Caz251's Fiction Both Fan & Original
Title: The Time of Lord Jones
Author: caz251
Prompt: The banner created by CJHarknessgirl for Bookwrm89
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, previous Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Slash, angst, mentions Mpreg
Spoilers: General spoilers for Torchwood and Doctor Who
Word Count: 6698
Disclaimer: Torchwood and Doctor Who, their associated characters, and events are property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies.
Author's Note: Written for the challenge issued by Bookwrm89 .
Summary: Ianto Jones isn’t as human as everyone thought, and as a result of this he and Jack have to go into hiding.
Author: caz251
Prompt: The banner created by CJHarknessgirl for Bookwrm89
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, previous Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Slash, angst, mentions Mpreg
Spoilers: General spoilers for Torchwood and Doctor Who
Word Count: 6698
Disclaimer: Torchwood and Doctor Who, their associated characters, and events are property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies.
Author's Note: Written for the challenge issued by Bookwrm89 .
Summary: Ianto Jones isn’t as human as everyone thought, and as a result of this he and Jack have to go into hiding.
Prologue
It had been six months since Ianto had nearly died, fortunately the Doctor had been able to get the antidote that the young human had needed, only for it to awaken something within the younger man that showed he had not been human at all. It had awoken a mental capacity that was unlike any human, as well as allowing for some memories from his time as a baby to resurface. It was lucky that the Doctor had been there, as he was the most experienced on matters concerning the Time Lords.
Ianto’s unearthed memories had shown them who and what he was, he was one of the few Gallifreyans to escape from Gallifrey before it had burnt. Through examination of his memories the Doctor had managed to piece together what had happened and how the young man had come to be on Earth. When the Council had realised that the time of the Time Lords was coming to an end they had made sure that the race would continue to live on, but had obviously kept the plans as secret as possible as the Doctor had no prior knowledge of them.
They had sent all the newborn Gallifreyan babies off to different times and worlds after sealing their Time Lord consciousness and blessing them each with thirteen regenerations. The children would then lead their lives unaware of what they were, and with no-one knowing that they were a part of the most amazing of races in the universe. When the children died they would regenerate, and with them not being consciously aware of regeneration they would be unable to stop the regeneration process from occurring. With that regeneration they would grow their second heart and their Time Lord consciousness would become prevalent, allowing any remaining Time Lords to locate them.
Jack and Ianto had been travelling with the Doctor ever since, leaving Toshiko in charge of the team. Ianto had come to terms with what he was and was soaking up as much knowledge as possible. His search for knowledge had led to an unpleasant discovery; they had discovered someone supposedly dead, The Master. He had been found on an interplanetary research outpost that Ianto had wanted to visit. The Doctor had dragged them straight back into the TARDIS as soon as he realised that the Master was there.
He then explained the plan that he had hastily concocted, which led them to where they where now, 18th century Cardiff. The Doctor had decided that for their protection they should not be there when he confronted the Master. They couldn’t go back to Torchwood in their own time as the Master knew about the team due to the paradoxical year that never was. The Doctor had been clear that the Master could not find out about Ianto, proposing that they seal away Ianto’s Time Lord Consciousness for his own protection.
Ianto had agreed with him and had undergone the process, using the chameleon arc, to become human. As he hadn’t regenerated and still only had one heart the process only changed his mental structure, instead of changing his internal organs as well. The Doctor had then explained what would happen, how the TARDIS could use Ianto’s memories to write Ianto a history and integrate him into the timeline. However, it was impossible for the TARDIS to do the same for Jack, but Ianto would feel responsible for him in a way and would unconsciously try to integrate him into the timeline.
The Doctor had then dropped them off in what they believed was 18th century Cardiff, technically he was right, the only problem was that it was not the same Cardiff that they had left from, but rather a parallel Cardiff. When they had arrived the Doctor had dropped them in what the TARDIS had made sure was Ianto’s home, as he recognised things straight away, began to move around like he owned the place, and he seemed to fit in perfectly.
Almost as soon as they had arrived the Doctor left, muttering about dealing with the Master and warning Jack not to open the watch that he had been entrusted with unless it was absolutely necessary. Ianto had wondered off somewhere, whilst Jack had been led away, to a room that Lord Jones had set aside for him, by a servant. Jack had only been alone for a few moments before he realised that something was wrong, he had lived through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but this eighteenth century Cardiff was more advanced than the nineteenth had been. The electricity in the, he could only call it a, manor and the indoor plumbing had been the first clues, but thinking that the Doctor had messed up with the time, it wasn’t unusual when the Time Lord was concerned. However, after checking the newspaper that had been left in his rooms, proclaiming the date to be the 9th December 1786, he knew without a doubt that the Doctor had left them in a parallel world.
Chapter One
Jack walked quickly from his room, he had to get to Ianto, to explain what the Doctor had done, how he'd left them in the wrong universe, but then he stopped. Ianto didn't know anything about this, he had no idea that he was a Time Lord or that they had been left here to hide. He had no idea that he wasn't really human, and Jack had no idea what life Ianto now led, there was nothing good that would come from trying to convince Ianto that he was really an alien. Jack didn't know by what circumstances it was by that he came to be staying in Ianto's home, and until he knew how he was acquainted with Ianto he could do nothing that would arouse the other man's suspicions.
The Doctor had told that he couldn't open the watch unless it was dire circumstances and the Time Lord in Ianto needed to emerge, he would wait for now, the Doctor may be able to get back for them anyway and it would be unnecessary to worry the younger man. Opening the watch could put Ianto in danger, while they were no longer in the same universe as the Master there were others who would be happy to get their hands on a Time Lord, for all he knew there may be other Time Lords in this universe and opening the watch would make Ianto noticeable by them.
He knew he couldn't go back to his rooms, quite a few members of the staff had seen him striding purposely away from them, and he needed to keep below the staff's radar, knowing Ianto as he did he would be close to his staff and value their opinion on things. As he walked he came to the large staircase that he had climbed to reach his rooms, he started to make his way down them, hoping to find a maid or someone when he reached the ground floor that could lead him to Ianto. That proved to be unnecessary as he saw the younger man at the foot of the staircase, he carried on down the stairs towards his lover, who looked immaculate as always.
Reaching the bottom of the staircase he noticed that Ianto wasn't paying him much attention, so he cleared his throat, unsure of his relationship with Ianto in this charade they were playing, and unwilling to overstep any boundaries that may be in place. The younger man turned to face him, greeting him and asking him if his rooms were adequate for him, a small smile on his face, although Jack couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t reach his eyes.
Jack wanted to pull him close to him in that moment, and banish whatever memories that the TARDIS had created that made him look so sad, he just wished he knew what Ianto had been through and what they were to each other. Until he knew what had happened to the other man and how close they were he would be unable to make any decisions as to what course of action he should take.
