Just Imagine...

I'm Home

Today was going to be a simple day. No invasions, no running around, all that was needed was to locate a few files. A perfect first day back after dealing with John Hart yesterday. But he was gone now, and there weren't any Rift spikes in sight. Jack was finally starting to relax, following Ianto into the archives with Sam and Owen behind him.
"We're looking for files on Stegman ships," Ianto was saying, "what elements are needed to create the metal used to build them, more specifically. Tosh wants to know if we have all of those elements in storage..." 
Jack had stopped listening, he was just watching the professional little smile on Ianto's beautiful face. He thought about last night, Ianto's body against his. Jack was content just to stare at that little smile forever if Ianto never wanted to spend the night with him again, it would be enough.
He then turned his attention to Sam. His renther. Her hair was so short now, cut by the sword of a Stegman criminal. She was limping, leaning heavily on a cane, her right knee bandaged after it had popped out of its socket and fractured when she slipped chasing a Weevil. But her emerald eyes were still bright and determined.
And lastly, there was Owen, who had first reacted in anger and betrayal when Jack returned - anger he knew he very much deserved - but had softened when he saw that Jack had been through a lot of hardship while he was gone. Owen still looked grumpy, but that was his usual grumpy, grumpiness that came from spending the afternoon in the dark, dingy archives searching for files. He was likely only doing this because Tosh was so excited about her new project. He'd never admit it, but Owen loved it when Tosh got like this, and Jack knew it. He could tell by the little glimmer in his friend's eyes when he watched her work.
They had reached the archives by now - a huge, dark, and slightly intimidating room deep underground. There were monstrously tall metal shelves in rows stretching as far as the eye could see - which wasn't very far down here - and it was eerily quiet. This was Ianto's domain, and Jack was just glad he rarely had to come down here. This place, so far away from the sunlight, gave him the creeps.
"Man, when was the last time you cleaned down here, Yan?" Sam asked, running her finger over the nearby desk and sending up a tiny dust cloud.
"We only just got back from Tibet three days ago!" Ianto exclaimed, "I haven't had time!"
"Relax," Sam murmured, "I was joking." She put her hand on Ianto's shoulder and he smiled in response.
"I hate dust," Owen muttered, "let's find the bloody file and get the hell out of here."
"Lead the way, Ianto." Jack murmured, and Ianto smiled at him before leading him, Sam, and Owen down an aisle between two shelves. Their footsteps echoed eerily around the room and the smell of dust was heavy in the air. Owen sniffed, then let out a tiny sneeze.
"Aww." Sam murmured, eyes sparkling.
"What?" Owen asked, rubbing his nose with the back of his sleeve.
"That's your sneeze? It's so cute!"
"No it's not, it's a normal sneeze!"
Ianto, who was next to Jack, snickered into his hand, and Jack couldn't resist grinning from ear to ear.
"I can't believe we've known you for so long and the whole time you had the most adorable sneeze ever!" Sam went on.
"Shut up! I'm not adorable!" Owen snapped. He gave Sam a light shove and continued on at a brisk pace. Sam chuckled, falling into step beside Jack. She seemed to be struggling a bit to keep up and Jack slowed his pace.
"Does your leg hurt?" He asked quietly.
"A little," Sam said with a shrug, "nothing I haven't dealt with before. I've had this knee thing since I was like seventeen, y'know."
"Yeah..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just... I'm sorry."
"Jacksie," Sam stopped in her tracks and looked him straight in the eyes, "you gotta stop saying that. It's not your fault I got hurt. It's my own."
"But I left..." Jack whimpered.
"You did, you did," Sam murmured, nodding as she carried on and Jack followed, "but you came back too. And that was the right thing. I won't lie, it was hard without you. I missed you deeply - we all did. But we all knew you'd come back eventually. And we forgive you, Jack." She tousled his hair and Jack blinked away the tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Thanks..." he said, "um... M-Mom."
Sam's eyebrows shot up.
"Mom?" She repeated.
"Can I call you that now?"
"Of course! Why would you think you couldn't?"
"Because I'm not really yours."
"Don't you ever say that. You are mine and you always will be. Maybe you don't wanna hear this, but you're kinda stuck with us. All of us."
"Aren't you mad at me for leaving?"
"Of course I'm mad! But... I had this feeling while you were gone that you needed help and I knew we couldn't reach you, and that just  made me crazy. I'm more angry about whatever happened to you in the past little while than I am about you up and leaving."
Sam placed her hand on Jack's shoulder as she spoke, then slowly moved it to his cheek, stroking the skin under his eye with her thumb. This time Jack couldn't stop the tears from falling no matter how hard he tried to hold them back. Sam blinked lovingly at him before kissing his forehead and pulling him into a hug with the arm she wasn't using to steady her cane.
"You know I love you, Jacksie, right?" She murmured. Jack slowly put his shaking arms around her.
"I do." He croaked, "I... I love you too."