, this was bad. "Wait," Jack said slowly, "Is yours burnt out too?"
John's eyes widened. "Oh. Fuck."
Oh fuck indeed.
John shifted like a viper above Jack; his hands snapped out to grab Jack's wrists and pin them over his head, as John sat on his chest and glared down at Jack. "How could you let your Manipulator burn out?!"
"How could you!"
"I was a little busy outrunning a hot piece of eye candy who wants to destroy my life," John stressed. Jack felt uncharitably like rolling his eyes, so he did.
"You're going to have to be more specific here. Last time I heard that, there were at least a dozen people who wanted to do that."
"Yes, and I killed them all," John said breezily, while Jack glared at his complete lack of remorse. "This guy's new." He looked down at Jack with the fucking puppy dog eyes.
When he said, "It's about my family," though, Jack felt some of the concern for John that he'd long ago locked away resurface.
John's family were kingmakers on Planet Five in the Kala-P8 planetary system. In the 51st century, humans were the third most populous species there, and the most recent in planetary history to have settled there. This should have put them at a disadvantage with adapting to both the environment of a new planet, and the boundaries and customs of the two predominant ruling species that had originated there. But if there was a planet that could resist the machinations of humans as they spread and staked their claim across the universe, it was not Planet Five. John's large family, over the past generations, had been the muscle and intelligence behind the rise of one of the three political powers that represented human interests on the planet. John had grown up being educated on both the legal side of things — policy, diplomacy, social manipulation — and the side that kept itself hidden in the shadows, employing murder and sabotage in the pursuit of the family’s goals.
John's family had sent their brilliant, ruthless son, a perfect embodiment of the family's values, to join the Time Agency. It gave them the prestige of having a family member who was a Time Agent.
John had just decided never to return to his family once he'd joined up.
And Jack could understand why. During the five year time loop, John had, in a fit of desperation, agreed to bring Jack with him to his homeworld, so they could access the extensive intelligence network of all three dominant species on the planet, while they were trying to find a way to break out of the loop. Jack had seen for himself why John's single-minded pursuit of money was actually good compared to the inconsistent mania of a planet locked in a neverending cycle of power plays and empty promises to its people.
Being around his family had brought out the worst in John. John never thought rationally when it came to anything remotely related to them – they made him panic in a way that Jack had never seen John do before. They made him lash out, and destroy anything in his path to get away from them. Jack himself had got caught up in the literal crossfire and explosions, and after three iterations of the time loop, they'd both agreed to never set foot on that planet again.
"What do they want now?" He asked John, who curled his lip.
"They've put me up for an arranged marriage. Obviously, I'm the hottest choice out there – everything anyone could want in a husband. And a life-sentence prisoner, which isn’t a coincidence. Unwrap all the fancy dressing from it, and marriage is just a prison," he espoused. "And as much as I know we'd all like to unwrap my sexy package," he ground his hips against Jack's, with a smirk, "There's no chance I'm getting caught in either."
Jack couldn't help laughing at John's theatrical seduction, which led to John starting to strangle him for laughing.
He kicked John off of him and the bed, and swung his legs over the side. Glaring at John, Jack massaged his throat. "Bastard."
John flipped him off, and stood back up, starting to tap the floorboards with his feet. Jack watched him, knowing what John was searching for, and bit back a sigh. John knew him too well.
John crowed and knelt down — ass jutting out perfectly to entice Jack — to ease a single floorboard up, where Jack hid his best whiskey. (He loved the ladies downstairs, he really did, but sometimes they liked to pilfer the bottles in his room for themselves and their men.)
Taking a swig as he sauntered back over to Jack, John slumped down on the bed beside him.
Jack, meanwhile, put some space between them as he sat back against the headboard, and crossed his arms over his stomach. "So. Who's the person you're supposed to be marrying?"
"Some 'Rhiannon Jones,'" John said derisively. "Her family are war heroes — the Cybermen invaded their planet, were well on their way in preparing to assimilate the next planet in their sights, but about three years ago, the humans left managed to finally destroy them. But the Shadow Proclamation isn't going to take any chances."
"Shit. Total evacuation?" Cybermen were the universe's worst, or so Jack had thought before the Daleks proved to be more than just myth. The Shadow Proclamation cleared and razed entire planets to the ground after invasions — or in the process of stopping them.
"Yeah. That entire solar system's getting emptied, actually. No habitation allowed for the next thousand years. My family heard about their plight, and saw the chance to snap up the prestige of being linked to people who stopped a Cybermen invasion."
"And the Jones family gets a new planet to settle on."
John shrugged in a way that Jack knew meant he hadn't told him the full story.
"Well, the Joneses and the third of the population who decided to follow them."
"No wonder your family needs this to happen." Jack took a deep breath, and thumped his head back against the headboard as he looked up at the ceiling. He really shouldn’t offer. He didn’t want the reminder of the sort of man he’d been with John around.
He desperately hoped that he wouldn’t regret it, when he said, "You can hide here as long as you like."
The grateful look John gave him softened his eyes and face, and Jack looked away, reminding himself that he was done with John Hart, and everything he represented of Jack's old life. Jack was a better person now because of the Doctor and Rose, and even though he’d been abandoned – maybe because he’d been abandoned – he couldn’t leave John to the same fate.
He and John were stuck in the same situation now, and Jack couldn't not help him.
"Were you aiming for the 19th century?" Jack asked, once their need for food finally drove them from Jack's bed, and they headed into the city for fine cuisine, as John had demanded.
John tossed the wallet he'd pickpocketed into a flower planter they were passing by. "Nope. I was aiming for the 21st, actually, right after first contact. Rhiannon's got a brother — real sexy, but methodical in a way that can't be healthy. Long story short, he's been trying to track me down and haul me home for the wedding. Came close enough to try to shoot me across a busy marketplace last time, so I thought, what's the best place to lose a guy who loves being organised? The complete clusterfuck of chaos after first contact."
John broke off to wink at a woman who had taken one look at both of them, and crossed the street with a flush on her face. He eyed her – definitely flustered both by his coarse language and the handsome picture he and Jack made.
He added: "And that's assuming he gets his hands on a Vortex Manipulator, which, I don't think so."
Jack exhaled sharply, and yanked John away from a drunken man dry-heaving into a barrel, who was an easy mark. He had more than enough money from the last contract job with Torchwood to pay for dinner tonight, and didn't need John getting them into trouble.
"It'll probably be faster if he does show up," he muttered. "I've already looked through Torchwood's archives; they don't have the parts I need to fix my VM. It'd be easier to convince him to drop us off at the markets."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure they'd love to sell me spare parts when I'm riddled with holes."
Jack smirked. "Hey, trust me. Never been in a situation I couldn't defuse. Including that time I was naked on primetime television with two killer robots."
"Don't suppose you've got a recording of that?" John asked wistfully, and grinned when Jack laughed.
Because Emily and Alice liked John more than Jack, John happily took on contract work for Torchwood as well. It was a quaint job; John was surrounded by the drecks of technology far less advanced than what he worked with on a daily basis, but it was still marginally less painfully boring than hustling money from all the gambling halls in the city. And Torchwood’s employees were entertaining. John loved a woman in charge, and Emily was that with a delicious helping of greed, hoarding every alien thing that Torchwood could get its hands on. Alice was incredibly gifted with her fingers, but an expert on plasma energy containment measures, she was not.
Jack wasn't happy that John was working for Torchwood, but then again, Jack wasn't happy about most things. He didn't seem to be able to loosen up unless he was having sex with John, but that was fine with John. Being with Jack was the only bright spot in this miserable, backwards time for him as well. In a way, it was like their time loop all over again, although John was surprised that Jack hadn't mentioned Gray once, as the days passed.
