Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Iantoooo!” Captain Jack’s sing-song voice echoed around the Torchwood Hub as he looked out over the place, leaning against the railings by the greenhouse. “Where areeeee youuuu?”

  Ianto popped up from below. “Here, Sir. Everything alright?”

  Jack couldn’t help but smile at Ianto’s formality - he’d already told him several times this week that just ‘Jack’ would do.

  He made his way down to the main area, where Ianto was sitting at Tosh’s computer, monitoring rift activity with a freshly brewed cup of coffee by his side. Tosh and Gwen were out on a mission, and Owen was busy doing a post-mortem of a Weevil-attack victim in the lab.

  “Ianto, I was wondering… how have you been?” Jack’s playfulness was gone, and his blue eyes were sincere as he alluded to the incident a couple of weeks back. Despite some Cyberman-related drama, Ianto had been allowed to continue working as Torchwood’s resident tea boy, but something about him had changed now, and Jack didn’t like it at all.

  “I’m fine thank you, Sir. And yourself?” Ianto’s tight-lipped smile made Jack frown. How could he help his teammate when Ianto wouldn’t even let him in?

  Running a frustrated hand through his hair, Jack bent down so that his face was just inches from Ianto’s. Ianto never took his eyes off the screen, didn’t even flinch, but a little heat coloured his cheeks.

  “Look, there’s no point in pretending. I know you’re hurting, and I’m sorry that I… that I can’t do anything about it. But I was wondering, do you want to, I don’t know, maybe go out later?”

  Ianto choked, and spewed coffee all over the computer screen. He quickly dabbed at it with a handkerchief - Tosh would kill him if she knew; this computer was her life’s work.

  When Ianto finally composed himself, he looked up at Jack. Maybe he was imagining it, but there was a little sparkle in his eye.

  “Well - I - what do you mean, out ?”

  “You know, just out. A couple drinks, maybe the cinema?”

  Ianto turned his attention back to the screen, pretending to know what the little waves of activity on the rift monitor meant. He was all too aware of how close Jack was, and how his forearms looked when he leant on the desk, with his sleeves rolled up, and the way the corners of his mouth curled upwards as he watched Ianto’s brain working at 100mph trying to decide whether a night out with his boss would do anything to dull the throbbing pain of Lisa’s death, which lived in the pit of his stomach like an alien baby.

  Jack must’ve seen Ianto’s doubt through the creases in his forehead, because he moved even closer and whispered, “ Please ? It’ll be fun, I swear.” And, oh God, he even winked - how could Ianto ever resist the Captain Jack Harkness Charm?

  Reluctantly, and still without making eye-contact, Ianto submitted.

  “Fine. Can’t wait.”

* * *

“Uh, Jack. When you said a night out, I thought you meant a movie or something?”

  “I did , but then I thought this would be a way better idea!”

  When Ianto had arrived at the water tower that evening - the place they’d decided to meet after work - he did not expect to see Jack casually leaning against a big blue phone box, grinning like he’d just won Rear of the Year for the 924th time in a row.

  “It’s… it’s the TARDIS?”

  “Yup. Wanna have a peek inside?”

  “Jack! Do you even know how to use that thing?”

  “Oh, sure. Taught by the best, no less.” He stepped right up to Ianto and offered his arm. “This way, please.” Ianto awkwardly placed a hand on Jack’s forearm, and they walked up to the front doors of the TARDIS. He’d never seen Jack so childishly excited before.

  “And you got permission from the Doctor to use it, right?”

  “Of course!”

[1 hour earlier]

“No. Absolutely not.”

  “But Doctor -”

  “You’re not TAKING my TARDIS. What on earth for ?!”

  “Well, y’know how Ianto’s been a bit under the weather recently, since the whole dead robot girlfriend thing - I thought he could do with a bit of a pick-me-up!”

  “And so you think travelling through time and space will help him? The boy needs ICE CREAM and BAKE OFF.”

  Jack folded his arms, but the Doctor could never take him seriously in that period military coat and those awful, awful braces.

