Title: The Siege of Annwfn (6/10)

Author: Emma

Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Torchwood Three Team, Others.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?

Spoilers: None. This takes place in my Homecoming AU, a few months after The Eye of Neith.

Summary: The only things that stand between our Universe and disaster are Torchwood Three and Ianto’s growing powers…

           “What am I, Jack?”

            Ianto stood in front of the French doors in their bedroom. Beyond them, Cardiff glittered around the inky pool that was the bay at night. He wore nothing but pyjama bottoms and his hair was still dripping wet from the shower.

            They had returned home after helping John and Andy secure the Hub. Ianto had been starving. Jack had fed him soup and buttered toast and bundled him into a hot shower. They had soaped each other, each reassuring himself that the other was alive and well: soapy hands sliding over hot skin, open-eyed kisses, breath hitching as they stroked each other to a gentle orgasm.

            Now Jack sat propped up against the padded headboard and watched Ianto try to cope. Sometimes it seemed to him that he had spent an inordinate amount of time watching Ianto cope with life-altering events.

            “Am I a TARDIS in training? Even saying it sounds ridiculous. I am a human, not a space-time mathematical event that can be imprinted with block-transfer equations! Am I being transformed into some sort of human-Gallifreyan hybrid? Duw, that sounds even worse.”  He turned to face Jack. “In the Plas, after the hounds, you said something about battle TARDIS?”

            “It’s a reference I came across once while traveling with the Doctor. I wanted to make myself useful, so I read everything I could get my hands on about TARDIS. According to one author, Time Lords never considered the idea of mounting weapons on a TARDIS until the prophecies about the upcoming Time War scared them into starting a research program. I asked the Doctor about it and he said that the real reason Time Lords didn’t like the idea of battle TARDIS was that, in order to be effective, they had to be much more autonomous than regular TARDIS. Granting autonomy to a half-wild intelligence armed to the back teeth gave them the heebie-jeebies.”

            “And you think this one,” Ianto said, pointing to his wrist, “might be the prototype of a battle TARDIS?”

            “Not quite. Another thing the author -- she had one of those long Gallifreyan names, Romana-something-something -- said was that there had been other, much earlier, lines of research that had been abandoned. At that point, she turned very prim and coy and dropped the subject. I think that’s what you’ve got. Maybe there was a time when there was no distinction between one form of TARDIS and another?”

            Ianto sat down on the bed next to Jack. “The Doctor’s TARDIS calls it my Teacher.”

            “Now, that’s interesting. Time Lords believe that they are the senior partners in TARDIS relationships. After all, they are the builders. I wonder what the TARDIS think.”

            *Tell your One we are the next step.*

            “TARDIS says to tell you they are the next step.”

            *We.*

            “Correction. We are the next step.” Ianto threw up his hands. “What the hell does that mean?”

            “I think… I think it means the next evolutionary step.” Jack looked stunned. “It sounds crazy, but… what if one of the lines of research the Time Lords abandoned led to a symbiotic relationship between TARDIS and their makers? Maybe even a merger of some kind?”

            “Would that even be possible?”

            “Why not? TARDIS are space-time beings, pure energy, a different kind of sentience altogether. They might have their own purposes for allowing themselves to be harnessed by the Time Lords.” Jack laughed. “God, that would scare Gallifreyans stupid. Control freaks, every last one of them.”

            *Your One is most intelligent.*

            “What did it say?” Jack asked.

            “You can tell when it’s talking to me?”

            “Yeah. Your eyes go a little unfocused. Distracted.”

            “Well, it… approves of you.” Ianto harrumphed a bit at Jack’s delighted crow. “Don’t be so full of yourself.”

            “Hey, the TARDIS is going to be around a while. I need to keep on its good side.”

            “How long, Jack? Do you have any idea?”

            “No, I don’t. But I do know something. TARDIS live for a very long time, and now there’s a very good chance that you will too.” He reached for Ianto. “And I am going to be your One for as long as we have.”

            Ianto slid his hands up Jack’s chest. “Yes.”

            Their mouths met on a sigh, tongues sliding and tangling. Ianto massaged Jack’s shoulders then rubbed circles down his back. Jack grabbed the waistband of Ianto’s pyjamas and yanked.

            “You’re wearing too many clothes,” he whispered as he ran his mouth down Ianto’s neck to pepper his shoulders and chest with little bites.

            “I’m wearing,” Ianto whispered back, bringing one of his hands around to brush lightly, rhythmically, over Jack’s erection, “one lousy little pair of pyjamas.”

            He tightened his grip a little and pleasured them both with long, firm strokes. He loved the satiny texture of Jack’s skin all over, but especially here. Moaning, he slid to his knees on the floor and took Jack in his mouth. Jack’s hands stroked his neck and shoulders then tangled in his hair, encouraging him gently to take more, deeper. He wanted this, he craved it – the way Jack’s body moved, the way his breath caught, the soft murmurs in languages Ianto did not recognize. He used his teeth to scrape lightly along Jack’s length, and was rewarded with his own name, forced out of Jack’s throat in a deep groan. He took one last deep suck, then let go.

            “You bastard,” Jack hissed.

            “Not yet, cariad, not yet.” He stood up and removed his pyjamas. “We have time, remember?”

            He stretched out on top of Jack and pressed his lips to Jack’s throat, tasting his racing pulse. Jack’s arm hooked around his waist to bring their bodies impossibly tight against each other; Jack’s lips found his and his tongue darted out to taste himself in Ianto’s mouth. Kiss upon kiss, quick nips followed by long delights of tongue and teeth that sent fire jolting through their systems. Their hips undulated, rubbing their erections together, pushing their arousal into a fever that made their muscles shake and their breath hitch and sob.

            “Now?” asked Jack.

            “Now,” Ianto replied, barely conscious of having spoken out loud. “Now.”

            Jack felt for the small tube kept on the bedside table. Squeezing some oil on his fingers he rubbed it into Ianto’s opening, gently penetrating, one finger, then two, stroking lightly.

            “I might just shoot you. Now, Jack!”

            “Slow down, love… slow… yeah, like that.” Gripping Ianto’s hips, Jack positioned him and moaned as Ianto sank down, taking him in completely. He ran his hands up Ianto’s torso to flick at his nipples. “Ride me, babe. Make it last.”

            Ianto arched under Jack’s hands, the huge, sensitive, talented hands that knew exactly how to pet and stroke until his skin burned. He took them in his and brought them to his lips as he began to move.

            It could have been minutes or hours; they lost track as they moved, building passion layer upon layer until they were both desperate for release. The speed built hard and fast, thrust and retreat and thrust again, Jack’s hand now stroking Ianto’s erection to the rhythm of Ianto’s chanted yes, yes, yes, yes until they erupted in a glorious rush, muscles spasming then going soft in a series of explosive little ripples.

            “One of these days,” Ianto gasped, sliding down to tuck his head in the crook of Jack’s neck, “we’re going to kill each other.”

            “Yeah. Can’t wait.”

            They held each other while their hearts slowed down to normal. At some point Ianto slid off Jack to lay alongside him, one leg in between Jack’s, held close to his lover’s heart by one arm wrapped around his waist.

            I love him, Jack thought as he felt Ianto drop off to sleep. Lucky me.

            He must have dozed off, because the next time he opened his eyes sunlight was pouring in and his phone was ringing.

            “Wake up, sleeping beauties,” John’s sarcastic tone could not conceal his excitement. “You two need to get over here. We have some answers.”