A Galaxy Apart

The Emergency Call

With a little groan Ianto wakes up the next morning as Gwen tries to get him awake by tapping on his shoulder.
"Hey, you. Wake up sleepy head."
He groans again with a mumbled "Do I really have to?"
"Yes, Ianto. You didn't eat anything within the last day and you need a proper breakfast. Now come on"
"Fine" Ianto murmurs in an unhappy tone but gets up to dress himself. Gwen has lend him a few of Rhys' comfortable clothes who has already headed off to get to work.
Ianto sits at the table on which was already a breakfast placed. Toast with butter and marmelade. But he isn't hungry. No appetite. Just a strange emptyness.
"Ah cmon, you have to eat at least something. And drink" she places a coffee in front of him with a little smile.
Ianto smiles tiredly and takes a sip "Thank you, Gwen. But I... I somehow ain't hungry. Can't tell you why."
She nods and sips her coffee while the Welshman forced himself to take a few bites of his toast. His thoughts are chaotic and yet his head feels empty. Breaking the silence Gwen asks
"Ianto...can I ask you something?"
He nods while eating his toast.
"Are you...are you immortal now?"
He shrugs "I am not sure, Gwen. I know I came back from the dead. But that was once. No one told me how that's possible. And before you ask no I'm not going to jump off a roof to see whether I'm immortal" he tries to joke a bit.
"Oh, Ianto. I think there are easier ways to find that out" she smiles a bit.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"Does your body have any special healing powers? Just like Jack ha-" she stops herself immediately as she knows exactly that mentioning Jack right in the morning was not the very best idea.
Ianto chuckles sadly "Gwen, I left this laboratory two days ago so...how the f*ck can I know" he regretted his tone immediately.
"Yeah, uh...right sorry..." she looks away.
"No, Gwen, I am sorry. I... I don't know this topic is just."
"I know, Ianto." she places her hand on his arm and moves her thump soothingly. Gwen sits there and stares at the floor overthinking. After a moment
"I have an idea how to prove it"
"What?"
"That you're immortal."
"Immortal..." Ianto laugh. "Gwen there's only one man in the universe who's immortal and we both know who it is. And that's not me."
Gwen gives him a severe look and keeps looking him in the eye but Ianto looks away instead. Was he immortal? Now he was daubting his mortality. But it's impossible, well...yeah he came back from the dead but maybe they used some sort of glove or gauntlet on him like the 'Risen Mitten'. Wouldn't it feel somehow diffrent if he was immortal? Somehow better, stronger, more self confident like...he closes his eyes and tries to get rid of the thought of Jack. He is like a shadow that follows him everywhere. He can practically see him as like he was there, especially when he was about to fall asleep. A tear slowly forms in his eye and runs down his cheek. If Jack wouldn't come back will he ever get over -
"Ouch!" the Welsh vowels echo through the bright room. Ianto opens his eyes and sees how Gwen sits next to him and has cut a little wound into his left arm with a knife. "What was that for huh?!"
"I want to see whether you're immortal or not and now shush and watch the cut. I want you to see it how it heals"
"You seem very sure about the fact that I'm not mortal anymore hm?" he chuckles a bit and clenches his fist at the sudden pain. Gwen's and Ianto's eyes are fixed on the little red cut from which a bit of blood dropps onto the table.
But that is incidental compared to the fact that...that Ianto's forearm seems to...heal. Yes, it heals immediately and after a minute the cut is gone. Ianto's mouth drops and he can't find any words. He just keeps staring at the spot where the wound was just one minute ago. His fingers run exploringly along it searching for any hint of or scar but nothing. It was perfectly gone.
"Gwen...it...it just healed"
"Yeah... I saw it I..." she shakes her head a bit and laughs.
"What...why are you laughing?"
She hits him playfully on the arm "Don't you see? You're immortal now silly. I saw that" she points at his arm "I saw exactly that happening as Jack cut himself once. It healed just like yours! Exactly like that!" she smiles.
Ianto shakes his head in disbelief.
Impossible...and yet it just happened right in front of his eyes. He cut himself again just to watch the exact same process and takes a deep breath
"How is this possible, Gwen? Why am I... I can't be..."
"Immortal? Why not?"
"No...only Jack is supposed to be like that."
"Oh believe me he's not exactly supposed to be like that but okay. But I mean if he got immortal...why not you?"
"Yeah but I wasn't brought back to life by an incarnation of the tardis right?"
Gwen shakes her head and thinks
A few moments later she chuckles a bit "But it wasn't because of the Sex right?"
Ianto raises an eyebrow "Gwen, you and I both know that if it was the sex then half of the universe would be immortal." he giggles a bit but tries to hide it.
"Oh hey was that a little laugh?"
"Yeah fine...it was." he keeps chuckling. Gwen's presence made him feel better and so they spend some time together having breakfasts, chatting and discussing wild theories.