  “But I know how to use it,” he whined, “And I promise I won’t go anywhere stupid like Nazi Germany or 9/11. I wanna take him somewhere nice, like the swingin’ sixties, or the turn of the millennium, or New York at Christmas. Please? ” Jack tilted his head and pouted. “Please, Doctor? For me? For Ianto ?”

  “I’m immune to your charms, Harkness. It’s still a firm no .”

  Jack growled. “Fine. I predicted this would happen. But, consider this… ” He disappeared around the corner of the street for a moment, and came back cradling something white and fluffy in his arms.

  “Meet Marmalade, my Persian treasure.” As soon as the Doctor saw the tiny little kitten’s face, he melted into a puddle. He had to try really hard not to regenerate from the sheer cuteness.

  “Oh no, no, no. Captain Jack Harkness, you are a Pain. Now give her here.” Jack handed Marmalade over to the Doctor, who absentmindedly tossed him the TARDIS keys while cooing at the kitten.

  “Aww, who’s a cute little kitty? You are! Oh, she’s got such pretty eyes! Yes you do… ”

  Jack pocketed the keys before the Doctor could change his mind, but the Doctor was already walking away, muttering, “Be back by 12,” under his breath.

  “You have my word, Doc.” The grin on Jack’s face could’ve supported any number of life forms for centuries.

Chapter Text

When Ianto entered the TARDIS for the first time, he felt like he might be sick.

  “Here, I came prepared,” Jack smirked, handing him a paper bag.

  “I think I’m gonna need more than one. It’s huge ,” he exhaled, spinning around to take it all in. “Oh, nope, I really shouldn’t do th-” he gasped, momentarily confused as to why the floor was getting closer, until Jack rushed over and caught him before he hit the ground.

  “Whoa there, easy!” Jack held Ianto under the arms, pulled him over to a seat, and squatted beside him. “Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all. You sure you can do this?”

  Ianto considered this. The probability of him puking all over the Doctor’s time machine had to be at least 80/20, but on the other hand, he was almost buzzing with adrenaline, and hadn’t felt so alive since…

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He tried to give Jack a reassuring smile, and although Jack didn’t really buy it, he wasn’t going to back out of this now. Time travelling with Ianto - all his dreams were alive!

  “Well then,” Jack stood up, and walked over to the centre of the TARDIS, flicking a few switches and taking hold of a big lever. “Where do you want to go?”

  “Uh, I don’t know.”

  “C’mon, there must be some place you’ve always dreamed of visiting. Something in the past, or maybe somewhere far away - we could go to Neptune, if you want? It’s horribly cold, but it has a great night life.” Ianto didn’t know whether Jack was joking, but he didn’t fancy a trip to Neptune anyway.

  “How about the 19th century? I’ve always been fascinated by it, it’s just so exciting - great literature, revolutionary discoveries, the beginning of industrialization, and not to mention the architecture -”

  “God, you are so boring! Nineteenth century it is. TARDIS, take us away!” Jack tapped a few keys, winked at Ianto, and melodramatically pulled the lever. Ianto held on for dear life.

* * *

“1897. Here we are.”

  “I don’t think I’ll believe it ‘til I see it for myself.” Ianto successfully stood up without retching for the first time since they’d landed, and lunged towards the doors.

  “Hey! You’re just gonna go out there looking like that ?”

  “What’s wrong with my suit?” Ianto asked indignantly. “It cost 80 quid, I’m sure it’s good enough .”

  Jack couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Ianto. It’s a beautiful suit, I can assure you, but the Victorians aren’t gonna like that shade of pink.”

  Ianto self-consciously looked down at his shirt. “It’s nice though. So, where are we going to find some Victorian-era clothes, Captain? I don’t suppose there’s a secret stash of 19th century lingerie somewhere in here?”

  “Come and see for yourself.” Jack led the way down to the TARDIS’ wardrobe, a room filled with miscellaneous outfits for different occasions, time spans and universes. Ianto noticed that the sections were labelled: immediately to his right was ‘Formal Robot-Wedding Attire’, followed by ‘Pre-Asteroid-Crash Sock Drawer’.