Ianto then led him through to what he was sure must have been the other man's study, the style was just so Ianto, even though his true memories were suppressed and he was living a fictitious life, the man inside was still the same. He still dressed like Ianto, he would have changed straight away after leaving the TARDIS if the suit he was wearing felt wrong, he still acted like Ianto, the only difference was the underlying sadness in the younger man. He hadn't seen the sadness that encompassed him since the younger man had got over the death of Lisa.
They had restarted their relationship properly after he had returned from his time with the Doctor, they had been together before that, but when Jack came back he decided to start over completely. They had begun to date from the beginning as if they hadn't known each other, taking things slow and allowing things to progress naturally. Things had been going well for them, and then the whole incident with the space whale occurred, Ianto being held in the grasp of the idiots in charge of the alien meat business. After that, things had changed between them, they had become even closer, Jack not wanting to let Ianto go, let alone contemplate what might have happened, or what would happen when Ianto died.
Things had been going perfect, and Jack had been ready to propose when Ianto had been poisoned and his Time Lord heritage revealed. They had gone with the Doctor to help Ianto become accustomed to what he was and how he fitted into the universe. Knowing what an amazing time that the trip would be Jack had taken the ring he had bought with him, hoping that he would be able to find the perfect place on their travels to propose to his younger lover. Unfortunately, such a place had not been found before they had to hide, Jack had wanted the time to be right as well as the place, and the young man had not been ready for such another large shift in his life so soon after finding out that his entire existence was a lie.
He fingered the ring in his pocket as he sat down opposite the other man, he had no idea what to do anymore, his beautiful Ianto would know, be he couldn't ask because he was locked up in a fob watch. While this man was Ianto, he wasn't, they were both the same man, and he knew from what the Doctor had told him that as soon as the watch was opened they would stop being separate entities and the two men would join and be one. This Ianto would become part of his Ianto, and in a way, he already was, but to Ianto this life would be like a story he'd once read or a film he'd viewed, maybe even something from his imagination.
Ianto poured them both a scotch before taking the seat next to him, handing him the drink as he did so, "I'm glad you're here." He murmured, not looking up from the bottom of his glass. “I doubt I could do this without you.”
Jack, unsure about what Ianto was talking about, other than him staying at the manor, just nodded, speaking softly, “I’ll always be there for you, whatever you need.” The words seemed to be exactly what Ianto needed to hear as he didn’t press the subject any further, instead they spent the evening in companionable silence. As the evening drew to an end, Jack thought about his plans for that night, working out how to avoid the staff as he snuck to Ianto’s bedroom, but first he’d need to find out where the other man slept.
Ianto managed to eliminate that problem without realising that he was giving the other man access to his most personal of things in the process, his memories. Ianto had walked Jack to his rooms after a light supper, before pointing out his room further down the corridor, reminding the other man where he was, and informing him that if he needed anything that he should call for the staff. Jack nodded to him before bidding him goodnight and entering the rooms provided for him.
Chapter Two
Jack lay awake in the bedroom that Ianto had provided for him, waiting for his lover to fall asleep so that he could find out what the young man believed he had gone through. He knew that it would be a huge invasion of Ianto's privacy, but he had to know so that he knew what had happened and where he fit into the other man's life. He didn't want to talk about something that Ianto had no idea about, or something he shouldn't know about, there was no reason to make anyone suspicious. Everything had to run as smoothly as possible, there would be problems if anyone started to worry about his motivations, he couldn't be separated from Ianto. He didn't know how he would cope if he was made to leave, he wasn't even sure how long he was meant to be staying with the young man, but he had to make sure that the invitation was extended indefinitely.
He waited until the clock chimed 2 o'clock, hoping that Ianto would now be asleep, and that the staff had all retired for the evening. Opening his door silently he walked as quietly as possible to Ianto's room, pushing the door open with one hand, the other enclosed around the device that the Doctor had given him. While the Doctor was not a fan of the idea of just going through another person's mind for information, he knew that it may be necessary, especially in this situation.
Although he may not agree with it, he knew that Jack would have to find out what Ianto had gone through, who he was to him, and more importantly to Jack, if he loved anyone. The Doctor knew that if the TARDIS had given Ianto a family or love interest other than Jack it would probably break the immortal, but he also knew that it would break him more for the person to appear without Jack having any prior warning. It had been for those reasons that the Doctor had given him the device he held in his hand.
It was something that would allow Jack to view someone’s memories in his own mind, with no discomfort for the other person, and also leaving no trace, the Doctor was not sure what it was called only that it was of Kintarian design. The device itself was soft and cylindrical, about the size of a pound coin and made of a fabric not made on Earth. It worked by pulling the memories into the fabric, it then weaved them together in the proper order, and allowed for the memories to be transferred like a movie to another mind.
Jack crept silently over to the bed, placing the little piece of fabric on Ianto's forehead, he then watched the younger man as he slept, whilst waiting for the little device to indicate that it had finished. When the piece of fabric turned from its orange colour to blue he knew it was done and carefully removed it from Ianto's forehead, before backing out of the room as quickly and quietly as possible. Relieved to have gotten out of the other man's room without any hassle, Ianto was a notoriously light sleeper, or he had been anyway, he made his way back to his own room.
Jack sat on the bed Ianto had provided him with, leaning back against the headboard, placing the small blue circle of material on his forehead. He sat there silently, not daring to make a sound that may alert the staff, as he watched his lover’s life flash before his eyes. He watched as Ianto grew from a small child into a proud teenager with the help of his parents. Watching through Ianto’s memories he felt the emotions that were involved with each of them, he was amazed at the strength of them, the TARDIS had done an amazing job of creating Ianto’s life, the emotions so realistic, that the man would never believe his life to be a fake.
A gasp tried to escape him as he arrived at the memories of how he and Ianto had first met, but he restrained himself from allowing the sound to escape his lips. The younger man’s coming out party, the night of his seventeenth birthday. From watching the memories so far he had learnt the rules and values that mattered in the universe they were now in, as Ianto had learnt them through his life.
Although someone is technically considered an adult at the age of sixteen, for the higher classes, of which Ianto was a member, the age of adulthood was that of seventeen. At sixteen they would be seen as pre-adults who would spend a year learning the intricacies of the family holdings. When they reached seventeen a coming out party would be held in their honour, for it to be shown that they were no longer children but now adults, and to introduce them to society. In some cases the party could also be used to announce the engagement of the new adult.
Ianto looked at himself in the mirror, straightening his suit and trying to fix his hair how he wanted it, not in the style his parents had chosen for him. He couldn't believe his parents, why they had to do this tonight, announce his engagement at his coming out party. For once in his life he wanted to be himself and have some fun but as soon as everyone knew he was engaged he knew that that wouldn't happen. His parents and his fiancée’s parents had agreed that the engagement could only be broken out of if both he and Lisa agreed.
As such they had come up with a plan, they would each act the part of the engaged person they were, but if either of them found someone they would rather be with they would break the engagement. Lisa had come of age a year ago, and up till now had not found anyone for whom she cared to be with, Ianto who had been kept away from the majority of society events hadn't even had the chance to look. But now with the engagement being announced they would be forced into marriage within the year without them having a chance to object.
