Title: Foot Massage Conversations V: Jack’s Back
By: amuly
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Series: 1) Foot Massage Converstions, 2) Foot Massage Conversations Interlude: Full Body Massage, 3) Foot Massage Conversations II: Meat, 4) Foot Massage Conversations III: Origins, 5) Foot Massage Conversations IV: Countrycide
Word Count: 3,073
Rating: R
Summary: Set immediately after KKBB + information from “Virus”; Jack and Ianto reconcile after Jack’s return.
Warnings: Sap, hopelessly-in-love!Ianto. Jack too ^.^ Also, long as hell. Kinda got away from me.
A/N: So, this is what I figure. According to the general timeline, “Sleeper” happens only about a month after KKBB. But by the time we get to “Sleeper”, Jack and Ianto not only seem to have fallen back into their old relationship, but seem to have progressed their relationship into an even more comfortable and happy place. How the hell did they move forward that quickly? Well, they’d have to get started right away, I figure. So there you go. Also, I’m basing my characterization of Ianto’s feelings about this whole thing off that little flicker in his eyes when Jack says “Interested?” in the office. From that expression I call “hopelessly-in-love” Ianto; he’s lost from then on, the darling.

P.S.: For extra credit, see if you can’t pick up on the incredibly subtle and obscure philosophy-student reference. 20 quid says no one gets it :P (Hint: It’s a book title. And shojokakumeii00 can’t answer.)

            The dinner had gone surprisingly well. The team had laughed and joked with Jack, telling him increasingly elaborate stories about aliens they had to face when he was away; including all of the embarrassing mishaps, of course. Jack had laughed until tears were streaming down his face. It felt…good, thought Ianto. It felt right, having Jack back. It almost felt like he had never left. Plus the five star hotel, fine dinner, and day off, all helped ease the transition.

            Once the last of the wine had been drunk and the last bits of chocolate cake licked off the tips of fingers, the team begrudgingly got up and started off to their separate rooms. Each turned to hug Jack and welcome him back, Owen and Tosh first. Gwen seemed to be hanging back, waiting to say goodnight to him last, but Ianto was having none of that. If there was one of them that deserved a private conversation with Jack, it was him. He nodded at Gwen. “Go on then.”

            Gwen smiled stiffly at him, but she acquiesced. Even she could recognize that him and Jack deserved some time to get things…sorted. She reached up and hugged Jack tightly, whispering something in his ear. To Ianto’s surprise, she turned around and hugged him goodnight, too. “Don’t let him off too easy, yeah?”

            Ianto smiled into the hug, watching Jack watch them. “You know me.”

            Gwen pulled away from the hug, holding Ianto at arm’s length and smiling. “Exactly.” She gave him a particularly motherly look and patted him on the arm, before turning and walking off toward her room.

            Now it was just him and Jack, alone, in the hotel lobby. Ianto coughed and looked down at his feet, then up at Jack, then back down at his feet. Out of the corner of his eye Ianto could see Jack was doing something similar. “This wasn’t the date.”

            Ianto glanced up at the abruptness of Jack’s statement. He almost seemed to be…blushing? He seemed to realize how confusing he sounded and corrected himself. “I mean, I…I mean, I’m going to take you on a proper date. Without the team. Not that this wasn’t good, but, yeah. You deserve a proper date.”

            Oh, buggeration. Ianto felt his heart melt, just like it had when he realized Jack was asking him out on a date in the office. Since that one simple question, “Interested?” Ianto knew that he was lost, again. Jack had him, completely and utterly, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

            Ianto sighed and closed the space between himself and Jack. “Come on, Jack. You’ve had a hard day,” Ianto smiled softly, “how about a foot rub?”

            Ianto’s heart pitter-pattered again at the smile that lit up Jack’s face. “Ianto Jones, you don’t know how happy that makes me.”

            Ianto just shrugged nonchalantly. “I have some idea.”

            They walked back to Jack’s room in silence. Every once in a while Ianto would glance over at Jack, or feel Jack glancing back over at him, but they never made eye contact. It was like a game they played: look at the other when he wasn’t looking. Ianto was just glad Jack was back, here, with him.

            Jack opened the door to his room and held it for Ianto, guiding him in with a hand on the small of his back. Ianto told himself that he didn’t shiver a little in pleasure from the contact, but he knew it was a lie. Automatically Ianto helped Jack out of his coat as soon as he shut the door. Carefully he hung it up in the hotel closet; all the while watching as Jack stood awkwardly in the middle of his hotel room.