  Jack was rifling through a rack full of long black coats and fancy cloaks and, oh, weird formal headgear.

  “Hats aren’t really my thing…” Said Ianto, as Jack held up a particularly ugly bowler hat.

  “Aw, don’t worry, I’m sure you’d look stunning in a UNIT cap. Now, try this on for size.” Jack tossed Ianto the hat, and continued fumbling around for the right sized suits.

  Ianto went over to a mirror, and burst out laughing. “Wow. This really brings out my eyes.”

  “Oh, stop it. Here, take this.” Jack handed Ianto a black velvet trouser suit, with a white silk shirt and a string of pearls. “You can keep the shoes.”

  Ianto looked around them awkwardly for some privacy. “Is there anywhere I can, um…” he started, but Jack wasn’t listening - he’d already stripped down to his underwear. Ianto shrugged to himself, mumbling, “If my boss can take his clothes off in front of me without dying of embarrassment, I guess I can too.”

Jack looked amazing. Grey had always been his colour (the military coat was definitely a look), but this was a new level of swish. Ianto admired the well-fitting grey waistcoat and ruffled shirt; and his own black attire didn’t look too bad, though it felt a little stiff in certain areas. They added some final touches - some gold fob watches, and Ianto even got a sleek wooden cane - and then Jack flung open the TARDIS doors.

  “... Is that Oscar Wilde?” Ianto asked of a young passerby. The TARDIS was hidden in an alcove, and they could see a glimpse of a busy high street, bustling with smartly dressed men, women and children.

  “What - no, we’re in Surrey.”

  “Oh.” Ianto stepped out from behind the comfort of the TARDIS doors. He turned back to Jack, and said “Don’t forget to bring the keys.” Rolling his eyes, Jack locked the TARDIS and held them out to Ianto.

  “If you’re going to worry about the keys the whole time we're here, then you can look after them.”

  “Fine.”

  “Okay.”

  “Evenin’ Telegraph, Sirs?” A young voice piped up beside them. “Wow, what’s that!” The little boy selling papers pointed at the blue box. “I ain’t seen that round ‘ere before. An’ who are you?”

  Jack extended a hand. “Cap’n Jack Harkness and Mr Ianto Jones. Would you mind telling us what day it is?”

  The boy seemed to instantly forget about the TARDIS. “Yes Sir, it’s Sunday, the 19th of May. Nice suit, by the way, Sir.”

  “Brilliant, why thank you.” Jack put an arm round Ianto’s waist, took the child's hand, and pulled them all out into the busy stream of what he now knew were Sunday churchgoers. The boy ran off, not giving a second thought to those strange gentleman hiding in a box in the street.

  “Fancy a trip to Church? I know you do love a bit of Gothic architecture. Plus, if you’ve got any sins to repent, now’s the time…” Jack whispered, his lips lingering at Ianto’s ear.

  Ianto batted him away. “Knock it off - and can you please take your hand off my arse? You know what these people are like.”

  “Whatever you say, Mister Jones.”

  They started off down the street, walking alongside a brown-ish river with no ducks in sight. Ianto cleared his throat. “Have you been here before, then? Time-travelling with the Doctor, or…?”

  “Yes,” Jack answered honestly. “The original Torchwood Institute wasn’t far from here, actually.”

  Ianto didn’t know what else to say, so they walked in silence for a while. He was so in awe of these strange people, from how they carried themselves with such grace to the way they spoke like royalty, but Jack didn’t look interested in them one bit; he was more engrossed by Ianto’s reaction to this weird new world.

  When they were all alone on a country lane, nearing the local church, Jack broke the silence.

  “Do you like it?” he asked tentatively, suddenly shy. Ianto nodded, smiling, and they both stood still to appreciate the looming stone building. “St James’. Recently refurbished, actually. It’s beautiful on the inside - but why is nobody around on a Sunday?”

  “Dunno. Didn’t widespread secularisation start around about now, what with -”

  “I didn’t bring you here for a history lecture, Ianto,” Jack half-joked, as he suspiciously eyed the graveyard. “Something feels wrong. Wanna investigate?”