It had really only taken them two years to figure out how to break out of the time loop. But by then, neither of them had particularly wanted to; two weeks was a surprisingly convenient time interval, long enough for John to keep himself entertained and even go offworld, before resetting the trouble that he’d caused, and for Jack to pursue leads on his brother's whereabouts. John loved the time loop because no one ever remembered the atrocities he committed, and he could attempt to break into the Bank of Karabraxos with as many do-overs as he desired. Jack, similarly, could shake down anyone he wanted for information, without any consequences.
Eventually, when John had earned his place as Jack's confidant, he'd helped Jack with his search as well. They'd only decided to leave the time loop when it truly felt that they'd exhausted all the possibilities they could within those fixed two weeks.
John missed that freedom of no consequences that the time loop gave him, although, to be fair, he didn't really care for consequences. Emily and Alice were fun, but arrogant in the decisions they made 'for the good of the British Empire,' and so John made his own judgment calls on whether or not to fulfill the contracts they gave him.
If they were upset, he just spent a night winning his way back under their skirts, although it was those nights that made Jack look the most upset with him when John showed up back at his flat the morning after.
Jack tore John’s shirt open and checked over his torso, when John came in bragging about the electric play he'd done with the refreshingly avant-garde ladies of Torchwood.
"Didn't think you'd be so judgemental over somebody getting kinky," John smirked.
"I'm not," Jack growled, once he'd ascertained that John was in one piece and unharmed. "Just…" He cupped John's face, and something dark flashed from the depths of his gaze that unsettled John, even as the small gesture of affection and concern made John’s heart beat faster.
"Just be careful."
A few days later, John brought up Jack's reaction to Emily, as she was fixing her petticoat and he was licking the taste of her from his lips. Lounging in the chair across from her desk, he commented, "Before I got here, did you and Alice ever invite Jack to join you?"
Emily gave him an amused look. "If he's willing to join us after the tests, then he's far more depraved than I thought."
John schooled his surprise into a charming grin. "Tests?"
Within a matter of minutes, he was looking down at Alice's science journal on Emily's desk, as the Torchwood director walked him through the tests that they'd subjected Jack to. A queasy, cold flush was starting to build in John's gut, while rage beat a staccato in his mind. They’d tortured Jack.
He pressed his finger against the column of increasing series of voltages and lengths of time Jack had been shocked. "How did he survive? This should've killed him."
Emily raised an eyebrow. "You didn't know? He doesn't die, no matter what happens to him." She pointed to a journal entry of Alice describing the gunshot wound she'd inflicted directly to his head. "Nothing stops him from coming back."
Shit. They'd killed Jack. Were they serious? How could Jack not die? None of it made sense to John, except one thing: Jack was too much of a goody two shoes now, so of course he hadn't killed them in retaliation.
But that was one of the many things that John was good for.
John struggled to rein his impulses in as he looked up at Emily, and kept his grin wicked and conspiratorial like the one she was giving him. "I didn't know Torchwood had the ability to resurrect people."
"We don't yet," Emily corrected him. "Jack came to us like this."
"Who else knows about his… Ability? Alice? Charlie?"
Emily was looking at him with suspicion now, so John let the lie slip like quicksilver from his tongue. So close. He'd almost got everything he needed to find out from her. "He kept this from me, and I'm hurt you all did too! I've been risking my neck out there," he pouted.
With a pitying tut, Emily tilted his chin towards her and placed a placating kiss on his mouth. "Charles hadn't joined us yet when we were running our tests. I was planning to brief him only if Jack ever decides to cooperate and help us with our research again. This could be the single greatest discovery Torchwood will make."
Bingo.
John slipped a knife from its sheath in his sleeve, and slid it upwards through Emily's ribs and into her heart.
"I don't think so, darling."
When Alice arrived at work an hour later, John killed her as well, and then set about creating an easy setup that the three of them had been called out to investigate Rift activity, and – here was where John's award-winning crocodile tears took centre stage – he'd watched before his eyes as those two brave women had tackled the alien over the pier, unable to surface as it dragged them down to their graves.
The relief in Jack's eyes made cleaning up their blood all worth it to John.
The problem was that without Alice and Emily, it was just the three of them left to deal with Rift activity. Apparently, there was a Torchwood London branch, which had sent down some replacements, but Charles had his hands full with training them, and it still left the most challenging and dangerous work to John and Jack. And Jack seemed far less interested in Torchwood affairs now that the threats of getting locked back up and tortured were decaying in the Bay.
He'd got into the bad habit of wandering off to brood on rooftops, which should have been a sexy sight. Except that John found that a little hard to appreciate, when he was the only one covered with slime, having spent the last three hours coaxing a gelatinous Pafrenal out of the carriage it had sequestered itself in, only to have another carriage with a drunk shit-for-brains driver run it over.
Frankly, John couldn't believe he was thinking it, but he was a little turned off by Jack. Don't get him wrong, the sex was still electric, and very satisfying on that end. But when it was over… He didn't expect Jack to be so, well, depressed. It had been months since he’d been stuck here, and Jack still wasn’t over whoever the Doctor and Rose were. Jack muttered about them in his sleep, and John hated them. He hated them for giving Jack his silent holier-than-John attitude nowadays. He hated the look of disappointment in Jack's eyes, which always reminded him of the day he'd refused to run from the Time Agency when Jack had asked him to. He was blood-boilingly jealous of how single-minded Jack was about finding them.
And even with all that, he was still in love with Jack. He still let himself get bogged down by thoughts about Jack's well-being, which was why he hadn't brought up what he'd heard about Jack's ability to come back from death. Part of him was, rightly, terrified at the chance that Jack would confirm that he couldn't die, which was utterly incomprehensible. What did that mean, Jack couldn't die? How did someone just one day wake up and not be able to die?
The other part, the part that knew Jack best, knew that if it was true, then revealing to Jack that he knew one of the man's guarded secrets would only push Jack away. And John liked what he had with Jack now, on the whole. It was better than being without Jack again, and truth be told, he was going to be a little sad the day that they figured out how to get back to their own time.
So John behaved like his usual self, which was why, when he detected an energy spike on his VM, he told Jack:
"You're coming to investigate this with me, or else I will commit arson. To this entire street."
That got Jack moving, although he glared at John with such heat that John couldn't resist pinning Jack up against the door they were supposed to be leaving out of, untying the laces of his trousers, and sucking him off.
They arrived at the location of the spike just in time to see a tall man with dark hair and pale skin facing in their direction and bracing himself weakly against the wall of the alley, his head drooped down and looking like he was about to pass out.
He was dressed out of this time in a leather bomber jacket, black to match his wool trousers, and his jacket fell open to show a deep red collared safari shirt that was buttoned up with a black tie. A leather strap to a satchel crossed over his chest and hung at his hip, drawing attention to the long line of his torso, which John eagerly raked his gaze down. And then further down those long legs. The man was wearing sturdy ankle-high brown laced boots that John would love to fuck him in, after stripping everything else off him. His outfit was futuristic for the Victorian age, but archaic by 51st century standards.
And he had a Vortex Manipulator strapped to his wrist. Shit. A Time Agent.
Jack had noticed this before him, and was already approaching the man, his tone warm and buttery, even though John knew he was ready to shoot the Time Agent if he was here to capture Jack.
"Hey there – Captain Jack Harkness. What's a guy like you doing around these parts?"
The man took a shaky step, and would have collapsed if Jack hadn't caught him in his arms.
"Woah," Jack grinned, and John smirked because even though he couldn't see Jack's hands, he knew where they were currently holding the man up. "Jump sickness — I get it. You a rookie?"
The man planted a hand on Jack's chest, and pushed himself up to stand against him, seemingly unfazed by the proximity. "In a way," he answered, eyes locked onto Jack's, and John would have enjoyed the sexual tension that arced between the two if that voice hadn't caused cold sweat to break out over him. It belonged to the man who had been hunting him for the past year.
Not a Time Agent. Someone much, much worse.
"Oh fuck," he swore, and even still in Jack's arms — which John understood, they were very nice arms to be in — Eye Candy suddenly produced a blaster from the holster at his hip, and turned away from Jack as he aimed it right between John's eyes.