            Sighing, Ianto turned and gestured to the loveseat. “Boots off, come on.” Jack grinned at Ianto and set to work shucking off his boots and socks, before plopping himself comfortably on the loveseat. Ianto went over to him then, nodding at Jack’s legs, who tucked them up obediently to give Ianto room to sit.

            Once seated Jack rested his feet onto Ianto’s lap. Instantly Ianto could feel months of tension leave himself. Jack was back. Jack was back, and he was here, with him, feet propped up in his lap like he had never left. Cautiously Ianto raised his hands to Jack’s feet and began to rub, thumbs pressing small lines up and down. Jack groaned and Ianto could have cried at the noise. Jack’s feet were under his hands again, Jack was sitting there with him, really there…Ianto swallowed and controlled himself, concentrating on the motions of his fingers and thumbs.

            Ianto had so many questions to ask Jack, but he waited. Jack would only reveal as much as he wanted to, and pushing him wouldn’t do any good. After a moment Jack’s weight shifted and he leaned forward, rubbing a hand up and down Ianto’s arm. Ianto continued his ministrations, but looked over at Jack and smiled. “Really, how are you?”

            Ianto’s smile softened at the concerned – almost scared – note in Jack’s voice. In the face of such honest emotion, Ianto could only reply back equally. “Better. It was…it wasn’t good, at first. It got better. Now it’s good again.”

            Jack nodded, lost in thought. His thumb subconsciously stroked up and down Ianto’s arm, until he broke contact and leaned back again.

            Ianto ventured a question. “And you, Jack? Are you alright?”

            Jack grinned weakly. “Much better, now.”

            Ianto nodded. “Good.”

            They sat in silence for a few minutes, Ianto reveling in the feel of Jack’s skin beneath his hands. He hadn’t felt the smooth, warm slide of it in months; it was like he was dying of thirst and now was gulping down mouthfuls of water. Risking a glance at Jack, he saw his head was thrown back, eyes closed in rapture, lips parted slightly. Quickly Ianto repressed a surge of arousal at the sight. Time enough for that later.

            “Do you want to know what happened?”

            Ianto looked down, embarrassed that Jack had felt him looking. “Only if you want to say.”

            Jack brought his head back up to look at Ianto. His breath caught in his throat: Jack’s gaze made him feel like there was no one else in the world. It was terrified, and vulnerable, and…Ianto broke eye contact and looked back down at Jack’s feet. “I went and found the Doctor.” Ianto nodded, not daring to say anything. “We went to the end of the universe. Temporally, not physically. He told me he could never fix me, that I was…” Jack tilted his head in that little cocky way he did so often, “wrong. Then we came back here. We were following the Master. He’s another Timelord.”

            “Like the Doctor?”

            Jack shook his head. “No. He’s, well, you know him actually. He’s Harold Saxon.”

            “Oh.”

            “Yeah.” Jack laughed. “Well, he took over, became Prime Minister. Then…” Jack swallowed tightly and glanced at Ianto before looking away. “Well, you wouldn’t remember it. But then…there was a whole year that never happened. A paradox-year.”

            Ianto raised an eyebrow as Jack ran a hand through his hair. “It’s hard to explain. Okay, so you know when Saxon killed the President of the United States?” Ianto nodded. “Well, right after that, a whole year happened that nobody remembers. Nobody except those of us who were at the center of it all: me, the Doctor, the Master, Martha Jones –the Doctor’s companion – and a half-dozen others. The Master took over the world, unleashed the Tocalfane, and kept me and the Doctor captive.”

            Ianto’s fingers stuttered in their soothing circles briefly. Jack noticed. “It’s alright, I’m here.”

            “Did he…did he figure it out?” Ianto swallowed thickly.

            “Yeah. He’s a Timelord, he knows just by looking at me.”

            “So…”

            “Yeah.” Jack smiled tightly at Ianto.

            “How many times?”

            “Lost track. Few hundred.”

            “Shit.”

            Jack shrugged off Ianto’s concern. “It’s alright. Martha Jones managed to escape, and went around the world, spreading the word of the Doctor. One year and one day later, the entire world thought the name ‘Doctor’, all at once. Magnified by the Archangel network, the thought brought the Doctor strength, and he was able to defeat the Master. I destroyed the paradox machine that the Master had Gerry-rigged inside the TARDIS, and the entire world reverted right back to the moment after the President was assassinated, before the paradox started.”

            Ianto frowned. “Wait, what was the paradox?”

            “Oh! Oh, sorry, left that part out.” Jack grinned sheepishly. “The Tocalfane were humans from the end of the universe. They had run out of light and resources, so they came back in time to kill all of us off and live here.”

            “So they were killing off their own ancestors.”

