Eternal Love 1/1

“I could be yours forever Jack…”

                Jack regretted following his lover from the Hub that night. Ianto had been acting weird, flinching when anyone came near him. It had been a hectic week, fending off aliens left and right and at first Jack thought his young lover was just over tired. But as he sat in his office and watched the Hub below, Jack started worrying.

                Ianto would glance at the large clock mounted over the cog door; mumble something under his breath before looking away. He wouldn’t go anywhere near the autopsy room, making Owen come and get his own coffee. He would shift away from Tosh when the scientist would come over to him. And when Jack announced they could leave, Ianto was out the door almost as fast as Owen.

                Jack waited a few minutes before following after the young Welshman. All T3 members had tracking devices in their phones and cars and Jack was easily able to follow Ianto. He watched from a nearby roof as Ianto walked down the street a ways before ducking into an alley. Frowning, Jack watched as a man walked by several minutes later and in a flash of dark fabric was pulled into the alley.

                Jack ran down to the street as a scream was cut short. He dashed into the alleyway and stopped dead in his tracks as he set eyes on the scene in front him. The man stood ramrod straight, an expression of terror on his face. Blood ran down his neck. That wasn’t what turned Jack’s stomach. Ianto stood behind the man, head bent into the man’s neck, and teeth – teeth that had nibbled down his own body many times—were embedded in his neck.

                Jack watched as Ianto raised his head, mouth gleaming with blood, and gently propped the man up against the wall. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth and hands – not a drop on his suit though.

                “He’s still alive. I don’t like killing them.” Ianto said without turning to Jack. “I’ve wondered how long it would take before you figured everything out. I half hoped it would be sooner. I don’t like keeping secrets from you.”

                “How long?” Jack whispered.

                “Have I been like this? About hundred and fifty years. There's a reason I don’t mention any family.”  He turned to Jack, taking a step forward and stopping when Jack took an involuntary step back. Ianto’s face fell “I wouldn’t hurt you Jack, you or anyone. I don’t even like doing that.” He gestured to the unconscious man. He stepped forward again, this time making it to Jack and lifted a hand, caressing Jack’s cheek.

                “You’re a vampire…how did you fool Torchwood? Fool me? You have a heartbeat I’ve felt it, listened to it.”

                “I know, how do you think we blend in? My heart beats, it’s just slower than it should be. I breath, I eat, I sleep, not everything you hear is true.”

                “How often do you do this?” Jack asked, glancing at the man.

                “Once a week, you’ve never notice me leave before the others some times?” Ianto couldn’t believe that Jack had never notice before.

                “I didn’t think anything of it; you guys are allowed to have a personal life.” 

Ianto could see that Jack was trying to come to terms and was failing. “Jack, stop thinking about this for a second and look at me.” Jack’s blue eyes shot to Ianto’s “Good, now answer this, before you found this out how did you feel about me?”

                “I love you, you know that!”

Ianto smiled “Love, or loved?” He hoped this wouldn’t change how Jack felt about him; it was why he hadn’t told Jack.

                Jack stared at him and was silent for a minute “I—I still love you…I just…I…”    

                Ianto cupped Jack cheek “Jack, I can’t change what I am any more than you can, but I’m not as bad as your brain is trying to convince you I am. I don’t kill, I’ve killed by accident when I was younger, but I don’t drain everyone dry. That’s what bothering you isn’t it?” Jack nodded and Ianto smiled lightly “I thought so, this isn’t the best place to discuss this, do you want to finish this at my flat?”

                “ I guess…I trust you Ianto, I just need to get my head around this.” Jack said, giving Ianto a small smile and leaning into Ianto’s hand.

                The walk to Ianto’s flat only took a few minutes and soon they were facing each other , sitting on opposite sides of Ianto’s small couch and Ianto was spilling his life story.

                “I was born in 1836, I don’t really remember much about my human life, it’s all kind of blurry. But I was turned on my twenty fourth birthday, by a girl I was…well…you know. I hated it, the thought of murdering innocent people, well, I did once I was sane enough—bloodlust is a real bitch.” Ianto smiled grimly. “I kind of drifted for awhile, didn’t really settle in one place until I was recruited by Torchwood, Yvonne knew what I was. That’s why I was on black ops. I made a good archivist too, and I did that in between missions. Lisa knew as well, it’s partly why I was so desperate to save her; she was the only one who really accepted me for what I was.”

                Jack recognized the look of sadness and longing on Ianto’s face, it was a look he’d seen on his own face many times before. He scooted forward and hugged Ianto to him, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that said it was a very bad idea to have a vampire so close to his neck. “You could have told me you know, I wouldn’t have locked you up or anything.”

                “I wanted to, believe me, I really wanted to, but I wasn’t sure…” Ianto trailed off, a blush highlighting his pale cheeks (Jack briefly wondered how a vampire could blush as much as Ianto did).

                “Wasn’t sure of what?”                

                Ianto leaned back and looked Jack in the eyes. “Jack, I’m going to live forever, as long as no one tries to take my head or light me on fire, I will never die. I could give you forever Jack, if you’ll let me I could be an eternal companion.”

                The enormity of what Ianto was saying hit Jack and he gasped. An eternal companion, someone he wouldn’t have to watch grow old and die. It was the one thing he had always wanted, and now Ianto was offering it to him. Sure it wasn’t what he’d expected, Ianto was a vampire, but he would never leave Jack and a big part of him only cared about that.  “Forever? You’d never leave me?”

                “Never Jack.”

Jack launched himself at Ianto, knocking them back on the sofa. Jack peppered kissed over Ianto’s face and neck before curling his body around him and burying his face in his neck. It had been a long time since Jack had felt this content and happy. He loved Ianto with all his heart, but his love had always been tempered with the fear of watching the Welshman die, whether by Torchwood or old age. But now, now he didn’t have to hold back, he would ever lose his Ianto and unless the Welshman willingly left him he would never be again and Jack was going to make sure that never happened.

                Snuggled up on his couch with Jack curled on top of him Ianto wondered at the weirdness of his life. Here he was, a 150 year old vampire working for a organization that caught aliens and found his soul mate in the form of his immortal boss from the fifty-first century. But as he wrapped his arms around Jack he found that he wouldn’t change a single second of it.

END