"Hello, Huzail," he stated calmly. "Told you I’d find you."
Shit. Shit, shit shit.
"Actually, it's Captain John Hart now," John said, feigning nonchalance as he looked to Jack for help. But Jack's focus was on the man who'd caught both himself and John off-guard — not an easy feat. Still, Jack didn't want John shot, and so he stepped away, and circled back to stand in front of John, his expression thoughtful as he studied the man. It was a relief that he wasn't a Time Agent; Jack could work with this.
"You must be the brother," Jack said. The man arched a brow. Sexy.
"And I presume you're the partner?"
"Ex-partner," Jack corrected, and John drawled, "Oh, so you just tripped and your dick fell into my fantastic mouth with world-class suction twenty minutes ago, did it?"
John's would-be captor looked even less impressed. Sub-levels of impressed, really. Jack amended his previous note about the man to very sexy.
"Eye Candy, let's talk about—"
"Don't call me that." That growl did things to both Jack and John. "I did my research before I came here, unlike you two," he added acerbically. "Call me Ianto Jones."
"How native," John muttered, while Jack questioned: "What do you mean, research?"
Ianto looked at the two of them as if they were idiots.
"You simpletons," he stated, with a roll of his eyes, which had John leering and Jack tempted to kiss him. "Do I need to remind you both that jumping to Cardiff anywhen between the 19th and 21st centuries carries a significant risk of VM damage and inaccurate landing, because of the creation and increased activity of its Rift?"
Oh. Had that been in Time Agency training? Jack and John's gazes darted at each other, both of them silently confirming that if it had been in one of their classes, it had been one that they'd both skipped. Possibly to have it off with a classmate or one of their other course instructors.
Ianto stared at them in disbelief. "Goddesses. I do. I do actually have to remind you both."
"I don't know why you're sounding like a disapproving teacher," John sulked. "You jumped here too."
Ianto raised an eyebrow, and Jack really wanted to kiss him now. For at least an hour. Preferably while in Jack's bed. "Yes, but I knew the damage that it would do to my Manipulator. So I brought the spare parts to fix it."
Jack and John both drew and pointed their guns at the same time; John at Ianto, and Jack whirling around to point his at John. Ianto looked at Jack with an inquisitive and surprised expression, and really, he needed to stop, because Jack was already obsessed with kissing him.
"Don't look so pleased, Eye—Ianto," John bluffed. "Jack won't shoot me. We were partners. Now, just hand over the parts, there's a good boy–"
Before John even finished his sentence, Ianto struck, faster than either of the other two men could follow. He darted forward and whipped a long leg up, kicking the gun out of John's hand, and then punched John down to the ground, straddling him and cuffing his hands behind his back.
Jack's trousers were tight at the front, and he knew from the look on John's face that John was enjoying this as well.
"Well, since you've got the cuffs out, how about an orgy?" John propositioned, and Ianto growled and dragged him to his feet.
"You're supposed to be marrying my sister."
"For the last time, I don't want to!"
Jack cleared his throat. "Not that I want to get on your bad side, Ianto, but he's really not husband material. Believe me."
"I made a good wife, though," John winked at him, and Jack couldn't help exchanging a small, amused smirk with him.
"Frankly, I don't care," Ianto replied dryly. "If you'd actually stayed put, and answered one of the three dozen requests my sister sent to you to discuss the arranged marriage, then you would've learned that she doesn't want to marry you either. She was perfectly happy with marrying you for the sake of appearance, and then you could both go off and do anything and anyone you liked."
Jack hadn't seen John so speechless in a long time. "Oh."
John paused. "Well, that’s not so bad. Alright then,” he said, as if granting Ianto a favour, “Take me… away, Ianto Jones."
"Too late," Ianto glowered at him. "Plan's changed. Now you're going to marry her, and then I'm going to shoot you, and make your life a living hell. You made me time travel. I hate time travel."
"Oooh, well, I do love having the undivided attention of a handsome–"
Jack elbowed John, sharply, before Ianto changed the plan again and shot him right there. "Look," he started, holding out a placating hand between them and Ianto. "Let's just all take a breath, yeah? I get it, I really do, you're just looking out for your sister's best interests. But you need a place to fix your VM. So, why don't we reconvene back at mine?"
Ianto studied him for a few long moments, and Jack gave him his best 'you can trust me' grin. Maybe it was because he was thinking of Rose's grin, that made it more authentic, but to his relief, Ianto gave him a sharp nod.
"Fine." He gestured for Jack to lead the way, and yanked warningly at John's wrists in the cuffs. "But no sudden moves."
"But I love your moves," John simpered, and Ianto rolled his eyes again while Jack silently agreed.
"Where did you learn those moves?" He asked Ianto instead.
Ianto looked assessingly at him. "John didn't tell you much about me, did he?"
Jack winked. "He said you were sexy."
"See! I said nice things!" John lied through his teeth.
"I'm an archeologist," Ianto answered Jack, choosing to ignore John, which was the best thing for John's personal safety. "51st century. I specialise in navigating the excavations that are full of traps and other unpleasant surprises. And I neutralise them. Hence my qualifications for tracking down this one."
John cooed. "Are you calling me a priceless alien artefact, Ianto?"
"More like a dead piece of wood that’s one second away from being broken into pieces under my boot."
Well, Jack thought. That was hot to think about.
John scoffed. "At least I'm not Professor River Song's lapdog. Tell me, did you pick out this sexy little Indiana Jones outfit yourself, or is it her idea of roleplay–"
A cold fury flushed across Ianto’s face. He jabbed two fingers against a pressure point in John's neck, and Jack watched as John's eyes rolled to the back of his head. Casually, Ianto slung John's unconscious form over his shoulders, and met Jack's frown with a small, wicked grin. "Much better."
He couldn't help asking: "You know Professor River Song?" She was infamous in the Time Agency, a lesson, a warning, or a hero, depending on who you asked when it came to illegal possession and operation of a VM.
A shadow passed over Ianto's expression, and he waved off Jack's silent offer to carry John. "Knew," he said crisply. "She died, a few years ago. Or not, depending on your point in time.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Jack murmured.
Ianto swallowed and nodded with a jerk of his head. “I owe her everything. She helped us to defeat the Cybermen, and she's the reason I got into archeology, after… Well. After."
"Ah," Jack threw a small grin Ianto’s way. "John mentioned you were a war hero."
Ianto returned it with a polite smile that was devoid of any warmth. "I'm really not," he demurred.
Knowing that he'd somehow stepped into dangerous territory, Jack nimbly pivoted, and led Ianto up the stairs to his room. "Your family's lucky to have you. I don't know a lot of guys who could get their hands on a VM, let alone make an accurate jump, or even be willing to."
Ianto's only response was a knowing, unimpressed side-glance at Jack's flattery, as he followed Jack into the room, and dumped John unceremoniously onto Jack's bed. He seemed to take a petty pleasure in tugging off John’s coat, and methodically divesting it of John’s cache of weapons. He was studying each one, as Jack locked his door behind him, before he put everything back – in a different spot in the coat, Jack noticed – and slung the coat over his arm. Jack watched as Ianto turned his attention to surveying Jack’s room.
It wasn't a great room. The bed was big – which was why Jack had opted for it – but everything in it, from the bare walls to the clothes haphazardly draped on and around the half-open wardrobe, showed that Jack wasn't really committed to making any kind of long-term plans here. Something caught Ianto's eye on Jack's writing desk, however, and Ianto walked over to pick up the quill that Jack had left on a stack of papers. When he couldn’t sleep, he’d sit and scribble down thoughts. Lately, he’d also started to sketch pictures of John's sleeping form. He also had a pile of fountain pens that John liked to steal on a whim, because the man couldn't resist shiny things, but Jack preferred to use a quill – it was a reminder of how ingenious people had been even long ago.
And he thought it made him look distinguished, as he imagined it would Ianto.