            “Yup. Paradox.”

            Ianto nodded. “Where was Torchwood in all of this? I mean, if you were back on Earth…” Ianto frowned, “why didn’t you come to us? We could have helped you, Jack.”

            Ianto felt Jack stiffen beneath his hands. Soothingly he kept pressing circles into Jack’s feet, easing the tension away even as it welled up. “The Master sent you all on a mission to the Himalayas, to get you out of the way.”

            Ianto shook his head. “But once the Tocalfane descended, we must have realized something was wrong. Where were we, Jack?” Ianto’s throat constricted. There were only two answers to his question. Either they had failed Jack, completely and utterly, or the Master killed them. Neither option sounded good.

            “I don’t know. I guess you died; the Master had me tied up on the Valiant, I couldn’t exactly go looking for you.”

            Ianto arched an eyebrow and stopped rubbing Jack’s feet. “You’re lying.”

            Jack pulled his feet away. “No I’m not.”

            “Yes, you are. You’ve got a tell.”

            Jack sidled toward Ianto on the couch, smiling slightly condescendingly. “Ianto, I’m an ex-conman. Conmen don’t have tells.”

            Ianto put on his best patronizing tone. “Well, I suppose the people you were conning weren’t looking where I was.”

            Automatically, Jack’s eyes flicked down to his crotch. Ianto laughed and shook his head. “Honestly, Jack. No.” He nodded at Jack’s feet. “You curl your toes.”

            Jack’s eyebrows shot up and he grinned at Ianto. “Remind me never to play poker in sandals.”

            Jack was close to Ianto; Ianto knew what he wanted. As Jack’s head tilted and he leaned in for a kiss, Ianto pressed his hand to his chest. “No, Jack. What happened to us?” He could see Jack didn’t want to answer, but he needed to know. “Please.”

            Jack slid back down the couch, reluctant to respond. Silently Ianto gathered his feet back up in his lap and rubbed them up and down, reassuringly. For a moment Jack was silent, staring pensively at Ianto’s hands moving over his feet. “The Master found you.”

            Ianto nodded. He figured something like that.

            “He found you, all of you, and brought you in front of me.”

            “Jack!”

            “Ianto!”

            “Oh, God, Jack, what’s he done to you?”

            “Shut up, Ianto, it doesn’t matter. Can you escape? Where are the others?”

            “I…I don’t know. I think…I think they’re dead, Jack. I think he killed all of us. Except me.”

            “Why? Why did he bring you? Ianto…”

            “I didn’t say anything, Jack, I didn’t…”

            “Oh, look at the lovely couple!”

            “Master, what are you doing? Why did you bring him here?”

            “Oh, Jackie boy. I thought you’d like to see your little pet one last time.”

            “Ianto, get away! Please, please, escape…”

            “Jack…”

            “Oh, isn’t this sweet! Sends shivers down my spine, seeing true love. It is true love, isn’t it, Jack? Although…can something wrong like you love?”

            “Ianto…I’m so sorry…Ianto…”

            “Jack, I…”

            “Don’t speak. Don’t give him anything.”

            “Oh, Jack, but I already know. That’s why I brought him here. I captured your girlie first, you know, the tough one. Wasn’t so tough when I was done with her. Told me all about your boy-toy here. Not like it was much of a secret, the way he was combing the galaxy, looking for you. So then I killed girlie, then your doctor, then the pretty Asian girl. Made her watch the doctor die, since she seemed to care so much about him. Finally I was left with Ianto Jones.”

            “I’m sorry, Jack.”

            “Nothing to be sorry for, Ianto.”

            “Oh, this is just wonderful! I get a man who can’t die, and he has a lover who can! Oh what fun we’ll have. Should I drag it out, Jackie? Make it last days and days? Or should I do it quick, then leave him here with you, letting you wallow in your own guilt? So many choices…”

            “Brought only you in front of me.” Jack corrected himself, clarifying the singular in his sentence. Ianto started at the revelation. “He killed Gwen, Owen, and Tosh on his own. But then he brought you to me.”

            “I’m a rather busy man, you know, Jack.”

            “Couldn’t tell, with the time you manage to spend with me every day.”

            “Oh I so like your fighting spirit, Jack! Tell me, does the boy-toy have your same spirit?”

            “If anyone is the boy-toy here, it’s Jack. Now get your hands off of the suit.”

            “Oh, he does! Well, I simply can’t pass up an opportunity like this. Let’s go with dragging it out nice and slow for days. You’ll be begging me to kill your lover, by the end.”

            “I’m sorry, Jack.”

            “I’m so sorry, Ianto.”