He left his room as the servant, he hated that word they were staff not servants, informed him that his parents were waiting for him, walking from his rooms towards the spiral staircase that would be his presentation walk and lead him to his doom. As he started to descend the stairs he saw a young man, he must have been in his late twenties at least wearing a long woollen type coat standing amongst a group of men wearing the same, he shrugged knowing it was in fashion at the moment, but not understanding why they were still wearing them inside. Although all the coats were the same the one the man who appeared to be the leader of the group wore drew him in, it had to be the coat, as much as he wanted to find the right type of love, he was not attracted to a man. It was the coat, that was all, it made the man look gallant and dashing, there was nothing else to it.
He turned his attention away from the group and carried on down the stairs, reaching the bottom he was joined by his parents. His father called for everyone's attention, not that it was anywhere else anyway, then began to speak. He started by introducing Ianto to the room, then spoke of how proud he was of his son reaching adulthood, before finally calling Lisa to them, telling all the guests of how proud they were to be joining the Hallet and Jones lines together in marriage some time soon.
He felt the eyes of the man in the long coat on him as his father spoke, and he couldn’t stop the slight shiver that passed through him as the eyes ravaged his body. He tried to put the man out of his mind, but as he led the first dance with Lisa in his arms he could feel the burning stare on him. As surreptitiously as possible, not wanting to alert anyone else to what he wanted to know, he leaned closer to Lisa and in a whisper he asked who the man was before spinning her in time with the music so that she could see who he was talking about.
“That’s Harkness, that is. Jack Harkness. He’s one of the Queen’s men, their leader, he and his squad were invited by your parents to represent the Queen’s guard, and your family’s ties to the Royals.” Lisa whispered back. “Why do you want to know?”
“It doesn’t matter. I was just curious.” He replied, even as he felt the stare of the other man on him, searing right through him. He continued their dance, and then he spent most of the night with Lisa, as was tradition in regards to a newly engaged heir at their coming out party. As his future intended it was her role to introduce him to individual members of their society, if the person was still being courted with offers and no engagement settled on the role would have fallen to his parents. Even though he would be the head of their family, because Lisa was older than him, it was up to her to introduce him to the others.
He was out in the large courtyard, taking in a breath of fresh air, hoping to avoid the party for a while and with the party, the eyes that had tracked his movements all night. While he had been able to escape the first, the eyes had followed him, the Captain, how he had become a Captain at his age he was unsure, the man could only be ten years his senior, coming to sit beside him on the bench.
“Happy birthday”, the man said as he sat down next to him, “Are you having a good time?”
Ianto looked at him for a moment, before answering, “Thank you, Captain. The party is different from what I am used to in some ways, but it isn’t bad.”
“Don’t call me captain. You’re not one of my men. The name’s Jack.” Jack spoke, looking at the younger man out of the corner of his eye as he did so.
Ianto smiled, “It always does to be respectful of those who have the favour of the Queen.”
The Captain stared at him for a few minutes before shaking his head, “I’m not in the Queen’s favour, I am but a servant of the crown.”
“Without the favour of the Queen, you would not have reached the rank you possess at such a young age.” Ianto countered.
The other man laughed for a while before he managed to get himself under control, holding out his hand to the other man he spoke, “Dance with me?”
Ianto looked at the proffered hand before deciding that what could it hurt, it was just a dance after all, and no-one else need ever know, this was his private courtyard after all, not a place for guests, even if the mysterious Captain had followed him. They danced around the courtyard to sound of the music from inside, much softer outside than in the ballroom of the manor, with only the lights in the trees as the witnesses to their dance.
After the dance Ianto excused himself, stating that he had to get back to his guests, in reality he needed to get away from the man that was turning his life upside down and inside out without effort. At the end of the evening, once all the guests except for the Hallet’s had left, Ianto could be found closeted in the library with Lisa, their parents’ having already retired for the evening.
"What happened with Harkness?" Lisa asked, shocking Ianto out of his reverie.
"What do you mean? Nothing happened with Harkness, why would you think that?" Ianto replied, wondering how Lisa had come to be able to read him so well.
"He was staring at you for the whole evening, he also caught your attention, when you left the party he followed, then he proceeded to watch you for the rest of the night, and now you’re acting like this." Lisa answered, as if it was obvious.
"Like what?" Ianto questioned.
"Like you've just been handed the entire world on a plate only to have had it snatched away again. You know our deal Ianto, if it comes to it I won't mind. Just in the mean time, be discreet about it won't you, our reputations must survive this intact." Lisa spoke.
"Survive what? What are you talking about Lisa?" The younger man questioned, unsure as to what the woman meant.
"You and Harkness. That's what. There is something between you, even if you haven't noticed it, we know we aren't made for each other, but we can't break things off without an excuse. If it comes to it our split shall be on amicable grounds and your parents should have no problem with someone who has the Queen's favour." Lisa spoke before leaving the room and Ianto to his thoughts.
Chapter Three
Lord Ianto Jones awoke on the morning of the 10th of December with a heavy heart, today was the day that everything would change, it was two years to the day that his wife the Lady Lisa Hallet-Jones had died. And as custom dictated, the two year mourning period was now over and it was his duty to now deal with her belongings, a custom that Ianto believed strange and unnecessary. For the two years following a death, the deceased's belongings all had to stay in the same place that they left them, it was something of a ritualistic practice. Once the two years were up, it was time to sort the deceased's belongings and deal with them in an appropriate manner, it was one of the most horrific rituals of their society, when the healing from the wounds caused be the persons' death were beginning to heal it was time to rip them open again by sorting through their possessions.
Ianto knew that the day was going to be hard, while he and Lisa had been married in name only, they had been married for almost seven years when she died, and their anniversary would be the next week. They had married on the 16th of December after his eighteenth birthday, a marriage that neither of them found themselves able to pull out of. By that time Ianto had fallen in love with another, one of the Queen's Captains, but his parent's dying wish had been that he marry Lisa, and they had gone so far as to hinge his inheritance on the marriage.
The money didn't matter to Ianto, and he had been willing to become a pauper as long as he still had Jack, but Lisa's parents had threatened to disown her if she didn't marry him. While he could deal with his own destitution, he could not do that to his best friend, the person who had been there for him the most throughout his life, whenever he had needed her. So they had married, but in name only, neither of them caring to have children, Lisa not being the slightest bit maternal, and Ianto not wanting to betray his love for Jack by sleeping with Lisa.
Although their marriage was only in name, they both respected the vows they had taken and each other too much to break the vows. Lisa had never found anyone that she felt anything more than friendship for, and would not risk her reputation or honour for a fling with someone she had no feelings for. Ianto had been brought up to believe in the sanctity of marriage, and respected Lisa too much to have anything more than friendship with Jack, even though Lisa had given them her blessings to be together.
Both Jack and Ianto had agreed that they would not disrespect the young woman in such a way, Jack coming to admit that as much as he loved Ianto, he would rather have just his friendship, than not have him at all, which would be bound to happen if Ianto ever broke his marriage vows. They all knew that Ianto would come to hate himself if he did break them, and Jack didn't want Ianto to come to hate him because of it, so friends they stayed, no matter how much more they wished to be.