A small smile graced Ianto's lips, as he looked over at Jack. "What's it like to use this?"
Slinging his cloak over in the direction of the wardrobe, Jack approached the man. He knew how to play into someone else's interests, and it definitely wasn't a chore when someone as good looking as Ianto was smiling at him.
"Surprisingly not as painful as I thought it'd be. Ink dries a lot faster than it should, but it's… Satisfying." He stopped, well within Ianto's personal space, and reached out to circle his fingers around Ianto's wrist and smooth his other hand over Ianto’s hip. He turned Ianto to face the desk.
"Give it a try."
Ianto raised an eyebrow at him, pointedly looking down at the scant space Jack had left between them. Jack grinned, without an iota of shame, and then stepped back to pull out the somewhat rickety chair for Ianto with a dramatic flourish. That earned him an eyeroll, although Jack noticed the small, pleased curl at the corners of Ianto’s lips as he sat.
He leaned his hip against the edge of the desk, and watched as Ianto started to try out the quill and ink, before testing out the fountain pens. Under Ianto's long fingers and careful eye for detail, Jack watched as a somewhat familiar series of towers and structures was inked out across the page.
"Cardiff Castle," he realised, and Ianto grinned.
"Well done, Captain."
"Call me Jack."
Ianto glanced up, and murmured, "If you're good," and Jack had the strong sense that they were both flirting with each other to get the other to drop his guard. And if he played it right, Jack was going to enjoy coming out on top in more ways than one.
"So are there any treasures or traps in the castle?" He asked, angling his hips towards Ianto.
"Nope."
"You sound disappointed."
"I assure you, I'm not." Ianto's sketch was starting to turn into a surprisingly accurate picture of a horse and carriage, for someone who must have only seen them when they were walking to Jack's. "This adventure is already quite enough for me."
Jack leaned in closer, to trace a thumb in the empty space on the paper beside the confident strokes Ianto made to outline the horse's flank. "Good eye for detail," he praised, now close enough that he could hear Ianto's quiet breathing, and see the flicker of Ianto's eyelids when he murmured in his ear.
“Part of the job,” Ianto parried back, his voice catching over a huskier tone.
Job accomplished, Jack shifted back to his original spot and tucked his hands into his trouser pockets. "No excavations waiting for you back home?" He asked breezily, as if he hadn't just invaded Ianto's space.
"I'm… Taking a break," Ianto answered, a sudden hard, defensive grit to his voice. "My family needed me for the Huzail Hunt–” He paused for a moment, and brushed the feather of the quill distractingly over his lips, as he murmured thoughtfully to himself, “–Suppose I could call it the Hart Hunt still. That’s something.”
You’re cute, Jack didn’t say. Ever fancied a threesome with two Time Agents, he didn’t offer, because at this point, he didn’t trust John not to kill Ianto, or Ianto not to similarly incapacitate the both of them, so he could fix his VM and drag John off.
“What’re you going to do after?” He prompted Ianto instead, who blinked and looked a little chagrined. Jack really wanted to kiss him.
Ianto shrugged. “I could find work on Planet Five, I’ve been told. It has some fascinating ruins. Fortunately, most are designated as heritage sites, but who actually owns each site is heavily contested. I imagine there would be a lot of fighting over who has a right to what, and I don't work for anyone who tries to seize what doesn't belong to them."
"Pity. I'd let you seize my jewels anyday."
Ianto and Jack both looked over at the prone figure of John, who was conscious now, and had rearranged his limbs to pose sultrily on the bed. He winked at Ianto, who looked up angrily at Jack, for some reason.
"What'd I do?" Jack protested, with a pout.
Ianto shook his head, muttering, "Distracting," under his breath, to Jack's delight. He set the pen down, and reached into an inner pocket of his jacket to withdraw a slim case.
But came up empty.
Jack watched him pat his chest; Ianto was an impressively quick thinker, because Jack saw the moment that Ianto's panicked confusion shifted to furious realisation. He stepped fluidly away as Ianto pushed back from the desk and stalked towards him.
"Give it back," the young man demanded.
Jack held up the case of spare parts that he'd palmed from Ianto's jacket, and into his pockets, when he'd leaned in to look at his drawings. He gave Ianto a winning grin, and watched as the man struggled to regain the upper hand.
"Give it back to me, and I'll drop you off wherever you need to be," Ianto bargained. It was a good bargain, really; Jack had everything to gain. And yet.
"I can't," he said, with a shake of his head. "I'm not going to let you take John back if it's against his will. So, tell you what." He slipped the case back into his pocket, and took a seat on the bed beside John, who was watching the scene with unconcealed glee.
"You can have it back, if you go out on a date with us."
To Jack's immense pleasure, Ianto actually seemed to consider it. He gave Jack a wary look as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And what would a date entail in 1899?"
Jack paused. He looked at John, who gave him a 'don't look at me' shrug, but a 'you're getting a blowjob later on for coming up with such a good idea' eyebrow waggle. The problem was that Jack hadn't done anything remotely date-related since the Doctor and Rose, and that hurt too much to think about.
"Anything the gentleman desires," he deflected smoothly instead, with a wink to Ianto. That earned him another eye roll.
And then Ianto pulled at his necktie, undoing the knot and sliding the length of it through his fingers, before tucking it into the pocket over his chest. He started to undo the button at his throat. "Right, so just a couple rounds of sex, then."
Jack's mouth fell open slightly in shock, while John the even-more-opportunistic had already eagerly stripped out of his shirt and whipped off his belt.
"Eye Candy, finally something we agree on–"
"Woah, woah, woah! No!" Jack grabbed John's wrist before John could do that shimmy and flick of his to get his trousers off, because then that really would be impossible to come back from. "I mean, yes, but that comes at the end of the date!"
Ianto stared at Jack, and then his shoulders started to shake as he swallowed down a laugh. He put his hands on his hips, the movement causing him to push the sides of his shirt open, exposing dark hair and an expanse of skin that Jack couldn't resist staring at.
"Are you trying to 'woo' me, Captain?" He asked, amusement thick in his low tone.
"I'm trying to get you to get to know John, enough to rethink dragging him back home." He shook John sharply too, because the man was clearly not thinking as he popped the button of his denim open with one hand. That caught John's attention, and his lustful gaze turned coquettish as he smiled at Ianto.
"Yes, I'd love for us to get to know each other, Eye Candy. I'd love to know how loud you scream when I–"
"I really don't see what more I need to know about you," Ianto interrupted, looking like he was about to stab John with a fountain pen. "You make me sick."
"Okay, for the record, since we're going to end up in bed at the end, I just want to put it out there that I'm pretty into vomit."
Jack pinched his thigh. "John."
Ianto’s gaze lingered a moment longer on John’s shirtless torso, before he gave them both a flat look. "Atrocious bed manners aside, that single brain cell you two share must have some date ideas. What’ve you been doing while you’ve been stuck here?”
Jack and John shared a glance, and memories of copious amounts of sex. Jack thought back even further, to the five years they'd spent in the time loop together. That had also been a lot of sex, and then an almost terrifying amount of domesticity. John had cooked for him the nights that neither of them bought or stole takeout, and they’d both competed to whisk each other off to exciting and dangerous locales. Other than that… They'd both been focused on figuring out what had gone wrong to trap them in the loop, and Jack had spent all of his other spare time researching anything he could in his search for Gray. And when he'd confided his brother's fate to John, John had helped him with that as well.
"Sex," John answered with a wiggle of his hips, when Jack was silent as he mentally probed at the strange feeling of being guilty with how he'd been treating John recently.
Ianto snorted. "Something to look forward to, then."
They ended up at a table off in the corner of a pub, because Jack thought that it was the only public place that he'd trust John marginally to behave in. Ianto, he noticed, seemed to have an impressive ability to blend and fit in, for someone who hadn’t been trained as a Time Agent. He didn’t gawk at anything in the archaic setting around him, and propped an arm behind him on his chair with casual ease.
