Transcending Torchwood: Epilogue

[galadriel1010]

11.2.62
Unlike at their first wedding, the restaurant is small and still nearly empty this time. Jack is amused to discover that they created a trend, and that restaurant marriages had been the fashion for over a decade and are now a normal option. Ianto's PA had found them a cancellation at a restaurant in the city, and Ianto had insisted that they take it, complete with the decorations, rather than marry in Torchwood settings again. Now they're there, seated at the head table, flanked by a pair of towering tree lilies with fragrant yellow and pink blooms, with their closest friends and their surviving family, he thinks that Ianto was absolutely right.

The waiters clear away the last plates from the main course and the hum of conversation dies down, everyone turning to the top table to watch Jack and Ianto. Ianto gets to his feet first and rests his hand on Jack's shoulder to keep him in his seat for now. “It's been over fifty years since Jack asked me to marry him and set us on the road we're on now. I don't talk about it much, prefer not to admit it if I'm honest, but I turned him down the first time. Rather than marry the most wonderful man I ever met, I left him and Cardiff and moved to London to work for Downing Street. A year after he proposed, we stood together in front of our family and friends and swore to take care of each other. Torchwood was always going to be our downfall, but... I swore I'd look after him.” He looks down at Jack again and smiles softly. “Absence made this heart grow fonder, and I couldn't risk leaving him behind. Nothing you could have told me over the last fifty years could have made me better than telling me that I'd be standing here today. That I'd get him back.”

Jack stands at last and cups Ianto's cheek, kisses him softly and takes his hand. They won't exchange rings again – neither of them wants to remove them, even for that – so he strokes his thumb over Ianto's ring and smiles at him. “Nothing would have kept me from your side; I would have walked the universe and ripped time apart to get back to you. I didn't get the chance, and I regret that more than anything.”

“All that matters is that I got you back,” Ianto tells him. He turns his hand so that his fingers curl around Jack's and takes a deep breath. They're still married, so there's no legal vows to go through, no paperwork hurdles to cross. There's just them, and what they want to say. “I, Ianto Gethin Jones, stand here today to swear my love and my loyalty to you, Jack Harkness. To you I give my heart and soul, my mind and body, my patience...” he pauses for Jack to chuckle, “and my love. For as long as we have.”

“Ianto Jones.” He swallows hard and grips Ianto's hand. “I, Jack Harkness, swear to be loyal to you, to love, protect, honour and stand by you. I will fight through the night to be at your side, and celebrate every day I spend with you, as long as we have together, I will treasure.”

It's corny, but Ianto's always said that he likes Jack's corny, and the kiss he presses to Jack's lips does nothing to disavow him of that notion. Jack wraps his arms around Ianto and holds him tight, and their witnesses cheer in the background. They don't matter, though. All that matters is Ianto, warm and solid, holding him tightly, cupping the back of Jack's neck to put him exactly where he wants him, deliciously, wonderfully there. They break apart and acknowledge their audience at last, and a faint flush colours Ianto's cheeks and he blinks away tears, rubbing his nose against Jack's cheek. “I love you,” he whispers. “Thank you for coming back.”

Jack holds him tighter and closes his eyes. “You waited. All those years you waited. How could I not come back for that?” They're surrounded by applause that covers their conversation, and he turns to acknowledge it, raising his voice to address them. “I came to this planet by accident; didn't even mean to be here, let alone stay, and I spent so any years here holding people at arm's length, not letting anyone get close because I didn't want to feel the pain when they died or I left. Eventually I got the chance to leave... and I came back. I came back, because I'd found someone who I knew would be worth losing, someone who made the darkness lighter and the days sweeter. I found Ianto.” Ianto looks at him, eyes soft with affection. “I've come so far, seen so much, loved so many, and I saw Cardiff in the nineteen eighties which, to be frank, would put anyone off. But the only place for me to be is right next to this man.” He reaches over and picks up his champagne flute, passing Ianto's to him as well. “So please join me in a toast to Ianto Jones.”

Ianto interrupts him, shaking his head. “Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness, the way it's always supposed to be. To us.”