            “Tortured you. In front of me. Made me ask for your death, to spare you more suffering.” Ianto stared into Jack’s eyes, seeing the tears well up in them at the memories. “The only thing that kept me going was the thought that the Doctor would fix it. That somehow, you’d come back. You’d come back to me.”

            Ianto swallowed thickly, tears springing to his eyes. “I thought…” He sucked in a breath and tried again. “I thought you left because…because of me. Or, because I wasn’t good enough. Thought you didn’t care.”

            “Ianto.” Jack tucked his legs under himself and crawled over to Ianto. He cupped Ianto’s face in one hand. “Even the Master knew how much you mean to me. You’d have to be blind not to know.”

            Damn him. Damn Captain Jack Harkness. Ianto felt his eyes flutter closed at the touch; felt himself lean into the firm caress like an affirmation of life. He couldn’t help himself: Jack was like a drug, and he was hopelessly and forever hooked. “Ianto.” Ianto opened his eyes to see Jack peering into them. “Do you forgive me?”

            “Jack, you’re a right fool, you know that?” Jack’s face crumpled a little and Ianto sighed. “But you’re my right fool, understood?”

            The relief that washed over Jack’s face was so heartbreaking that tears began to spill from Ianto’s eyes. He leaned forward and the two of them collapsed into the kiss, tears tracking down their faces to mix on their lips.

That night, they…well, Ianto couldn’t call it anything other than making love. That’s what it felt like, to him anyways. It was in the shaking of Jack’s fingers when he prepared Ianto, in the hitch of breath as he entered him, in the groan that came out more like a sob when he said Ianto’s name as he came.

            Afterwards they lay in the hotel bed, limbs tangled around each other in sweaty ecstasy. Jack’s fingers were roaming along Ianto’s body: caressing his face, stroking his hair, running his finger pads up and down Ianto’s thighs and arms and stomach. Ianto sighed beneath his touch, feeling their heartbeats return to normal. He didn’t want this night to end, didn’t want the next day to come and for them to have to return to work and danger and…Torchwood.

            “Hey.”

            Ianto hummed a response and only moved to burrow his face further into Jack’s neck. He breathed deep, filling his lungs with Jack’s pheromones. God, he had missed that smell. He had missed Jack’s smell, and touch, and heat, and just the security he got from the closeness of him and his body…

             “Hey, you awake?”

            “Thanks to you.” Ianto grumbled.

            Jack’s chuckle reverberated through his body, and Ianto wiggled himself into position so he could look into his eyes. “What is it?”

            “Nothing. I just wanted you to stay awake.”

            Ianto sighed. He leaned forward and captured Jack’s lips in a gentle kiss. “I’m here,” he mumbled into Jack’s lips. Jack’s arms tightened around him, hands rubbing up and down his back. 

            “I came back for you.”

            Ianto kissed him again. “I know.”

            Jack sighed into the kiss. Ianto pulled back, frowning. “What do you lose?”

            Jack frowned up at him, blue eyes confused. “What do you mean?”

            Ianto traced a hand down Jack’s jaw line. “What John said. He asked you what it cost you, every time you came back.”

            He could tell Jack’s reluctance in the way his body tensed. “Do we have to talk about it?”

            Gently, Ianto brushed at Jack’s hair. “No. Not if you don’t want to.”

            “You’re too good to me.”

            “I’ll be sure to remind you of that, constantly.”

            Jack’s low chuckle warmed Ianto’s chest. Reluctantly he rolled off Jack, disentangling himself from the sheets and leaving the warm cocoon of the bed. “Hey, where you going?”

            Ianto didn’t bother turning around. “Just to the bathroom, Captain. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

            “No hurry. I’ll just lay back and enjoy the view.”

            Ianto gazed at himself in the bathroom mirror as he washed his hands. Jack had peppered him with hickeys, trying to capture every centimeter of Ianto in his mouth and lave it with his tongue. Thank goodness his suits covered almost everything. He didn’t want to have to explain to Gwen why he had fallen back into Jack’s arms so quickly. No one on the team needed to know about the Year That Never Was besides him.

            Sliding back into bed, Ianto re-tangled himself around Jack, who responded in kind. “So, how long do we have to stay in the hotel?”

            Ianto could feel Jack smiling into his hair. “Oh, until at least this afternoon, definitely.”

            “Mm. Well, I noticed you have quite the large bathtub in this room.”

            “Hm. Interesting.”

            “Lots of things you can do with a bathtub that size.”

            “I can think of a few.”

            “There’s quite a list.”

Next story in series - FMC Interlude II: Bath Time