Jack had been there for him throughout the last nine years, through his marriage to Lisa and he had been there for him after she died, stopping him from falling into depression, because even though they had never been lovers he did love his wife. She was like a sister to her, and her death hit him hard, especially due to the nature of her demise. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, what had started off as a routine hospital check-up had ended in her death. Some Doctor’s had been experimenting with an experimental medicine that would revolutionise the medical world, however they had gotten things wrong. It was not a cure as they had thought but a strain of a deadly virus that had decimated the hospital The Wharf, leaving a mere twenty-seven survivors in the end. Lisa had been in a half-contaminated state, the virus had infected her, but she had been fighting it rather well. Ianto had tried everything that he could to save her life, even going as far as to fly in medical specialists from all over the world, but she eventually succumbed to the virus.
Ianto’s thoughts as focussed as they were on the tragedy that had befallen him two years previous, did not seem to notice the strange and foreign thoughts starting to float around his head. Then all of a sudden his mind came to a halt as his thoughts were overrun with images of a life that was his but not. A life that was so different from his own but yet so similar, the only real constant throughout many of the images however was Jack. He saw Lisa in quite a few of them, and could feel the love he felt for her, a different love than what he felt for his own Lisa, but nowhere near as strong as the love he felt for Jack. As the thoughts began to settle in his head, he realised who and what he was, just as he passed out due to weight of the knowledge he now possessed.
Chapter Four
Waking up, Jack was assaulted by thoughts of the memories that he had viewed the night before, the images reminding him of all that his lover had been through, not only in this life but in their own. He knew that he shouldn’t even think about opening the watch, the Doctor had said that he should only open the watch when things became dire, but he knew that he needed his Ianto with him.
Ianto would know what to do, he was sure of it, even if they had to play at the life’s the TARDIS had created for them and live through the centuries, he would prefer to do it with the Ianto Jones he knew and with the Ianto that knew him. This human imitation likeness that the TARDIS had trapped his lover inside had a Jack in his mind that aged, what would the other man do when he didn’t, it wasn’t something that Jack could bare to think about.
There were so many things that could go wrong in this situation, Ianto could see him die, or that he didn’t age and send him away, something that wouldn’t be safe for either of them. The younger man would also age, he was human, this Ianto would age normally, and if he wasn’t careful he may die. Jack suddenly knew how Martha had felt, she had explained to him about the Doctor’s time as a human when they had been swapping TARDIS travels with each other, but he had never until this moment understood how helpless she must have felt.
She had been stuck in a different time, with no real knowledge of the Doctor’s human history, with aliens looking for him, she also had no real standing of her own. Being an experienced time traveller the whole different time thing hadn’t bothered him, even when the Doctor had left them in the eighteenth century he had been fine. They could just live through the centuries until they reached their own time, but upon finding that they were in an alternative universe he knew that he had to be more afraid than Martha had been, even though her life, unlike his was finite.
Martha had an advantage though, although they were trapped in that time until the Doctor became himself again, they still had the TARDIS and could leave as soon as the Doctor recovered his Time Lord consciousness. He and Ianto had no such option, they were stuck on this world until the Doctor came back for them, if he ever did, or they could find a way back home.
Opening the watch was his only option, he knew it, he wouldn’t be able to live the charade as Martha had done, not on an alien world. One so much like home, but so different at the same time, no to live that life he needed his Ianto at his side to share his troubles with. Steeling his resolve he pulled the watch from his coat pocket, the opposite pocket to the one that held the engagement ring. As he brought the watch up so that it was level with his face he could hear the whispers in that welsh accent that he loved so much, the whispers informing him of what he knew had to be done, “Open the watch.”
He released the clasp on the fob watch, it opening and a golden light escaping from it, Ianto’s voice sounded on the wind as the golden light left the room in search of its body. He knew that it had found its recipient when the weight that was the fob watch turned from the comforting warmth that had been in his pocket to the cold of metal. He left the room quickly bounding down the stairs after Ianto’s Time Lord consciousness, finding the other man he managed to catch him as he passed out.
Jack sat on the floor, his lover’s head in his lap, watching Ianto as he lay unconscious his memories slotting into place where they should be, and his mind recovering from the however short time it had spent trapped in the fob watch. When Ianto started to stir, he began to run his hands through the other man’s hair, to soothe him and let him know that he was there for him. Once he was properly aware of himself Ianto took charge again, questioning Jack about everything that had happened in his absence from his body.
After discussing what had happened, Jack asked Ianto what his superior brain had come up with to get them out of the situation they now found themselves in. Ianto had told them that they carry on the charade the TARDIS created for them, and hope that the Doctor come back for them. There were no other Time Lords in this universe, in the time he had spent with the Doctor and the TARDIS Ianto had become adept at searching for the others in his mind, so they were safe from them. It was only the eighteenth century, and while this universe was a lot more advanced than their own it would still be a few centuries before there was enough technology for Ianto to be able to create something to take them home, so until then they had an act to put on.
Epilogue
Jack had always said that the twenty-first century was when everything changed and that they had to be ready for it, and Ianto had wondered if the twenty-first century was such a time of change throughout the universes. He had his answer. It seemed at least in their own universe, and the one that the Doctor had left him in, that the twenty-first century was when it all happened. They had lived through the centuries on this planet, watching the changes took place and this human race had grown, and luckily Ianto hadn’t really changed.
While this new universe, it was still new two hundred and twenty-three years after they had arrived, was more advanced in many cases than there own there was a few things that this universe lacked; invading alien forces, rifts in time and space and weevils running around Cardiff. It meant that without being in the constant danger that he was used to, and his Time Lord lifespan and antibodies he was as healthy and almost as young as he had been when they had arrived. In the two centuries they had been there Ianto appeared to have aged no more than ten years, making him appear to be about the same age as Jack looked.
The twenty-first century in their own universe was a time of change due to aliens and invasions, but this universes change was all about life. Technical advances in their new universe were almost a million times faster in some areas than their own Earth, Toshiko would love it there with all the new technology she could explore. Now nearly a decade into the century, the changes that had taken place at the turn of the century were now so everyday that no-one took any notice.
When Jack walked towards him in the small town square close to their manor, still cobbled like it had been all those years ago, no-one took notice of something everyone in their own Cardiff would have. Jack pulled him up from the old stone fountain where he sat, it was the fountain that had been there for longer than they had, they had bought the land surrounding the manor so that at least on little piece of the past could be seen through time.
He couldn’t help but let out a small sigh as Jack pulled him as close to his body as he possibly could in his current condition, he couldn’t be happier he thought as he smiled into his husbands’ kiss, or rather there was nothing that made him happier than his husband and the life that he carried inside him. There were times when he wished that they could stay in this universe forever, no matter how much he missed his friends, and even the Doctor, the fact that he and Jack didn’t have to worry about timelines felt great.
