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From his left trouser pocket, Ianto felt his phone vibrate. As surreptitiously as possible, so as not to alert the other people in the room as to his actions, Ianto reached down and pressed the button on his phone, opening up the message.
From Jack: How much longer?
“- the intercontinental policies surrounding the decision to brief the public on matters of extraterrestrial origin must be reviewed and reworked, especially in these days of growing social media popularisation, including-” the speaker, a tall, quite young looking woman from NUIT, UNIT’s French division, was saying. Ianto glanced left, right, then down into his lap when he saw nobody was paying him any attention.
To Jack: One more hour, then I’m all done for the day.
Ianto twiddled his thumbs, only half-listening to the speaker. He didn’t have to wait for long, as his phone buzzed quietly only a few seconds later.
From Jack: Ugh. I thought you said there weren’t that many this afternoon?
Ianto tried not to grin, aware of the fact that he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself.
To Jack: A couple extra were added last minute. You’ve got a left hand if you can’t wait until I’m free to call.
In fact, the two extra meetings hadn’t been added to the week-long Parisian summit of international organisation cooperation, rather they’d been moved forward instead. Being on first name basis with the leader of the summit had played to Ianto’s favour, and his suggestion of moving the two Friday morning meetings to the Thursday evening had been met with enthusiasm. It appeared that it wasn’t just Ianto who would appreciate an extra day off.
Though he wasn’t going to tell Jack that. No, Ianto had kept quiet about it, still debating whether or not he was going to search up last minute plane tickets and try to get back later that evening. It would only be the difference of half a day, really, but Ianto couldn’t stop imagining Jack’s reaction to him turning up back at home early.
From Jack: For you, I’m sure I can wait a few hours. Talking about anything interesting?
To Jack: Something about public relations. I’m not sure; you’re distracting me.
From Jack: Good, then my plan is working.
Ianto looked up suddenly at the word “Torchwood” being spoken and realised it was time for his input. He coughed, stood up slowly and launched into his perfectly written and practiced speech, which carefully edged around Torchwood’s liberal use of Compound B67 without directly mentioning it.
When he’d finished, there were a few nods and a couple of comments, before some other UNIT leader took his turn. After the faces had turned to look at the new speaker, Ianto turned back to his phone, having felt it go off a few times during his speech.
From Jack: I missed you today.
From Jack: Went Weevil hunting a couple hours ago. Two big ones ganged up on me, I couldn’t get out in time. I wished you were there.
From Jack: Forgot how it feels to wake up alone.
From Jack: Don’t think I realised how much I would miss you. I can’t wait until I get to see you again.
From Jack: … you still here, Ianto? Way to keep a guy on edge.
From Jack: I dunno if I can delete messages, but look. Just forget you read them, yeah? Sorry, I think I’m still feeling funny from the Weevils earlier. You know how it is.
Ianto read the messages, his hands only shaking slightly, and stood up. He muttered something about an emergency, knowing there was only a few minutes left of the meeting either way, and hastened to find an empty room.
Leaning against the cold wall, Ianto read the messages one last time. He tried to write out his reply, but his thoughts kept interrupting themselves, causing him to delete and rewrite his message time after time. He was interrupted when Jack instead sent him a message.
From Jack: You’re starting to worry me a bit here. Are you still there?
To Jack: Yeah. Sorry, just picked up my phone.
From Jack: Ah, is the meeting done then?
Ianto looked out of the window in the door of this room, the only source of light. He could see people walking past, suited men and women who were chatting amicably to one another.
To Jack: Just done.
Ianto’s fingers hovered over his phone, having absolutely no clue what to respond with.
To Jack: I’m really sorry I wasn’t able to be there for you earlier. Are you okay?
Ianto breathed out slowly, deciding that rather than standing in a dark room, he would head out of the building and grab a taxi. It was a twenty minute drive to his hotel in the centre of Paris, and that was without the rush time traffic. He’d have enough time to respond to Jack there.
By the time he’d taken a seat in the vehicle and given the driver his directions, Ianto’s phone buzzed again.
From Jack: Yeah, I’m fine. I was feeling a bit shaky, but you know me. Good as new and all that.
To Jack: Forgive me for not quite believing you there, Jack.
Jack’s next response came in quicker than the others had, and as Ianto read it, he felt his stomach drop.
From Jack: Well, what do you want me to say, Ianto? That I love you, and miss you, and want you back here so you can hold me tight and
Frozen to the spot, Ianto couldn’t even begin to type out a reply before his phone erupted into buzzing notifications.
From Jack: Oh God.
From Jack: Oh no.
From Jack: Ianto, really, how do you delete a message?
From Jack: I meant to press backspace, not enter.
From Jack: Oh my God, I’m so sorry.
From Jack: Any chance you’ll forget everything I’ve sent in the past half hour if I ask?
Dumbfounded, Ianto stared at the messages, scrolling up to see the earlier one. He read the message. Then he reread it. And again. Something brilliant settled in the beginning of his stomach as he began to type.
To Jack: You love me?
From Jack: Damn, knew you wouldn’t let it go.