  “This was meant to be a night out,” Ianto huffed.

  “If it’s a night out, why did you bring your gun? And Weevil spray?”

  “Okay, you got me. We’ll look around. Did Weevils even exist in the 1800s?”

  “They’ve existed since the crucifixion of Jesus. Don’t ask,” he laughed when he saw Ianto’s curious expression. “Long story, involving Judas and an Ood. Focus on the church.”

  “Right.” Ianto put his cane down on the ground, and took out his pistol. “I’ll go round the back, see if there’s anything weird.” They separated, and Jack headed into the entryway, hand firmly resting on his Webley.

Ianto could see nothing weird behind the church, only an expanse of countryside, some trees and a short stone wall surrounding the building and graveyard. He almost laughed out loud - of course there was nothing wrong here, it was just an ordinary church on an ordinary Sunday in 1897, but without the congregation. Maybe they were all at a different church instead.

  He shoved the pistol back into his trousers, and strolled around the building until he was back at the front gate. Except, he wasn’t back where they’d started.

It was dark inside the church, despite the fact that it was early afternoon. Jack wandered through the pews, not sure what he was looking for. He was sure he remembered being here in 1889, but it looked very different now; the wood was darker, Gothic, and the colourless stained glass windows held ghostly figures of the Virgin Mary which looked neither 'virgin' nor 'Mary'.

  Just as Jack turned on his heel to leave, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye: a woman and a man had appeared at the altar, holding hands as if they were making wedding vows. Jack turned back around again slowly, and the people disappeared.

  “I don’t like this,” he said to himself, and quickly backed out of the church. “Ianto?”

Chapter Text

Ianto didn’t dare move. Dozens of people were standing around, just where he and Jack had been minutes ago. They were all frozen mid-motion, but how did they get here?

   This has to be an alternate dimension , thought Ianto. I’d better tell Jack . But when Ianto opened his mouth to shout, no sound came out. He screamed Jack’s name, again and again, to no avail. Even his thoughts began to dissipate, like he’d had a bit too much to drink; something was definitely wrong, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

Jack picked up Ianto’s cane off the grass and walked around the building, calling out for him. When he arrived back at the door of the church, an impromptu crowd had appeared: they were humans who, Jack recognised, were trapped in time as statues. Most of them were children, in their finest Sunday clothes, with pretty lace gowns and smart grey waistcoats.

  On closer inspection, however, Jack realised that it wasn’t the clothes that were grey - it was the people. Some of them were greyer than others, and when Jack moved forward to touch a tall, no-longer-blonde lady’s neck, he felt the pasty skin crack beneath his fingers.

  These people were slowly turning to stone. But how?

  And where was Ianto?

  Jack pushed through the statues, searching for signs of a black bowler hat, or a thin pearl necklace, or soft blue eyes. “Ianto? Ianto Jones, where are you!”

  There were fewer people inside, and the nave was bright with daylight now. Jack immediately spotted Ianto in the centre of the room, looking mortified, his hair prematurely grey under the decaying bowler hat. Jack tried to shake Ianto awake by the shoulders, but a large crack appeared right down him, including through his clothes, which were stone now as well.

  “What’s happened to you, Ianto?” Jack mused, trying to control the feeling of dread rising through his body. “Who did this?”

  A seething hiss erupted behind them, and Jack turned to the doors of the church. The doorway glowed a blinding white; Jack jogged over and, shielding his eyes, tried to get out, but he was trapped inside. They were trapped inside.

  When Jack faced Ianto again, he didn’t immediately notice that Ianto had changed position, as he was too busy trying to think of a way out of the church, out of this dimension and back to the TARDIS and the 21st century. He checked his vortex manipulator: they’d been gone for almost 2 hours.

  Jack started muttering scientific incoherences to his left, where Ianto had been standing. But Ianto wasn’t there anymore. He’d moved a few steps away from Jack, facing up to one of the windows, his right hand reaching out towards the wall.