He pulled away from the kiss, taking Jack’s hand and threading their fingers together, before insisting on a walk in the park, the fresh air being good for Jack and the baby. As they walked around the large park near their home it was with smiles on their faces as they noticed other young men in the exact same position as them. Ianto had always wondered how, without the use of alien technology, the scientists in this universe had managed to make male pregnancy a reality, but he realised that he didn’t really care. The fact that they had was enough for him, as it meant that Jack didn’t have to hide and he had brilliant medical care. No, he thought to himself, he wouldn’t change this for the world.
It had been six months since Ianto had nearly died, fortunately the Doctor had been able to get the antidote that the young human had needed, only for it to awaken something within the younger man that showed he had not been human at all. It had awoken a mental capacity that was unlike any human, as well as allowing for some memories from his time as a baby to resurface. It was lucky that the Doctor had been there, as he was the most experienced on matters concerning the Time Lords.
Ianto’s unearthed memories had shown them who and what he was, he was one of the few Gallifreyans to escape from Gallifrey before it had burnt. Through examination of his memories the Doctor had managed to piece together what had happened and how the young man had come to be on Earth. When the Council had realised that the time of the Time Lords was coming to an end they had made sure that the race would continue to live on, but had obviously kept the plans as secret as possible as the Doctor had no prior knowledge of them.
They had sent all the newborn Gallifreyan babies off to different times and worlds after sealing their Time Lord consciousness and blessing them each with thirteen regenerations. The children would then lead their lives unaware of what they were, and with no-one knowing that they were a part of the most amazing of races in the universe. When the children died they would regenerate, and with them not being consciously aware of regeneration they would be unable to stop the regeneration process from occurring. With that regeneration they would grow their second heart and their Time Lord consciousness would become prevalent, allowing any remaining Time Lords to locate them.
Jack and Ianto had been travelling with the Doctor ever since, leaving Toshiko in charge of the team. Ianto had come to terms with what he was and was soaking up as much knowledge as possible. His search for knowledge had led to an unpleasant discovery; they had discovered someone supposedly dead, The Master. He had been found on an interplanetary research outpost that Ianto had wanted to visit. The Doctor had dragged them straight back into the TARDIS as soon as he realised that the Master was there.
He then explained the plan that he had hastily concocted, which led them to where they where now, 18th century Cardiff. The Doctor had decided that for their protection they should not be there when he confronted the Master. They couldn’t go back to Torchwood in their own time as the Master knew about the team due to the paradoxical year that never was. The Doctor had been clear that the Master could not find out about Ianto, proposing that they seal away Ianto’s Time Lord Consciousness for his own protection.
Ianto had agreed with him and had undergone the process, using the chameleon arc, to become human. As he hadn’t regenerated and still only had one heart the process only changed his mental structure, instead of changing his internal organs as well. The Doctor had then explained what would happen, how the TARDIS could use Ianto’s memories to write Ianto a history and integrate him into the timeline. However, it was impossible for the TARDIS to do the same for Jack, but Ianto would feel responsible for him in a way and would unconsciously try to integrate him into the timeline.
The Doctor had then dropped them off in what they believed was 18th century Cardiff, technically he was right, the only problem was that it was not the same Cardiff that they had left from, but rather a parallel Cardiff. When they had arrived the Doctor had dropped them in what the TARDIS had made sure was Ianto’s home, as he recognised things straight away, began to move around like he owned the place, and he seemed to fit in perfectly.
Almost as soon as they had arrived the Doctor left, muttering about dealing with the Master and warning Jack not to open the watch that he had been entrusted with unless it was absolutely necessary. Ianto had wondered off somewhere, whilst Jack had been led away, to a room that Lord Jones had set aside for him, by a servant. Jack had only been alone for a few moments before he realised that something was wrong, he had lived through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but this eighteenth century Cardiff was more advanced than the nineteenth had been. The electricity in the, he could only call it a, manor and the indoor plumbing had been the first clues, but thinking that the Doctor had messed up with the time, it wasn’t unusual when the Time Lord was concerned. However, after checking the newspaper that had been left in his rooms, proclaiming the date to be the 9th December 1786, he knew without a doubt that the Doctor had left them in a parallel world.
Chapter One
Jack walked quickly from his room, he had to get to Ianto, to explain what the Doctor had done, how he'd left them in the wrong universe, but then he stopped. Ianto didn't know anything about this, he had no idea that he was a Time Lord or that they had been left here to hide. He had no idea that he wasn't really human, and Jack had no idea what life Ianto now led, there was nothing good that would come from trying to convince Ianto that he was really an alien. Jack didn't know by what circumstances it was by that he came to be staying in Ianto's home, and until he knew how he was acquainted with Ianto he could do nothing that would arouse the other man's suspicions.
The Doctor had told that he couldn't open the watch unless it was dire circumstances and the Time Lord in Ianto needed to emerge, he would wait for now, the Doctor may be able to get back for them anyway and it would be unnecessary to worry the younger man. Opening the watch could put Ianto in danger, while they were no longer in the same universe as the Master there were others who would be happy to get their hands on a Time Lord, for all he knew there may be other Time Lords in this universe and opening the watch would make Ianto noticeable by them.
He knew he couldn't go back to his rooms, quite a few members of the staff had seen him striding purposely away from them, and he needed to keep below the staff's radar, knowing Ianto as he did he would be close to his staff and value their opinion on things. As he walked he came to the large staircase that he had climbed to reach his rooms, he started to make his way down them, hoping to find a maid or someone when he reached the ground floor that could lead him to Ianto. That proved to be unnecessary as he saw the younger man at the foot of the staircase, he carried on down the stairs towards his lover, who looked immaculate as always.
Reaching the bottom of the staircase he noticed that Ianto wasn't paying him much attention, so he cleared his throat, unsure of his relationship with Ianto in this charade they were playing, and unwilling to overstep any boundaries that may be in place. The younger man turned to face him, greeting him and asking him if his rooms were adequate for him, a small smile on his face, although Jack couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t reach his eyes.
Jack wanted to pull him close to him in that moment, and banish whatever memories that the TARDIS had created that made him look so sad, he just wished he knew what Ianto had been through and what they were to each other. Until he knew what had happened to the other man and how close they were he would be unable to make any decisions as to what course of action he should take.
Ianto then led him through to what he was sure must have been the other man's study, the style was just so Ianto, even though his true memories were suppressed and he was living a fictitious life, the man inside was still the same. He still dressed like Ianto, he would have changed straight away after leaving the TARDIS if the suit he was wearing felt wrong, he still acted like Ianto, the only difference was the underlying sadness in the younger man. He hadn't seen the sadness that encompassed him since the younger man had got over the death of Lisa.
They had restarted their relationship properly after he had returned from his time with the Doctor, they had been together before that, but when Jack came back he decided to start over completely. They had begun to date from the beginning as if they hadn't known each other, taking things slow and allowing things to progress naturally. Things had been going well for them, and then the whole incident with the space whale occurred, Ianto being held in the grasp of the idiots in charge of the alien meat business. After that, things had changed between them, they had become even closer, Jack not wanting to let Ianto go, let alone contemplate what might have happened, or what would happen when Ianto died.