To Jack: Don’t deflect. Did you mean it? Really mean it?
The minute Ianto had to wait for a reply was possibly one of the longest minutes of his life.
From Jack: … yes.
From Jack: Is that ok?
Ianto threw his hand to his mouth, suddenly trying to stop the grin that was spreading out across his mouth.
To Jack: Of course, you idiot.
To Jack: But we shouldn’t be having this conversation now. We should do this in person.
There was a pause in messages, long enough that Ianto started to recognise a few of the streets around him.
From Jack: You’re right. Something’s just come up, anyway, so I’ve got to dash. I’ll only be a couple of hours, so keep your phone on.
To Jack: Alright. Talk soon.
Ianto turned his phone off, putting it into his pocket. He looked out the window, seeing the taxi pull into a narrower road that led up to his hotel. As soon as it came to a stop, Ianto jumped out the car, running round to the taxi driver’s side.
“Un moment, s'il vous plaît?” Ianto asked, putting a few notes into the man’s hand.
His mind was set. Rushing to his room, he impatiently swiped his card on his door lock, gathering up his belongings almost before he had even entered the room. In barely five minutes, everything he’d brought to Paris with him - and the few things he’d bought Jack and Gwen from the tacky tourist shop down the road - was packed.
“Leaving early?” the receptionist asked, obviously noticing how Ianto seemed out of breath.
“Yes,” Ianto replied, distractedly leaving a fairly decent tip. “Something’s just come up. Something important .”
The hotel worker smiled at him, printing off his receipt. “I do hope you enjoyed your stay with us, Mr Jones.”
Ianto barely flashed her a thankful grin before he was out of the hotel, running back towards the taxi.
“Excusez-moi,” Ianto said, opening the back door again. “À l’aéroport, s’il vous plaît!”
“Gwen!” Jack called, sticking his head out of his office as he hastily threw his arms into his coat. He grabbed his passport from the bottom drawer of his desk, a fake piece of ID that Tosh had put together after the team had found out that he technically had no paperwork on account of his immortality. He smiled at the memory, pocketing the passport as he ran out.
“Jack?” Gwen asked, looking up from her desk.
“Rift activity looks low for the next twenty-four hours. Think you can hold down the fort for me?” he asked, excited nerves thrumming through his body.
“Where are you off to?” Gwen said, narrowing her eyes.
“France,” Jack called back, heading to the exit of the Hub. “I’m gonna take my boyfriend up the Eiffel Tower and proclaim my love for him in front of the Paris skyline!”
Gwen’s shrieking laughter was the last thing Jack heard before he was racing up to the tourist office, hailing a taxi before he even knew he was outside.
“Where to?” the driver asked him.
“Cardiff Airport.”
“Going somewhere nice?” he asked Jack as the car pulled off.
“Paris,” Jack answered, drumming his fingers against his leg impatiently. He knew it was barely a ten minute drive to the airport, but Jack was feeling incredibly impatient.
“By yourself?”
Jack smiled. “I’m going to meet my boyfriend there. He doesn’t know I’m coming.”
The driver gave a laugh and wished him a good flight. Jack turned to stare out of the window, thoughts turning to Ianto and what he might be doing right now.
As soon as he made it to the airport, he raced to the check-in desk.
“Torchwood,” he said, flashing his ID at the desk. “I’ve already checked; you’ve still got spaces on the plane going to Paris Charles de Gaulle at six fifteen. It’s pivotal that I get there as soon as possible.”
The woman looked up at him with wide eyes. “Boarding’s about to start, sir. Check-in ended twenty minutes ago. We can book you in for the next plane at nine?”
Jack shook his head. “I’ve got to get to Paris as soon as possible.”
The woman looked unsure and called another worker over to help her with Jack. “Torchwood?”
Nodding, Jack again showed his ID. “Yes. Really important international matter.”
“Well… there are still a few spaces, you’re right. But you’ll still have to go through security, and-”
Jack cut in. “Yes, fine, that’s okay.”
Not feeling even slightly guilty at abusing his Torchwood authority, Jack grabbed the boarding pass that the worker had printed off for him. He raced through security, definitely glad he hadn’t brought his Webley with him.
With the sign for “Final call for Paris, 18:15” flashing on the destination board, Jack raced down the corridor, reaching the boarding area just as the flight attendant was about to close the door.
“Here,” he panted, handing over his boarding pass.
“Just on time, sir,” she said, smiling at him. “Follow me on, if you would.”
By the time Jack had reached his seat, an aisle chair next to an elderly woman who was already asleep, the safety demonstrations had already begun.
Jack grinned, out of breath but incredibly pleased with himself. A ninety minute plane journey was all that was between him and finding Ianto in Paris.
“Welcome to Cardiff, Wales. The local time is 8:03 PM, so remember to move your watch back by one hour. Thank you for flying with us; we hope you had an enjoyable flight!”
Leg twitching, Ianto waited patiently as the man next to him struggled to gather together all of his belongings. Ianto reached across to pick up his glasses, presenting them to his neighbour and getting an exuberant thanks in response.