  “That’s impossible - how could you move? You’re made of stone!” Jack started pacing, but hadn’t gotten far before he realised that everyone else in the church had moved too. All the other statues - people - were seemingly moving closer, coming in from outside and surrounding Jack when he wasn’t watching them.

  Jack figured that they must be going somewhere, and he was probably too unimportant for the people to be coming towards him . Plus, if these were some type of old-school Weeping Angels, they were awfully slow.

  Jack closed his eyes, and counted to 10. When he opened them again, a string of curse words left his mouth: yep, they were definitely after him. Now he was almost completely trapped in a circle of greying men and women, and he couldn’t see where Ianto was anymore.

  “Great, now I’m really stuck,” he groaned. He’d only come into contact with Weeping Angels once before, and, of course, the Doctor had saved him. Jack tried to remember what the Doctor had told him about the Angels: they move fast, practically teleport when you’re not looking; don’t let them touch you, don’t look them in the eye; always have a weapon on hand - they’re hard to kill, but you could smash them up, right? I mean, they’re made of stone, after all… 

  Oh! Jack was pretty sure that no one had ever killed a Weeping Angel before, but right now he had a cane in his hand and a lot of love for his Torchwood agent, and friend, Ianto Jones: nothing was getting in his way.

  Twisting the cane around his fingers with a sly grin on his face, Jack confidently gripped it with both hands, pulled back, and swung it as hard as he could at a pretty young lady in a dusty, faded blue bonnet.

  Nothing but a hairline crack appeared in her cheek.

  He tried again and again, jabbing and swinging and even kicking at her, until, long after Jack had used up all his strength, the lady snapped in half. Jack stumbled over her legs, gripping Ianto’s cane and lousily tossing his hat away into one the pews as he staggered over to Ianto.

  Ianto’s stone body was pressed up against the wall, and he was looking up at one of the stained glass windows above him, his mouth agape and grey eyes sinking into his skull.

  Another sharp hiss made Jack jump, and this time it came from the window above Ianto. All of a sudden the window shattered, producing again that bright white light, and two large-as-life fully-fledged Weeping Angels leaped to the ground, one on either side of Ianto.

  Jack tried to keep his eyes on them both, so they couldn’t make it to Ianto and take him as one of their own. Captain Jack Harkness wasn’t going to lose Ianto Jones today, he was sure of it, and he certainly wasn’t going to lose him to a couple of vicious lumps of rock.

  But, having said this, he was really tired all of a sudden. Attacking the stone lady had really taken it out of him, and his eyelids were drooping now, feeling thick and heavy.

  “Stop it, you two. Just let me take him and get out of here - no one else has to get hurt,” he slurred. “I won’t stop you from taking all these people, but please, not him.” Jack felt his legs give way, and he slumped against Ianto’s rock-hard calves.

  Just as Jack felt himself drifting into sleep, a voice shocked him awake.

  “ Jack? ” There was no mistaking those beautiful Welsh vowels.

  Jack shot up and placed his hands on either side of Ianto’s ice-cold face, watching his mouth for any sign of movement. “Ianto? Was that you?”

  “ Don’t stop them, Jack, it’s alright. Just go - go back to the TARDIS and leave me here, you’re not safe, and I’m already gone. Save yourself. ”

  Jack scoffed. “No way, I’m not leaving you here.” Tears blurred his vision, but he blinked them away, eyes still transfixed on Ianto’s sad, unmoving features.

  “ You always said that there’s a right time to die. It’s my time, now - go! ”

  “Oh, shut up, will you!” Jack turned his attention back to the two Angels. “I know what you can do, it’s not him speaking. He’d never say that to me - he likes this face too much to let it go.”

  The Angels hissed at him in Ianto’s voice, “ He is ours now. ”

  “Stop it! Don’t use his voice!”

  “ We know what he wants, he wants you to leave him. Look how he cares for you, he wishes you to be free of danger. ” Jack didn’t speak. “ He loves you so much, Captain. He would die for you - in fact, he will! ” Jack had never heard Ianto cackle before, and he despised the ugly sound, especially knowing that it wasn’t really him.