When they took their seats, each of them equidistant from the other around the round table, Ianto immediately prompted: "Alright, the ‘getting to know you’ part. Go ahead. Tell me what I should know about John, then."
John smirked across the table, as he leaned backwards and rested his legs so far akimbo that his feet were purposefully nudging the boots of the other two men. Convenient, really, for Jack to step on John's foot when John drawled, "Well, you should know that I appreciate foreplay, Eye Candy, and you're doing an abysmal job at it right now."
Ianto's face looked even more foreboding and impassive, and Jack hid a wince, because while he'd love to flirt his way into making Ianto laugh, having John doing his best to annoy the man was an unfair setback.
"I looked into your file, when my family first informed me about the marriage," Ianto said calmly, gaze boring into John's. "You've racked up quite a list of demerits at the Time Agency, haven't you? And your official records are dubiously accurate after that time loop you and another agent were caught in."
Ianto shifted his unimpressed gaze to Jack instead. "Were you that other Time Agent, Captain?"
Defensively, Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "Ex-Time Agent."
Ianto tipped his head back to the ceiling, puffed his cheeks, and blew out a long, slow breath of air. "And is there anything that you actually are?"
Jack leveled his gaze at him. "What I am is serious about keeping you from taking John away."
John preened, murmuring, "Aww, Sugar Lips, you do care," before sauntering off to the bar to get drinks. Jack hoped, anyway. Ianto's gaze flickered to John for a moment, before fixing back on Jack.
This time, there was genuine confusion on his face, which made him look years younger. He leaned over the table, voice lowering. "Why are you helping him?"
To Jack’s surprise, the words came more readily and easily than expected. And he found that he meant every word of it. "Because he's been here for me, when no else has been. When I needed him the most.”
Jack hadn’t died once in the months that John had been around. John was particularly good at keeping himself out of harm’s way, which had included Jack for just being in close proximity during encounters with the Rift, and Jack certainly didn’t expect John to step into danger for him, but it was still a drastic improvement in his life compared to the cavalier attitude he’d had while on his own.
“And believe me, before he showed up, he was the last person I thought I'd want to see. I spent five years getting to know him, inside and out, Ianto. I know you want to do what's best for your family, but I need to look out for John. And nothing good will come of him being around his family again."
He watched as Ianto regarded him, a faint trace of surprise in his expression that melted into something bittersweet and nostalgic.
"You really care about him."
With a huffed groan, Jack nodded, defeated. "I do."
Yet there was an open regard in how Ianto looked at him that gave Jack a faint hope that he'd reached Ianto. To his delight, they shared a small grin.
Ianto looked down at the table, stained with water and beer rings. "I'll think about it," he said, after a moment, and Jack beamed widely.
"Thank you," he enthused, and grinned even wider when Ianto's gaze flicked up to him, bright under the fan of his eyelashes.
"So!" John announced loudly, as he made his way back to the table. His hands were empty, and Jack felt a sense of foreboding. "Funny story. You know when you flirt with a real looker, and her husband catches you giving her a little tickle, because–"
A glass went sailing over John's head, and shattered against the wall. He grinned at Jack and Ianto. "Er. Oops?"
They all scrambled from the table, as a full bottle of whiskey hit the boards at John's feet with a sickening thud at the same time as the thick-necked husband from across the bar roared at John about just what he was going to do to his prick.
Ianto shoved Jack and John out of the pub door, and they ran a few blocks, until they couldn't hear angry shouting following them anymore.
"Whew," John said, catching his breath, while Jack laughed as the adrenaline coursed through him.
To his delight, he saw a smile curling over Ianto's own mouth, and his cheeks were flushed slightly from the running and chill of the cold wind whipping at him as he ran. "Let me get this straight. Your idea of a date is hitting on someone else, while your dates wait on you to get the drinks? That was…" He checked his VM. "Yep. Eight minutes. The shortest date I've ever been on. Congratulations."
John smirked, and sauntered over to rest his hands on Ianto's hips. Jack watched hungrily as Ianto didn't step away, and instead lowered his hand to ghost his fingertips over the buckle of John's belt.
"I looked you up too," John drawled, his hands slipping under Ianto's jacket, swaying even closer. "You've been withholding information from us, Eye Candy. I know for a fact that you're the only one of us three who's scored a real fiancee."
Jack saw how Ianto jerked, uncontrolled shock flashing across his face. "John," he started, warningly, but John just turned his gaze sultry as he continued.
"My family, as you can guess from their positively ancient predilection for arranging marriages, has no concept of romance. I could use an expert — preferably one in pants as tight as yours—"
"This was a mistake," Ianto blurted, and backpedaled away from John. "I don't know why I… How could I–"
"Aw, come on, Ianto," John cajoled, "Show us your moves, and I'll show you some that you can take right back home to her. I'm sure she'd love to hear about your steamy sex experience with us. It could really spice up your sex life–"
"She's dead!" Ianto shouted.
In the shocked silence from the two men staring at him, Ianto had the universal look of stricken fear. He needed to get away, right now, before Jack and John saw him crumble. He whipped around, stepping away from Jack as Jack took a step towards him, and pelted down the road.
"Ianto!" But the man disappeared around the corner, and Jack shut his eyes, cursing.
There was a scuffle of boots against the dirt road, and John came to stand beside him. His voice was quiet, albeit defensive, when he said: "I didn't know."
Jack scrubbed a hand over his face. "I believe you."
"I didn't mean to chase him off.” John cleared his throat. “But we do still have his spare parts. That’s our ticket out of here. We could fix up your VM and be gone by the morning."
Jack turned to look at John. "Yeah."
There was something in John’s guarded expression that gave Jack hope. What he’d said to Ianto in the pub had made him realise that John could still surprise him, and that maybe he didn’t want to write him out of his life after all.
With a sigh, John sourly looked down at the ground, and kicked at it. "Where do you think he's gone?"
Jack hid a small grin, but he stepped closer to John and pulled him in by the back of his head to kiss him, warm and proud of him. He felt John surge up against him, his tongue thrusting into Jack’s to make it wet and filthy, but Jack refused to let him and cupped John’s face, slow as he brought their mouths together in a series of kisses.
“You fucker,” John breathed as he wrenched his head back, but fisted his hand high up in Jack’s shirt as if threatening to choke him. His gaze was bright and brittle, one push away from lashing out. “Don’t do this to me – Not if you don’t mean it–”
It didn’t matter what name John was wearing; he was still too good at getting under Jack’s defenses. Jack stroked his neck. “I never thanked you for looking out for me, these last couple of months.”
“Jack–”
“I forgive you,” Jack murmured. “For not running away with me.” He felt John’s grip go slack at his throat, and grinned a little at the confusion on John’s face, before John hid it well and smirked at him, smoothing his hands up Jack’s chest.
“I’m impossible to stay angry at, I know. Irresistible, as representatives of at least twelve law authorities across the Tau-Ylaine System would say.”
“Only twelve?” Jack gave John’s ass a light smack, and then tugged him by the arm to follow Jack down the street. He had a hunch where Ianto might have run off to. “You’re slipping.”
John scoffed. “Speaking of slipping, how would you rate our chances of slipping Eye Candy into our bed at the end of the night, still?”
“Our bed?”
“You still like me,” John taunted, ghosting his own hand over Jack’s ass. “So yes, our bed.”
Jack grabbed John’s wrist, and caught his gaze with a stern look. “You need to apologise to him.”
Tugging his hand away, John shoved both hands into his trouser pockets, fondling the grenade Jack was sure he kept tucked away there. “I know. But come on, even my sex therapist said that grief-fucking can be a useful way to cope.”
“You went to sex rehab?”
“You don’t have to sound like you’re that shocked I went,” John sulked. “Even if it was under duress.”
“That’s more like it,” Jack smirked. He led John around another corner, now entering a district where the buildings were more stately, with a lamp lit on every corner and small flourishes befitting the streets closer to the city’s centre of business and Bute Park. “But you can’t push someone who’s grieving.”
