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Finally, he’d reached the end. Deep within his mind, a soft laugh echoed even as he focused himself on what needed to be done to maintain the timeline. His eyes, old, weighted with the millennia of his life, focused on his oldest friend. He savoured that sight. Especially of Martha, so young, full of life, unsuspecting of the dangers that awaited her in just a few short weeks. Forcing himself to focus again, he spoke his last words, an oblique message that would, painfully, go unrecognized for months. A breath in, a breath out… the never-ending pain finally eased.
First, the darkness… deep, eternally peaceful… he reveled in the respite it offered him. Then the sun, soft warmth upon his skin, and, closing his eyes, he turned his face up toward the sky. He luxuriated in that warmth, drew in a deep breath, and slowly let it slip from his lips in a heartfelt sigh.
"Journeys end in lovers meeting…”
Achingly familiar despite the passage of millennia, the soft voice from behind him caused a shudder to ripple through his body. Images, memories he’d forced himself to forget in order to continue to survive with his sanity intact flashed through his mind. Rolling vowels, rich coffee, secret smiles, his past crashed across his mind. He shuddered again, dragging in another steadying breath, and softly finished the quotation. “…Every wise man's son doth know."
“Aren’t you going to look at me?”
Slowly, he turned. Only then realizing that he could turn again, that he’d shoved his hands into the pockets of his long vanished great coat at some point while he stood beneath the warmth of the sun. He opened his eyes and swallowed hard. He bit his lip to contain his emotions as he took in long lost, but still oh so very familiar, surroundings.
Heat rose from the concrete beneath his feet. It radiated off the water streaked tower in front of him. He followed the shimmer of the water down the high steel tower until he was finally staring at the source of the voice standing just before the base of the tower.
It had been so long, so very, very long, since he’d seen this man that for several minutes all he could do was stare him. Take in the dark suit with its subtle burgundy pinstripe, the matching burgundy shirt and red-checked black tie. Dark hair slicked back to tame the curls, stormy blue eyes and most subtle of smiles. He was moving before he’d even realized he’d taken a step. He curled a hand around the other’s neck, jerked him close, and kissed him hungrily. He put hundreds of lifetimes of yearning and desire into that single kiss. His free arm wrapping around the other to pull him flush into his body. It had been too long, far too long, since he’d held this man. Panting, he broke the kiss. “Ianto…”
This second time, Ianto initiated the kiss even as a distinct click signaled the start of their descent into the one place his heart termed home. A screech from above brought a laugh, his eyes taking in the echoing expanse of the Hub, while the clatter of keys on a keyboard pulled another smile from the depth of his soul. He pulled out of the kiss in time to see Owen wave as he wandered by, to answer Tosh’s smile with one of his own, but immediately returned his focus to the man in his arms, silently asking a question whose answer he dreaded with every ounce of life in him. A silent headshake answered him.
“Welcome home, Jack.” Ianto’s voice was soft, barely audible over the ambient noise of the Hub. “We’ve missed you.”