A week has passed and Gwen and Ianto went back to work. He made coffee and wandered through the archives while Gwen keeps reaming some idiots butt on the phone and go weevil hunting together. Things got a bit more normal and still something was missing...someone. Torchwood is not the same without Jack. It worked but...it just felt empty. And not that vivid. They both miss how he used to come down from his office and make some stupid jokes, tell some of his many many unbelievable stories or just hug each of them day by day with a soft smile on his lips.

Driven by the memories Ianto finds himself wandering up to Jack's office looking through the files on his desk and his shelves. The tall man isn't sure what he is looking for. Maybe a note. A little letter or a diary. But there was nothing special hidden under the dusty files until his glance falls to Jack's safe at the wall. Ianto comes hesitantly closer and runs with his fingers along it as like it was the last thing that he had left from Jack. Should he open it? Well why not. Jack was gone and Torchwood was now his more or less. And he even knew the code. Ianto's birthday of course which made him smile a bit. The man in the suit enters the combination and with a little Crack the safe opens. With a deep breath he looks inside: nothing what would exactly surprise him. A few bottles of exquisite old wine and whiskey Jack used to bring on their dates, some old photo books, some sorts of meds and some tests for illnesses but he can't translate the foreign signs. A smirk appears on Ianto's face and he bites his lip as he takes out some of the sex toys Jack had locked in there and which they definitely were never afraid to use. But something else drew his attention.
"Ianto? Ah there you are. And did you find anything...besides the...toys" she tries not to laugh.
"Uh...yeah" Ianto turns around. He has a little device in his hand. It looks old an used. Small and has a leather bandage. "An old and used VM. I bet it's broken" he tries to activate it but nothing appears on the display. Ianto didn't notice but Gwen does as a small paper falls down to the floor from the VM. She picks it up and reads aloud
"Emergency call. And ONLY for REAL emergencies, Jack" is says there followed by an unknown number.
"Who's number is that?"
"I don't know, Ianto answered, although he had an idea. He took the paper away from Gwen and studied it. She shrugs and says on her way out "better lock it all away before it explodes"
Ianto nods a bit absent and lets the note and...also the VM slide into his pocket before he closes the safe again.

After Gwen has left the hub and Ianto stays with the excuse he always has, paperwork, he takes out the two items and plays with the VM. If he could repair it... Maybe he could find Jack, follow him or text him. But it is useless. He is no engeneer or something so he stares at the note at the desk. His fingers fiddle subconsciously with the phone in his pocket while the Welshman whips with his knee overthinking. He gets himself a grip and dials the number even though he knows Gwen would doom him for that. "Come on...pick up, pick up, pick up"
But no one picks up. Instead the person on the other side hangs up. A little flame of anger comes up in his chest. How could Jack's emergency contact just hang up. But a few minutes after that he gets rid of those thoughts as something appears with a wheezing sound and flashing light in the middle of the hub. It is a blue telephone box.

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Sorry, this one was a bit long but I hope I can entertain you. If you want you can leave some votes or drop some comments. Hope you lot are doing well during this rough time xoxo