Things had been going perfect, and Jack had been ready to propose when Ianto had been poisoned and his Time Lord heritage revealed. They had gone with the Doctor to help Ianto become accustomed to what he was and how he fitted into the universe. Knowing what an amazing time that the trip would be Jack had taken the ring he had bought with him, hoping that he would be able to find the perfect place on their travels to propose to his younger lover. Unfortunately, such a place had not been found before they had to hide, Jack had wanted the time to be right as well as the place, and the young man had not been ready for such another large shift in his life so soon after finding out that his entire existence was a lie.
He fingered the ring in his pocket as he sat down opposite the other man, he had no idea what to do anymore, his beautiful Ianto would know, be he couldn't ask because he was locked up in a fob watch. While this man was Ianto, he wasn't, they were both the same man, and he knew from what the Doctor had told him that as soon as the watch was opened they would stop being separate entities and the two men would join and be one. This Ianto would become part of his Ianto, and in a way, he already was, but to Ianto this life would be like a story he'd once read or a film he'd viewed, maybe even something from his imagination.
Ianto poured them both a scotch before taking the seat next to him, handing him the drink as he did so, "I'm glad you're here." He murmured, not looking up from the bottom of his glass. “I doubt I could do this without you.”
Jack, unsure about what Ianto was talking about, other than him staying at the manor, just nodded, speaking softly, “I’ll always be there for you, whatever you need.” The words seemed to be exactly what Ianto needed to hear as he didn’t press the subject any further, instead they spent the evening in companionable silence. As the evening drew to an end, Jack thought about his plans for that night, working out how to avoid the staff as he snuck to Ianto’s bedroom, but first he’d need to find out where the other man slept.
Ianto managed to eliminate that problem without realising that he was giving the other man access to his most personal of things in the process, his memories. Ianto had walked Jack to his rooms after a light supper, before pointing out his room further down the corridor, reminding the other man where he was, and informing him that if he needed anything that he should call for the staff. Jack nodded to him before bidding him goodnight and entering the rooms provided for him.
Chapter Two
Jack lay awake in the bedroom that Ianto had provided for him, waiting for his lover to fall asleep so that he could find out what the young man believed he had gone through. He knew that it would be a huge invasion of Ianto's privacy, but he had to know so that he knew what had happened and where he fit into the other man's life. He didn't want to talk about something that Ianto had no idea about, or something he shouldn't know about, there was no reason to make anyone suspicious. Everything had to run as smoothly as possible, there would be problems if anyone started to worry about his motivations, he couldn't be separated from Ianto. He didn't know how he would cope if he was made to leave, he wasn't even sure how long he was meant to be staying with the young man, but he had to make sure that the invitation was extended indefinitely.
He waited until the clock chimed 2 o'clock, hoping that Ianto would now be asleep, and that the staff had all retired for the evening. Opening his door silently he walked as quietly as possible to Ianto's room, pushing the door open with one hand, the other enclosed around the device that the Doctor had given him. While the Doctor was not a fan of the idea of just going through another person's mind for information, he knew that it may be necessary, especially in this situation.
Although he may not agree with it, he knew that Jack would have to find out what Ianto had gone through, who he was to him, and more importantly to Jack, if he loved anyone. The Doctor knew that if the TARDIS had given Ianto a family or love interest other than Jack it would probably break the immortal, but he also knew that it would break him more for the person to appear without Jack having any prior warning. It had been for those reasons that the Doctor had given him the device he held in his hand.
It was something that would allow Jack to view someone’s memories in his own mind, with no discomfort for the other person, and also leaving no trace, the Doctor was not sure what it was called only that it was of Kintarian design. The device itself was soft and cylindrical, about the size of a pound coin and made of a fabric not made on Earth. It worked by pulling the memories into the fabric, it then weaved them together in the proper order, and allowed for the memories to be transferred like a movie to another mind.
Jack crept silently over to the bed, placing the little piece of fabric on Ianto's forehead, he then watched the younger man as he slept, whilst waiting for the little device to indicate that it had finished. When the piece of fabric turned from its orange colour to blue he knew it was done and carefully removed it from Ianto's forehead, before backing out of the room as quickly and quietly as possible. Relieved to have gotten out of the other man's room without any hassle, Ianto was a notoriously light sleeper, or he had been anyway, he made his way back to his own room.
Jack sat on the bed Ianto had provided him with, leaning back against the headboard, placing the small blue circle of material on his forehead. He sat there silently, not daring to make a sound that may alert the staff, as he watched his lover’s life flash before his eyes. He watched as Ianto grew from a small child into a proud teenager with the help of his parents. Watching through Ianto’s memories he felt the emotions that were involved with each of them, he was amazed at the strength of them, the TARDIS had done an amazing job of creating Ianto’s life, the emotions so realistic, that the man would never believe his life to be a fake.
A gasp tried to escape him as he arrived at the memories of how he and Ianto had first met, but he restrained himself from allowing the sound to escape his lips. The younger man’s coming out party, the night of his seventeenth birthday. From watching the memories so far he had learnt the rules and values that mattered in the universe they were now in, as Ianto had learnt them through his life.
Although someone is technically considered an adult at the age of sixteen, for the higher classes, of which Ianto was a member, the age of adulthood was that of seventeen. At sixteen they would be seen as pre-adults who would spend a year learning the intricacies of the family holdings. When they reached seventeen a coming out party would be held in their honour, for it to be shown that they were no longer children but now adults, and to introduce them to society. In some cases the party could also be used to announce the engagement of the new adult.
Ianto looked at himself in the mirror, straightening his suit and trying to fix his hair how he wanted it, not in the style his parents had chosen for him. He couldn't believe his parents, why they had to do this tonight, announce his engagement at his coming out party. For once in his life he wanted to be himself and have some fun but as soon as everyone knew he was engaged he knew that that wouldn't happen. His parents and his fiancée’s parents had agreed that the engagement could only be broken out of if both he and Lisa agreed.
As such they had come up with a plan, they would each act the part of the engaged person they were, but if either of them found someone they would rather be with they would break the engagement. Lisa had come of age a year ago, and up till now had not found anyone for whom she cared to be with, Ianto who had been kept away from the majority of society events hadn't even had the chance to look. But now with the engagement being announced they would be forced into marriage within the year without them having a chance to object.
He left his room as the servant, he hated that word they were staff not servants, informed him that his parents were waiting for him, walking from his rooms towards the spiral staircase that would be his presentation walk and lead him to his doom. As he started to descend the stairs he saw a young man, he must have been in his late twenties at least wearing a long woollen type coat standing amongst a group of men wearing the same, he shrugged knowing it was in fashion at the moment, but not understanding why they were still wearing them inside. Although all the coats were the same the one the man who appeared to be the leader of the group wore drew him in, it had to be the coat, as much as he wanted to find the right type of love, he was not attracted to a man. It was the coat, that was all, it made the man look gallant and dashing, there was nothing else to it.