“Even though he’s missing out?” John whined.
“Even though.” Jack couldn’t keep the wistfulness from his tone, however. He wanted to see what lay beneath Ianto’s serious demeanour, wanted to see him shake and come undone under Jack and John’s talented hands. The sheer tenacity Ianto had already displayed at tracking John down made Jack certain that there was so much more to the man.
John made an exaggerated sound of disgust, as he tipped his head back and stared balefully at the night sky. “Why did you have to go and get all responsible on me?”
“You love it,” Jack smirked, and John had nothing to argue against that.
They reached the edge of Bute Park, beyond which lay Cardiff Castle. The most ancient site nearby — far too tempting to resist for someone in Ianto's profession. People were still complaining about the Bute family's decision to close the grounds to the public, but it made it easier for Jack and John to slip past the gates and over to the buildings, prowling around the perimeter of each until they found the signature of Ianto's VM, which had been used to unlock a servant’s entrance.
Breaking and entering a castle when he was upset. Jack liked his style.
When he had tracked the signal from John’s Vortex Manipulator to 19th century Cardiff, Ianto had hoped that he’d have time to visit the castle. Granted, it wasn’t high hopes, given the general state of chaos that John seemed to leave wherever he went – but Ianto had to give himself something to look forward to.
There wasn’t really anything else in his life anymore, but the promise to his family to track John down. Lisa was gone – over four years now, and that time was a steady weight pressing down on the dull ache in his chest. Yvonne and all of the plans she’d had for the colony were gone as well. Ianto had survived to keep fighting the Cybermen, until they were gone, and River Song – the woman who had arrived to turn the tide – had seen an angry, grieving soldier and given Ianto a new purpose. But then, just a few months before his family contacted him about Rihannon’s arranged marriage, he’d learned that River was gone as well. She was a time traveller, so perhaps he’d see a past timepoint of her one day, but she had arranged for a message to be sent to him on her death. At the end of the message, she’d written, The universe awaits, and enclosed directions to a safebox where a Vortex Manipulator was waiting.
Ianto hadn’t planned to use it, apart from some useful teleporting – while staying in his own time, thank you very much. But then his family had decided to settle on Planet Five. It was a practical choice; Ianto understood that everyone from his home planet was exhausted from fighting, and reeling from being evicted by the Shadow Proclamation from their own homes. In the face of that upheaval, there was an allure to a planet where there was already a place in society for humans.
And now that his family had a reputation to trade on, they hadn’t let that opportunity go amiss in allying themselves with one of the strongest powers on the planet. Still, Ianto had hoped that Rhiannon would have pushed back against their family’s plans – but no, both she and Johnny had agreed, ready to do their duty for the family. And besides, they’d been certain that they could convince Rhiannon’s intended husband to agree to a marriage that was only on paper, given John’s reputation.
Except, that hadn’t panned out, had it? And now Ianto, the dutiful brother, had jumped through time and was the one having to deal with how infuriating John was. After the year – the life – he’d had, the least he could have was a visit to an ancient castle.
The castle was quiet at this time of night. Only a few of Lord Bute’s security roamed the grounds, while the rest of the staff were either asleep, as Ianto slunk past their sleeping quarters, or out in town. Some might even be frequenting the building that Jack lived above.
River would have loved this, Ianto thought. Well, more accurately, she would have loved to know that he was trespassing, while the aristocracy of the castle slept, unaware, in their residential tower. He sighed quietly, missing her.
Trust River to know him so well that she’d predict that Ianto would lose his interest in the work once she was gone. She’d never cared that Ianto didn’t have an education in archeology in the first place; she’d put him on her team, and he’d learned everything in the field. In the end, she was sending him out to oversee research projects in her name, and that trust had meant a great deal to Ianto. He hadn’t even hesitated to entangle his life in that of another employer’s, although perhaps he should have learned from Yvonne and questioned the wisdom of getting drawn into another person’s gravity like River’s.
As he meandered through the beautifully restored hallways and grand rooms, Ianto was careful not to touch anything, but he slowed and stopped at times to soak in the details. The carpeting was decadently patterned under his feet, and a thousand years of history was depicted in the art and sculptures along the hallways, as he took heavy steps up the Octagon Tower. They spiraled upwards to the vast sitting room that was his intended destination: a calm place for him to try and settle the storm of confusing thoughts and conflicting desires that being around John and Jack had already caused.
Ianto supposed that he was just the sort of person who gravitated towards those larger-than-life personalities. How else could he explain the fact that tracking down John had made his life feel like it had meaning again? He’d sworn off adventures, yet here he was, three thousand years out of his own time and still shaking off the ill feeling of time sickness – and nothing had compared to the thrill that he’d felt in Jack’s room, when he'd seen the look of desire and want on John and Jack’s faces.
It had always just been Lisa for him. Ianto had been fine with wearing his grief like armour, using it to justify to his family why he couldn’t live with them anymore, and why he’d needed to go with – run away to – River Song and her work. Work that sent him everywhere across the galaxy, and kept him busy with unearthing ancient history, while he built his own temple to Lisa’s memory and to the colony of friends he’d lost, and then locked himself inside it.
But there was something in how quickly John could make his blood boil and get under his skin that made Ianto want to prove himself in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. The desire was like how he’d once worked so hard to make Lisa see that he was more than she’d thought he was. And Jack’s protectiveness for John had hooked something inside Ianto, something that he respected and resonated with. There was so much more under Jack’s brash and loaded smiles that Ianto wanted to dig deep into and unearth.
He thought about what Lisa would have encouraged him to do, and what advice Yvonne would have flippantly suggested – she was always so confident that her opinion was the right one to have. River would have given him one of her typically enigmatic non-answers, to help him to solve the problem of the guilt that weighed him down now. How was he supposed to reconcile how he felt with the duty he had to his family? He loved them, even if he had never fit in with them.
Ianto hadn’t come to Cardiff for himself, but in this ornately decorated room, he was surrounded by the evidence of human indulgence in every gothic sweep of detailing around the fireplace, and the intricate gold-plating that glided up the towering walls and around the shards of stained glass. It made him want. He wanted to indulge in something that was just for himself.
The castle’s security and staff were child's play to avoid, and after a bit more exploring, John and Jack found their way up an ornately furnished octagonal staircase, boots sinking into the plush carpeting. The staircase opened up to a room that swept upwards to a tall, vaulted ceiling, intricate arches and painted finery circling above them. The moonlight filtered down through the stained glass windows, touching the deep shadows cast by the armchairs and bookshelves before Jack.
Sitting in an armchair by the unlit fireplace, head propped on his fist, Ianto watched as they reached the landing.
He was silent for a few seconds, before he spoke, quiet and neutral. "Impressive.”
Jack gave John an expectant look, and John rocked back on his heels as he swallowed. “I’m sorry.”
Ianto looked as uncomfortable as John did, but he answered, quietly, “Thank you.” Then, he gestured with a tilt of his head for the two to take a seat across from him. Jack knew better, though; he was all too familiar with the grief that made Ianto's too-bright eyes gleam, so instead, he walked over to lean against the side of the armchair Ianto was in. He set his hand down an inch from Ianto’s elbow, while John settled himself to lean against the fireplace, one ankle crossed over the other.
Ianto stared at Jack’s hand, so close to touching him, and he took a deep breath to fortify himself. He started, in a raw voice, “Her name was Lisa. I loved her, more than I’d ever felt before. She made me like my flaws, even though she never let them slide either."
"What happened to her?" Jack asked.
"Cybermen." Ianto shut his eyes. "I wasn't an archeologist, back then. Just an administrative assistant to the colony director. Lisa worked in the same area where the origin point was. The conversions… Happened so fast. We'd lost half of the city in just that first hour, when everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on."
"I'm so sorry."
Ianto shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it with a frustrated look that Jack understood well.
