czarina_kitty

Title: Five Gifts—a story in four drabbles, plus one
Author: czarina_kitty
Fandom: Torchwood/Dr. Who
Rating: PG
Warnings: N/A
A/N: Written for the jack_ianto_las competition, for the prompt “terrible gift”. This is the story that got me voted out. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Rose had intended it as a gift, he knew, as a thank you for everything Jack had sacrificed. As all humans, she instinctively feared death and so she gave him the one thing she thought he would want above all else: eternal life. Even with all of time and space laid out before her, she could not foresee the downside. She didn’t see the loneliness and despair that comes from watching everyone around you grow old and die, knowing that you will outlive everyone you ever love. She didn’t see the pain of continuing when you just wanted to end.

It was a long time before Ianto viewed what Jack had done as anything other than murder. Murder in self-defense--in defense of the planet-- granted, but murder. But, even as he had dragged her from the wreckage of Canary Wharf and into Torchwood Three Ianto knew it was too late. He realized that she was already gone and that protecting this shell was a betrayal of her memory. He just wasn’t strong enough or sure enough to end it, to destroy what little of her was left. Jack’s gift was saving him from the guilt of killing her himself.

Despite losing Owen and Tosh, despite the destruction of Cardiff, Jack couldn’t let go of the memory. He could still see the innocent young boy inside the monster his brother had become and that paralyzed him as surely as the image of Lisa still inside the cyberwoman had once paralyzed Ianto. But, just as Jack had seen the true danger then, Ianto could see Gray for what he was now. He knew that Jack could not be the strong one this time. It was up to him to reciprocate the gift that Jack had once given him: a clear conscience.

Rose had seen all of time and space lain out before her and she had foreseen the loneliness and despair. She had found him a partner, created someone to stay with him for all time: an unassuming Welshman born either 150 years in Jack’s future or 200,000 years in Earth’s past. To the Bad Wolf it was merely the blink of an eye before Ianto gasped back to life; for Jack it was long enough to recognize what he truly wanted. With someone to share the journey, Jack could now see immortality as the gift Rose intended it to be.

So maybe a gag t-shirt wasn’t the best gift idea he had ever had. But, what do you get the man who had seen everything, done everything (twice), and has everything—including a pet pterodactyl? Ianto had called the Doctor and had used the slogan the Timelord suggested, even if he didn’t fully understand it himself. Judging by Jack’s reaction, though, Ianto was sure that this was the worst sort of in-joke and a garment emblazoned with the words: “I fought the Daleks on Satellite 5 and all I got was this lousy t-shirt… And immortality” was a terrible gift.