He turned his attention away from the group and carried on down the stairs, reaching the bottom he was joined by his parents. His father called for everyone's attention, not that it was anywhere else anyway, then began to speak. He started by introducing Ianto to the room, then spoke of how proud he was of his son reaching adulthood, before finally calling Lisa to them, telling all the guests of how proud they were to be joining the Hallet and Jones lines together in marriage some time soon.
He felt the eyes of the man in the long coat on him as his father spoke, and he couldn’t stop the slight shiver that passed through him as the eyes ravaged his body. He tried to put the man out of his mind, but as he led the first dance with Lisa in his arms he could feel the burning stare on him. As surreptitiously as possible, not wanting to alert anyone else to what he wanted to know, he leaned closer to Lisa and in a whisper he asked who the man was before spinning her in time with the music so that she could see who he was talking about.
“That’s Harkness, that is. Jack Harkness. He’s one of the Queen’s men, their leader, he and his squad were invited by your parents to represent the Queen’s guard, and your family’s ties to the Royals.” Lisa whispered back. “Why do you want to know?”
“It doesn’t matter. I was just curious.” He replied, even as he felt the stare of the other man on him, searing right through him. He continued their dance, and then he spent most of the night with Lisa, as was tradition in regards to a newly engaged heir at their coming out party. As his future intended it was her role to introduce him to individual members of their society, if the person was still being courted with offers and no engagement settled on the role would have fallen to his parents. Even though he would be the head of their family, because Lisa was older than him, it was up to her to introduce him to the others.
He was out in the large courtyard, taking in a breath of fresh air, hoping to avoid the party for a while and with the party, the eyes that had tracked his movements all night. While he had been able to escape the first, the eyes had followed him, the Captain, how he had become a Captain at his age he was unsure, the man could only be ten years his senior, coming to sit beside him on the bench.
“Happy birthday”, the man said as he sat down next to him, “Are you having a good time?”
Ianto looked at him for a moment, before answering, “Thank you, Captain. The party is different from what I am used to in some ways, but it isn’t bad.”
“Don’t call me captain. You’re not one of my men. The name’s Jack.” Jack spoke, looking at the younger man out of the corner of his eye as he did so.
Ianto smiled, “It always does to be respectful of those who have the favour of the Queen.”
The Captain stared at him for a few minutes before shaking his head, “I’m not in the Queen’s favour, I am but a servant of the crown.”
“Without the favour of the Queen, you would not have reached the rank you possess at such a young age.” Ianto countered.
The other man laughed for a while before he managed to get himself under control, holding out his hand to the other man he spoke, “Dance with me?”
Ianto looked at the proffered hand before deciding that what could it hurt, it was just a dance after all, and no-one else need ever know, this was his private courtyard after all, not a place for guests, even if the mysterious Captain had followed him. They danced around the courtyard to sound of the music from inside, much softer outside than in the ballroom of the manor, with only the lights in the trees as the witnesses to their dance.
After the dance Ianto excused himself, stating that he had to get back to his guests, in reality he needed to get away from the man that was turning his life upside down and inside out without effort. At the end of the evening, once all the guests except for the Hallet’s had left, Ianto could be found closeted in the library with Lisa, their parents’ having already retired for the evening.
"What happened with Harkness?" Lisa asked, shocking Ianto out of his reverie.
"What do you mean? Nothing happened with Harkness, why would you think that?" Ianto replied, wondering how Lisa had come to be able to read him so well.
"He was staring at you for the whole evening, he also caught your attention, when you left the party he followed, then he proceeded to watch you for the rest of the night, and now you’re acting like this." Lisa answered, as if it was obvious.
"Like what?" Ianto questioned.
"Like you've just been handed the entire world on a plate only to have had it snatched away again. You know our deal Ianto, if it comes to it I won't mind. Just in the mean time, be discreet about it won't you, our reputations must survive this intact." Lisa spoke.
"Survive what? What are you talking about Lisa?" The younger man questioned, unsure as to what the woman meant.
"You and Harkness. That's what. There is something between you, even if you haven't noticed it, we know we aren't made for each other, but we can't break things off without an excuse. If it comes to it our split shall be on amicable grounds and your parents should have no problem with someone who has the Queen's favour." Lisa spoke before leaving the room and Ianto to his thoughts.
Chapter Three
Lord Ianto Jones awoke on the morning of the 10th of December with a heavy heart, today was the day that everything would change, it was two years to the day that his wife the Lady Lisa Hallet-Jones had died. And as custom dictated, the two year mourning period was now over and it was his duty to now deal with her belongings, a custom that Ianto believed strange and unnecessary. For the two years following a death, the deceased's belongings all had to stay in the same place that they left them, it was something of a ritualistic practice. Once the two years were up, it was time to sort the deceased's belongings and deal with them in an appropriate manner, it was one of the most horrific rituals of their society, when the healing from the wounds caused be the persons' death were beginning to heal it was time to rip them open again by sorting through their possessions.
Ianto knew that the day was going to be hard, while he and Lisa had been married in name only, they had been married for almost seven years when she died, and their anniversary would be the next week. They had married on the 16th of December after his eighteenth birthday, a marriage that neither of them found themselves able to pull out of. By that time Ianto had fallen in love with another, one of the Queen's Captains, but his parent's dying wish had been that he marry Lisa, and they had gone so far as to hinge his inheritance on the marriage.
The money didn't matter to Ianto, and he had been willing to become a pauper as long as he still had Jack, but Lisa's parents had threatened to disown her if she didn't marry him. While he could deal with his own destitution, he could not do that to his best friend, the person who had been there for him the most throughout his life, whenever he had needed her. So they had married, but in name only, neither of them caring to have children, Lisa not being the slightest bit maternal, and Ianto not wanting to betray his love for Jack by sleeping with Lisa.
Although their marriage was only in name, they both respected the vows they had taken and each other too much to break the vows. Lisa had never found anyone that she felt anything more than friendship for, and would not risk her reputation or honour for a fling with someone she had no feelings for. Ianto had been brought up to believe in the sanctity of marriage, and respected Lisa too much to have anything more than friendship with Jack, even though Lisa had given them her blessings to be together.
Both Jack and Ianto had agreed that they would not disrespect the young woman in such a way, Jack coming to admit that as much as he loved Ianto, he would rather have just his friendship, than not have him at all, which would be bound to happen if Ianto ever broke his marriage vows. They all knew that Ianto would come to hate himself if he did break them, and Jack didn't want Ianto to come to hate him because of it, so friends they stayed, no matter how much more they wished to be.