Finally off the plane, Ianto followed the crowd to arrivals, bringing his paperwork out of his pocket as he turned his phone on. He looked up as his passport was checked, feeling his phone suddenly vibrate with multiple notifications.
As soon as he was through arrivals, he moved off to the side, opening his phone.
3 missed calls from Jack Harkness. 4 new text messages from Jack Harkness.
Ianto cursed, ignored the messages for now, instead immediately dialing Jack’s number.
“Ianto,” Jack’s voice called as soon as Ianto’s call went through.
There was a lot of background noise around Jack, and Ianto frowned as he tried to work out where Jack was.
“Jack. Are you okay?” Ianto asked, wondering if he was working on a case somewhere public.
“I’m fine. Did you get my texts?”
“No, I haven’t had a chance to read them yet. Where are you?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you ,” Jack parried, amusement creeping into his voice.
“Err, you go first,” Ianto said, not really wanting to give away the surprise before he saw Jack in person.
There was a pause and a sigh. “Well, that’ll kind of give the game away for me. But I didn’t have time to check where you were staying before I set off, so I guess I might as well tell you.”
Ianto frowned. “What do you mean? Jack, you’re not making sense.”
“I hope you’re not busy right now. Cause I’ve just touched down in Paris, and I need you to come find me at the airport so I can kiss the living daylights out of you.”
Ianto stood frozen to the spot underneath the “Cardiff arrivals” sign for half a second and then broke out into uncontrollable laughter.
“Ianto?” he heard Jack ask through his hysterics. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Jack,” Ianto said, wiping his eyes and ignoring the looks that he was getting from the public around him. “You might need to wait a bit longer for that kiss.
“What? Why? What’s going on, Ianto.”
“I’ve just arrived in Cardiff, Jack. I couldn’t wait another day to get back and see you,” he explained, his cheeks hurting with how wide his grin was.
“What? But what about your summit? And the other meetings you have?”
“I did them earlier tonight. I convinced them to move them forward so I could get home and surprise you, idiot!”
There was a moment of silence from the other side of the phone. “Oh my God. Have we really just done this?”
“Gwen is going to lose her head…” Ianto muttered, already imagining her reaction.
“I can’t believe… right. Wait right there, Ianto. I’m getting straight back on this plane and meeting you there.”
Ianto’s laughter was the only response he could give Jack, who quickly said his goodbye with a promise to get back to Cardiff as soon as he possibly could.
Ianto shook his head and wondered which of the coffee shops at the airport would offer the best brew.
This time, instead of patiently waiting for other people to step off the plane, Jack pushed his way off first, being so quick to jump out of his chair that he beat everybody else to it.
“Jack Harkness?” the border control passport check worker asked him, Jack flashing him a quick smile and nod before his eyes returned to scanning the crowds for Ianto.
“Welcome to Wales, Mr Harkness,” the man said, passing Jack back his passport.
Jack raced forwards, seeing Ianto wasn’t here. He quickly strode round the corner, entering the food court area and stopped sharp.
Standing next to an information board, his frown creasing his forehead as a hand rubbed at his perfect, snub nose, was Ianto Jones, suitcase leaning on his leg and coat hanging off his arm. Jack stared, his mouth widening into a tired, yet brilliant grin, and watched as Ianto’s eyes every so slowly moved from the board and locked onto his own.
Smile now full force, Jack started to move, not pretending to hold himself back as he began walking towards Ianto, nearly running seconds later in his excitement. The public around him fell out of his mind until he was before Ianto, his hands immediately fitting into their rightful place on Ianto’s waist. He thumbed the fabric beneath his hands, taking in the sight of the man he hadn’t seen in almost a week.
“Hello, there,” Ianto said, a large smirk unable to hide the delight on his face. “What time do you call this?”
Ianto dropped his coat onto his suitcase and reached a hand up to touch Jack’s cheek. Jack leaned into the touch, relishing the feel of Ianto’s calloused fingertips against his face.
“Too late,” Jack mumbled. “Missed you.”
Something brilliant shone in Ianto’s eyes, and the next thing Jack knew were the pair of lips against his own, pressing hungrily against him as they demanded his entire attention. Jack complied, uncaring of anybody else around him except the man pressed against his chest. Jack snaked his arms tighter around Ianto’s waist, feeling Ianto move his own arms to hold the back of Jack’s neck and run his hands softly through the short hair there. He hummed, contentment running through him as soft, warm lips took over.
“You’re an absolute idiot, ” Ianto said after pulling back, his arms still looped around Jack’s neck. “You’re an idiot, and I love you.”
Jack broke out into relieved, overwhelming laughter, pressing his face into Ianto’s neck to muffle his voice and hide his embarrassing reaction. He placed a soft kiss against the skin there, pulling back he could talk to Ianto again.
“I love you too,” he said, leaning forwards to place a flurry of soft, quick kisses to Ianto’s lips. “I love you,” he repeated against Ianto, receiving an achingly sweet kiss in response from his partner.
“Final call for Paris, leaving at nine PM,” the speakers announced, breaking into the silence that had fallen over the pair.
Ianto grinned teasingly up at Jack.
“Fancy a trip?”