"It's impossible to make yourself talk about her, isn't it?" He thought of the nights he'd stayed awake, listening to John's breathing beside him and trying to find the words to tell him, I met a girl, and a man. You wouldn't have taken them seriously, but I loved every minute with them. And I’m afraid I’ll forget them, if I can’t talk about them – everything that they meant to me.
"Like I'm reliving every moment with her in my head, but I can't even start a sentence," Ianto agreed, hoarsely. “It’s been years.”
They shared an understanding look that was more grimace than grin. But it was honest, and it had Ianto looking between Jack and John. Ianto opened his mouth to speak, one hand hovering over Jack’s. "I'm sorry–"
John interrupted him by loudly clearing his throat, and rocked back on his heels; the only tell that he was feeling out of his depth here. "Right. So. Eye Candy, you’re the historian–”
“Archeologist–”
John waved a hand flippantly. “What is this place?"
For a moment, Ianto looked cautious and a little taken aback. But then a small spark lit up in his eyes, and he started to talk about the history of the tower. Jack hid his grin as he saw the tension ease from Ianto’s posture as he spoke. And when Ianto finished, looking better, he scrutinised John, who was looking pleased with himself for the sufficient distraction.
Jack found himself feeling proud of him again. They were all silent for a few moments longer, the atmosphere as relaxed as it had ever been with the three of them together today, but Jack could still feel the underlying charge that ran between them. He thought about testing the waters with Ianto again, and leaned down, ready to try, when Ianto ran a hand through the hair on the back of his head, and sighed.
"Alright.” He seemed resolved, when he said, “Since you managed to find me, I'll admit—" He looked between them, and a small smile curled at the corner of his lips. "I do still really want to have sex with you both."
John sucked in a breath, a smug, wide leer breaking over his face, but Jack needed to be sure as he rested a hand on Ianto’s shoulder. "Are you sure—"
His question was cut off as Ianto pushed himself out of his seat, and grabbed both sides of Jack’s face to pull him into a kiss. “Yes, Jack,” he murmured before he curled his tongue over Jack’s upper lip, managing to sound both touched and exasperated.
John was already across the room and plastering himself up against Ianto’s back, his fingers undoing Ianto’s belt and making Ianto breathe a harsh pant up against Jack’s mouth. It sent a flash of heat down Jack’s spine.
“Oh, I can’t wait to report back to my therapist about whether or not grief-fucking in a castle makes the sex even more therapeutic,” John smirked as he dragged his teeth and tongue up Ianto’s neck, and Ianto muttered, “Un-fucking-believable.”
And yet it was Ianto who proved to be the one with the most ideas of what could be done on the tower’s furniture, before one of them – John – shouted too loudly and they’d had to run out of the castle before the guards could catch sight of them.
“Pity – could’ve had an orgy,” John snickered as he leaned into the shadows of a tree in the park to tug his trousers properly closed, while Ianto – who was also surprisingly the most efficient at dressing himself while on the run – helped Jack settle his cape across his shoulders. Jack was sure it was mainly an excuse to touch him, which was all the better, especially when Ianto clutched Jack's shoulders while he laughed.
The next morning, when Jack woke, he found John wrapped around behind him, his ex-partner's face smushed against Jack's shoulder and his lips fanning warm breath over his skin. Although truth be told, John had really taken a knife to the ‘ex’ part of the relationship and all but carved it away.
Jack turned his head to see Ianto, fully dressed and seated in the chair by Jack's small writing desk, watching him. Ianto gave him a small smile, which Jack returned with a blindingly wide grin. Oh yeah, Jack Harkness could defuse any situation.
"Come back to bed."
"So John can kick me in the spleen again? I'd rather not."
"Don't punish me for John's sins," Jack mock-complained. "C'mere and say good morning." He dragged his hand through his hair, deliberately stretching out his torso, and saw Ianto's eyes darken.
Good morning indeed, as he stroked his tongue over Ianto's, and nipped at his lips before kissing him firmly again, and hauling Ianto bodily back onto the bed and Jack. Ianto responded beautifully to each grab and stroke of Jack's hands over his body, pulling him to settle over Jack, and Jack blamed the warmth of the early morning and the brightness of Ianto's eyes, as he mouthed down Ianto's throat and asked directly, "So did we convince you to stay a little longer here?"
"I'll tell you when John's awake," Ianto answered, and dipped his head to catch Jack's mouth with his again. "Promise I’ll make the wait worthwhile.”
John woke up soon after, when Ianto was panting and sinking beautifully down onto Jack's cock, a new feeling for them both after they'd spent last night mainly indulging in John's eagerness to have them in both his holes.
"Happy birthday to me," John purred, as he reached over to drag his hand up and down Ianto's cock, as Jack held Ianto still by his hips and ground up into him.
"It's not your birthday," he and Ianto both groaned at the same time.
John just smirked, shrugged, and replaced his hand with his mouth.
This time, Jack made sure to settle, half-seated against the headboard, between Ianto and John, because John really did have a habit of letting his limbs get everywhere. Building up an immunity to the inevitable bruises took practice. This gave him the bonus of the feeling of Ianto's arm slinging around his waist, as Ianto propped himself up on one elbow to address John.
"I'd like to suggest a compromise."
John lifted the arm he'd covered his eyes with, to stare at Ianto with a smug smile. "I'm listening."
Ianto took a small breath. "You and I get married instead."
John looked surprised, as Jack tried to make sense of the sudden fear that plunged ice-cold in himself. "Seriously?"
"Yeah." Ianto fidgeted slightly, his fingers skating over Jack's sternum. "Your family only cares that you marry a Jones. My family… It should've been my duty anyway, but they were respecting my mourning period." Ianto glanced at Jack, and there was a certain tinge of peace across his face that Jack hadn't seen before.
"I think I've been doing that for too long," he said quietly, then looked back at John. "We can get it done wherever – you strike me as someone who likes the Vegas Galaxies. Then I'll take the evidence back home, inform them that you send your regards, but really can't make it back, and we let them continue their power plays. The same offer my sister gave you stands – you’re free to do whatever and go wherever you want afterwards."
Jack looked at John, both silently urging John to take Ianto's offer, but also finding himself a little jealous. Of course, they were only doing it to play their parts for their families, but… He couldn't stop the thoughts of the Doctor and Rose. Two others who'd had a stronger connection with each other than with Jack. And who had left Jack in the end.
John nodded, completely serious. "All right. You’ve got a deal."
Everything that followed was almost perfunctory with how efficiently Ianto planned it. He finished repairing his VM, with Jack's help, and Jack posted a letter to Charles informing him that he and John had left. Jack wouldn't miss the time period, or Torchwood.
Ianto jumped them all to Pezzar-F12, and while Jack and John worked on repairing their VMs, he excused himself to make some other purchases. When he returned, it was with marriage documents for John to sign, which were already signed by a licensed authority from the Vegas Galaxies. They really knew how to cater to that group of people who couldn't even wait to get to Vegas to get hitched. He also produced two rings – "It's a Jones family custom to use silver," he rolled his eyes, when John complained that it wasn't gold – and Jack watched them slide their rings on with a feeling of envy that he had become familiar with over the past two days.
It wasn’t that he envied what they had. It was more that this was something that he couldn’t share in.
Ianto then turned to him, and held out a small, circular disc with a silver chain. There was a light flush over his cheeks, which was endearing and had Jack reaching out to wind an arm around his waist.
"When we were in Cardiff, I saw a lot of men carrying something like this," he said, ignoring Jack's raised eyebrows, because Ianto had spent, at most, an hour total outside on the streets. "I thought you might like something to remember it by, now that you're no longer stuck there."
Jack took the object with a pleased warmth kindling in his chest, and pressed the button to see the watch face inside it. For an antique, it was well-kept. "Thanks, Ianto," he smiled, heartfelt, and knew that he'd keep it to remember Ianto – and John – by, rather than any other experience he'd had in the 19th century.