  “Okay, okay, fine. I’m leaving. But tell me this: why him? Why do you want him , when you’ve already got all of these people?” Jack gestured around the church at all the innocent civilians, who’d only come here to pray to their God.

  “ He is weak ,” said Ianto’s voice. “ The weak come easily to us. ”

  “Are these people weak, too?”

  “ Weak enough to believe in a higher power. Their minds are so placid, unused; they will join us, and become powerful. ”

  Jack nodded in agreement. “Right, sure. You’re right. Who’d believe in God, eh? Crazy stuff…” He kept nodding, not taking his eyes off the Angels, who were now within touching distance of Ianto. If he could just… 

  “Ah, got it!” Jack had backed away into the pews as they were talking, and cautiously bent down to pick up his top hat. “Well, it was nice chatting to you,” he smiled as he walked slowly back over to where Ianto and the Angels were. “I don’t suppose you can shake hands?”

  The Angels were confused by Jack's sudden change in demeanour, and he took advantage of this by ramming his hat down over one of the Angel's heads, and ripping off his cloak to throw onto the other. If he was right about Weeping Angel anatomy, the Angels wouldn't be able to see them.

  He hauled Ianto over his shoulder, and ran.

Chapter Text

They didn't get very far, though, because the entry to the church was still a wall of white light. Jack placed Ianto down, and pressed a couple of buttons on his vortex manipulator, trying to get up the coordinates of the TARDIS, or at least of the other dimension with the empty church.

  Nothing. There was no way out of there.

  He slammed his hands against the wall in frustration, and spoke quietly to Ianto, unsure whether he could even hear him.

  "I'm so sorry, Ianto. This is all my fault. Time-travelling was a stupid, dangerous idea and I don’t know , I don’t know how to get you out of here.” He leaned his head into Ianto’s neck, and his eyes finally overflowed with tears, leaving white streaks down Ianto’s dusty, cracked body.

  Chaos erupted by the altar, and the agitated hissing was almost deafening, but Jack didn’t even flinch; he couldn’t bear being away from Ianto for one moment, and wouldn't dream of leaving him to die here. Captain Jack had died thousands of times, almost always alone and frightened. He knew the feeling, and he wasn’t going to leave Ianto, even if it meant that Jack had to die beside him.

  The Weeping Angels were taking hold of all the civilians, one by one condemning them to suffer the same fates as themselves: demons, forever trapped in time, killing as many species as they could get their hands on to expand their twisted, nightmarish empire. As each person was turned, Jack heard their screams amplified in his mind, hardly sure whether he was imagining them. When it all became too much, he peeled himself away from Ianto’s body and rampaged through the crowds of stone, screaming and thrashing and heaving huge, ugly sobs. He kicked at the wooden pews, uprooting them from the ground and hurling them at every person in sight. Some of them snapped, some of them barely held a scratch, but none of this mattered, because Jack was absolutely fuming.

  “Take me!” He screamed at them. “What else do I have left? Kill me - kill me like you killed Ianto!” Jack fell to his knees, and crawled up to the white church entryway back to Ianto.

  But Ianto had disappeared.

  Jack was quiet for a moment as he surveyed the room, frantically trying to find him. For a horrifying moment, he thought that they’d taken him away from him, forever.

  “Give him back,” Jack cried, “Give him back! Please!”

  “ We haven’t got him. ” Replied Ianto’s silvery voice.

  Jack collapsed against the wall of white, defeated. His head fell to the side, and he was left looking down a long corridor that he hadn’t noticed before as his body slowly gave up on him.

  And hiding there was Ianto Jones, on his hands and knees, looking right back at Jack.

Ianto couldn’t feel anything. Not his skin, his breath, or the beat of his one heart - nothing. But somehow he could still think. At least, he thought he could still think.

  And he could see, too, through his two stony eyes: he could see his Captain, dying on the floor just meters away. His immortal Jack was dying, Ianto was sure of it, but what could he do to save him? Ianto was helpless, with no voice, no weapon, and no way out of there.

  Unless…

" Jack? "

   Oh, be quiet already, Jack thought. He didn't even have the energy to move his mouth anymore, and he hated that the Angels were talking through Ianto.