Jack had been there for him throughout the last nine years, through his marriage to Lisa and he had been there for him after she died, stopping him from falling into depression, because even though they had never been lovers he did love his wife. She was like a sister to her, and her death hit him hard, especially due to the nature of her demise. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, what had started off as a routine hospital check-up had ended in her death. Some Doctor’s had been experimenting with an experimental medicine that would revolutionise the medical world, however they had gotten things wrong. It was not a cure as they had thought but a strain of a deadly virus that had decimated the hospital The Wharf, leaving a mere twenty-seven survivors in the end. Lisa had been in a half-contaminated state, the virus had infected her, but she had been fighting it rather well. Ianto had tried everything that he could to save her life, even going as far as to fly in medical specialists from all over the world, but she eventually succumbed to the virus.
Ianto’s thoughts as focussed as they were on the tragedy that had befallen him two years previous, did not seem to notice the strange and foreign thoughts starting to float around his head. Then all of a sudden his mind came to a halt as his thoughts were overrun with images of a life that was his but not. A life that was so different from his own but yet so similar, the only real constant throughout many of the images however was Jack. He saw Lisa in quite a few of them, and could feel the love he felt for her, a different love than what he felt for his own Lisa, but nowhere near as strong as the love he felt for Jack. As the thoughts began to settle in his head, he realised who and what he was, just as he passed out due to weight of the knowledge he now possessed.
Chapter Four
Waking up, Jack was assaulted by thoughts of the memories that he had viewed the night before, the images reminding him of all that his lover had been through, not only in this life but in their own. He knew that he shouldn’t even think about opening the watch, the Doctor had said that he should only open the watch when things became dire, but he knew that he needed his Ianto with him.
Ianto would know what to do, he was sure of it, even if they had to play at the life’s the TARDIS had created for them and live through the centuries, he would prefer to do it with the Ianto Jones he knew and with the Ianto that knew him. This human imitation likeness that the TARDIS had trapped his lover inside had a Jack in his mind that aged, what would the other man do when he didn’t, it wasn’t something that Jack could bare to think about.
There were so many things that could go wrong in this situation, Ianto could see him die, or that he didn’t age and send him away, something that wouldn’t be safe for either of them. The younger man would also age, he was human, this Ianto would age normally, and if he wasn’t careful he may die. Jack suddenly knew how Martha had felt, she had explained to him about the Doctor’s time as a human when they had been swapping TARDIS travels with each other, but he had never until this moment understood how helpless she must have felt.
She had been stuck in a different time, with no real knowledge of the Doctor’s human history, with aliens looking for him, she also had no real standing of her own. Being an experienced time traveller the whole different time thing hadn’t bothered him, even when the Doctor had left them in the eighteenth century he had been fine. They could just live through the centuries until they reached their own time, but upon finding that they were in an alternative universe he knew that he had to be more afraid than Martha had been, even though her life, unlike his was finite.
Martha had an advantage though, although they were trapped in that time until the Doctor became himself again, they still had the TARDIS and could leave as soon as the Doctor recovered his Time Lord consciousness. He and Ianto had no such option, they were stuck on this world until the Doctor came back for them, if he ever did, or they could find a way back home.
Opening the watch was his only option, he knew it, he wouldn’t be able to live the charade as Martha had done, not on an alien world. One so much like home, but so different at the same time, no to live that life he needed his Ianto at his side to share his troubles with. Steeling his resolve he pulled the watch from his coat pocket, the opposite pocket to the one that held the engagement ring. As he brought the watch up so that it was level with his face he could hear the whispers in that welsh accent that he loved so much, the whispers informing him of what he knew had to be done, “Open the watch.”
He released the clasp on the fob watch, it opening and a golden light escaping from it, Ianto’s voice sounded on the wind as the golden light left the room in search of its body. He knew that it had found its recipient when the weight that was the fob watch turned from the comforting warmth that had been in his pocket to the cold of metal. He left the room quickly bounding down the stairs after Ianto’s Time Lord consciousness, finding the other man he managed to catch him as he passed out.
Jack sat on the floor, his lover’s head in his lap, watching Ianto as he lay unconscious his memories slotting into place where they should be, and his mind recovering from the however short time it had spent trapped in the fob watch. When Ianto started to stir, he began to run his hands through the other man’s hair, to soothe him and let him know that he was there for him. Once he was properly aware of himself Ianto took charge again, questioning Jack about everything that had happened in his absence from his body.
After discussing what had happened, Jack asked Ianto what his superior brain had come up with to get them out of the situation they now found themselves in. Ianto had told them that they carry on the charade the TARDIS created for them, and hope that the Doctor come back for them. There were no other Time Lords in this universe, in the time he had spent with the Doctor and the TARDIS Ianto had become adept at searching for the others in his mind, so they were safe from them. It was only the eighteenth century, and while this universe was a lot more advanced than their own it would still be a few centuries before there was enough technology for Ianto to be able to create something to take them home, so until then they had an act to put on.
Epilogue
Jack had always said that the twenty-first century was when everything changed and that they had to be ready for it, and Ianto had wondered if the twenty-first century was such a time of change throughout the universes. He had his answer. It seemed at least in their own universe, and the one that the Doctor had left him in, that the twenty-first century was when it all happened. They had lived through the centuries on this planet, watching the changes took place and this human race had grown, and luckily Ianto hadn’t really changed.
While this new universe, it was still new two hundred and twenty-three years after they had arrived, was more advanced in many cases than there own there was a few things that this universe lacked; invading alien forces, rifts in time and space and weevils running around Cardiff. It meant that without being in the constant danger that he was used to, and his Time Lord lifespan and antibodies he was as healthy and almost as young as he had been when they had arrived. In the two centuries they had been there Ianto appeared to have aged no more than ten years, making him appear to be about the same age as Jack looked.
The twenty-first century in their own universe was a time of change due to aliens and invasions, but this universes change was all about life. Technical advances in their new universe were almost a million times faster in some areas than their own Earth, Toshiko would love it there with all the new technology she could explore. Now nearly a decade into the century, the changes that had taken place at the turn of the century were now so everyday that no-one took any notice.
When Jack walked towards him in the small town square close to their manor, still cobbled like it had been all those years ago, no-one took notice of something everyone in their own Cardiff would have. Jack pulled him up from the old stone fountain where he sat, it was the fountain that had been there for longer than they had, they had bought the land surrounding the manor so that at least on little piece of the past could be seen through time.
He couldn’t help but let out a small sigh as Jack pulled him as close to his body as he possibly could in his current condition, he couldn’t be happier he thought as he smiled into his husbands’ kiss, or rather there was nothing that made him happier than his husband and the life that he carried inside him. There were times when he wished that they could stay in this universe forever, no matter how much he missed his friends, and even the Doctor, the fact that he and Jack didn’t have to worry about timelines felt great.
He pulled away from the kiss, taking Jack’s hand and threading their fingers together, before insisting on a walk in the park, the fresh air being good for Jack and the baby. As they walked around the large park near their home it was with smiles on their faces as they noticed other young men in the exact same position as them. Ianto had always wondered how, without the use of alien technology, the scientists in this universe had managed to make male pregnancy a reality, but he realised that he didn’t really care. The fact that they had was enough for him, as it meant that Jack didn’t have to hide and he had brilliant medical care. No, he thought to himself, he wouldn’t change this for the world.