Ianto returned his smile, although his was slightly nervous. "And–" he started, but that was when John interrupted with a loud tutting noise.
"I'm bored," he announced, while he handed Ianto the documents he'd signed. "Eye Candy, let's record a message for my family so we can all move on."
Ianto's eyes had narrowed at being interrupted, but he focused on the task and flipped open his VM. John took a few paces away from Ianto and Jack, and with a press of a few buttons, Ianto pointed his VM in John's direction. "Recording now."
John settled his hands on his hips, and smiled coldly. "Mazne wansha, family. As you can see, I've done my duty – yes, yes, perfect son, never contact me again. But you know what?" His tone was taunting now, and Jack eyed him warily, wondering if he'd need to intervene before John wound himself up too much.
John smirked, leaning in slightly as if he were sharing a secret. "The sex is great. One of your plots has actually, finally, made me happy. How does that feel? I’ll tell you how I feel – Ianto fucked me so hard on our wedding night last night – well, not that we stopped until an hour ago to get presentable for this vid, and that's only because you've got me dick-whipped, Honey Bunches," he winked at Ianto, who was looking ready to shoot him, while Jack struggled not to laugh.
"So you see, I'm far too busy getting our little love nest set up to come and break the news to you," John bragged. "But I'm sure you'll be so very preoccupied with your new power plays to miss me. You’re welcome. Oh!"
John threw his arm around Jack's neck, and hauled him into view of the recording. Jack knew well enough to follow his lead, and blew a kiss in the direction of Ianto's recording. "And my other lover’s here as well!” “Partner,” Jack corrected, on a whim, and didn’t regret it when John froze for a moment, before clearing his throat. “You remember him – well, actually, you don't. Too bad. Rear of the Year, 5094. He's keeping me company while Ianto's off delivering my message, but we both miss him desperately," he smirked, and Ianto had to muffle his surprised laugh behind his hand. "As you can see, I've got my hands full keeping my gorgeous men satisfied, so… See you when I see you."
Ianto clicked off his VM, and John grabbed Jack's chin and pulled him down for a messy kiss. Jack felt Ianto come to stand behind him, and slip his arms around Jack's waist, as he leaned in to kiss Jack's neck.
"Jack," Ianto said calmly, "Can I shoot him? He called me Honey Bunches."
"Oh, so you do prefer 'Eye Candy.'"
"I prefer you shutting up–"
"Woah, woah woah. Wait. What," Jack said slowly, extricating himself from the two others, "Is going on?"
John and Ianto exchanged looks, before Ianto gave him a small smile. "Well. I'm between jobs, as of now. And I’m not all that keen on staying on Planet Five either… If you could use a hand wherever you're going… I could help? I've got quite the skillset."
"And I can make explosives," John chipped in. "Also, I’m the best sex either of you will have." He gave Jack a look to egg him on. "Come on, let's go see the universe, the three of us!"
Their offer stunned Jack, but the joy he felt that they wanted to stay with him was almost immediately doused when he considered his reality.
"I can't travel," he said, and watched as anger splashed over John's face, and disappointment creased the corners of Ianto's mouth. "I'm waiting for someone – it's how I got myself stuck in the 1800s to start with."
"It's that Doctor person and Rose, isn't it?" John demanded, and snapped, "You talk in your bloody sleep, Jack," when Jack looked shocked that he knew their names.
"I'm sorry," Jack shook his head. "But I have questions that only they can answer, and they're time travellers too. I’m going to park myself in Cardiff, and wait for them to show up. However long it takes."
With a snarl, John stalked away to kick at the nearest wall. But Ianto stayed, watching Jack assessingly.
"What year were you hoping to find them in?"
Jack swallowed. "2006. Look, Ianto–"
"Jack." Ianto stopped him with a hand held at chest-height, and gave him a tight smile. "Just answer me this. If you had to wait a few years before you could meet back up with them, would you be happy spending that time with us?"
"Of course," Jack breathed, and Ianto’s smile grew more real. He stepped in to kiss Jack lightly.
"Alright then. Then let's do that. John!"
"Wait. What? Ianto–"
At the sound of his name, John loped back to them, a scowl still heavy on his face. "What?"
"Could you behave yourself if you had to stay put in the early 21st century for a few years?"
Jack saw John's eyes widen, before he recovered and smoothed his expression into a smirk, as he flicked his gaze over to Jack. "Compared to five years in a time loop? What's a couple more years in a backwater century?"
"I'm serious," Ianto stressed. "We're going to need all three of our Vortex Manipulators to even manage a jump decently close to 2006. If you leave, there's almost no chance you'll make it back to the right year."
Jack broke in, "I can't expect you guys to give up years of your life for that–"
"Shh," John said, and sealed his hand over Jack's mouth to shut him up. "I’m doing this for me. Since you've adopted this ‘being responsible’ shtick, you better make sure you give me a fun time with you and Eye Candy. I expect a lot of sex, Jack. And action."
Jack looked over John's head at Ianto, who had crossed his arms and was grinning at him. His smile was toothy, earnest in a way that made Jack want to do anything to put it on Ianto’s face every day.
"I want to see where this goes," Ianto said, with honesty in his voice. There wasn't much that Jack could protest about that, when it was what he wanted as well.
The brothel where Jack's room had once been was now a movie theatre.
"Tacky," John announced at the sight of the marquee, as the three of them walked out of the alley they'd arrived in. Ianto was leaning heavily on Jack's arm, hand covering his eyes against the bright sunlight while he hated every moment of the aftereffects of time travel.
"It's 1998," Ianto groaned. "What did you expect?"
"You're both such downers," Jack laughed, as he threw his other arm around John's shoulders, and planted a kiss on Ianto's, then John's, heads. He was only eight years off from his best chance to find the Doctor and Rose again, and he had two incredible men who wanted to spend those years in between with Jack. They'd already decided to leave the discussion of what they would do after Jack found the Doctor to a later date, because who knew what would happen between them in the next eight years. There was a very high probability that some of them would try to shoot or murder the others at least once. While Ianto had gone to see his family, and then to gather supplies for what living in the 21st century would require, John had gone and done a few sessions in murder rehab for their sake — but therapy wasn’t magic. And one day, Jack was going to need to figure out how to tell them about his curse.
For now, though, Jack had hope, which he would need in abundance to make sure that plans went as smoothly as it could when it involved the three of them. "So, how about dinner and a movie?"
"A proper, era-appropriate date," Ianto noted approvingly. "You've actually done your research."
"Actually," John cleared his throat. "First, we need to get a hotel. I want that bed that I’ve been promised at the end of the night. Oooh, do they do love hotels in Wales? There’s something sexy about how repressed these centuries are."
Jack looked over beseechingly at Ianto, who sighed and shuffled away from his hold to pull out the map of the city he'd packed away in the side pocket of his travel pack.
"Alright, looks like there's a standard hotel–"
Screaming started from the end of the street they were on, and all three of them snapped to attention. Jack was the one to spot the cause first: a swarm of six-legged, manhole cover-sized animals scuttling across the side of buildings. They were on fire.
Definitely not terrestrial.
As the aliens blazed past them, a jarring sound of tires squealing over the road announced the appearance of a large, black SUV, that careened after the scorched trail.
"Bloody Torchwood," Jack heard some moviegoers behind them mutter.
“I thought that Torchwood was supposed to be a secret organisation,” Ianto remarked dryly, and rolled his eyes at the surprised looks that Jack and John gave him. “One of us had to be prepared. I know everything about the 21st century now.”
Jack shrugged. He’d be damned if he let any of them get involved with Torchwood again. It wasn’t their problem – although, actually, maybe they could do something about the trail of fire that the animals had left across the buildings, which blazed an extraterrestrial purple. The Doctor and Rose wouldn’t walk away from that to watch whatever the movie ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ was about.
He flashed a megawatt grin at John and Ianto. "Change of plans. John. I promised you some action, didn't I?"