Damnit, he can't hear me, Ianto thought. If only he'd stop looking at me, I could show him…

The two Weeping Angels from the stained glass window hovered over Jack now, fingers in his hair and on his skin. They could feel that something wasn't right about this man; he wasn't ready to die just yet.

  One Angel tilted up his head to face them, and almost took pity in the red-rimmed eyes and agape mouth, unaware of Ianto creakily shifting not far away.

  Ianto could feel them using his voice to torment Jack.

  " What are you, Captain? A failed science experiment? We pity you, we pity you, you are a freak of nature. But you will come with us, all in good time, we will put you right… " The Angels hesitated. Something was happening inside them.

  Ianto Jones was fighting back.

" Jack! It's me! " Ianto screamed in his head. " Look at me! Please, just look. "

  The Angel holding Jack's head let go of him and flew around the church, trying to find Ianto, wondering how he could be conscious, how he could use the Weeping Angels to communicate in the same way that they used him.

  Jack's head lolled back to its side, and in his blurring vision he saw the statue of Ianto standing up and pointing above him, to something in the ceiling.

  Jack registered this, in the moments before he died.

* * *

Ianto had never been a patient guy, but when Jack's dying was involved, he had no choice but to wait it out, every. Single. Time.

  10 minutes passed before Jack finally gasped in a gush of breath, his internal organs coming back to life. He shot up, watched the two Angels still whizzing through the statues of their victims looking for Ianto, and then remembered that Ianto was right there - Ianto was safe! Well, as safe as he could be at that moment.

  Jack hurried down the corridor to his left, and looked up to where Ianto was pointing. He grinned, whispering, "Oh, baby, you're good!" And quickly kissed Ianto's cracked lips. He hoped that Ianto wouldn't remember that.

  Hidden in the ceiling of an alternate dimension in St James' Church, was a rift in time and space. That must've been how the Angel's got there in the first place.

   Look what I found , Ianto thought. It's our only chance of escape.

   Who knows where we'll end up - it might not be back where we started.

   Worth the risk, though. I'd rather be in the seventh circle of hell right now than be a bloody statue.

   You sure about that?

  Ianto mentally smirked. You've clearly never been turned to stone. Now hurry up and let's go already.

  Jack put an arm firmly around Ianto's waist, and hoisted himself up with the other, so they were dangling from the ceiling. He kicked up his legs, and managed to propel them upwards into the yellow glow of a tear in the fabric of space.

* * *

"Are you alright there?"

  "Oh my God, Ianto! You're okay!"

  Ianto smiled up at Jack, who was on top of him in the middle of a busy Victorian street on a Sunday afternoon in Surrey. Jack was so happy to see him that he couldn't even laugh, he just took in the amazing sight of Ianto's soft, colourful body underneath his own. It reminded him warmly of that time they'd been Pterodactyl hunting in Splott.

  Without even thinking about it, Jack kissed him. It barely lasted a second, but when Jack stood up and offered Ianto his hand, the pair were aware of a number of strongly disapproving looks in their direction. A retro policeman was coming their way with a grimace and a baton in his hand.

  "Caught your breath?" Jack mumbled, blushing and dusting off his suit jacket.

  "Ready when you are."

* * *

When they managed to find the alcove in which the TARDIS was hidden, both Jack and Ianto ran inside, closed the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

  As they recovered from their brisk jog through the city, Jack wanted to break the silence, but he had no idea what to say. Should he apologise? Thank Ianto for saving both of their lives? He was turning over the matter in his mind when Ianto piped up.

  "Well, that was fun."

  They looked at each other and started giggling - gently at first, until they were doubled over and leaning on each other for support.

  "Yeah, it was. Ianto, I'm…" Jack started, but he never got to finish his sentence, because Ianto stood on his tiptoes and pressed his lips up to Jack's for one, two, three seconds.

  "You saved my life," he whispered into his mouth. "Thank you." And he gave Jack a final peck, then stepped back and flung his bowler hat across the TARDIS like a frisbee.

  "So, where next?"