Torchwood: Fanfic: Take me to church

[m_findlow]

Title: Take me to church
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,751 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316's prompt "Any, any, and in the end all that matters is love" at fic_promptly
Summary: The boys are on a mission from God

'Wow,' Jack said, standing there in awe of the view in front of him. 'I’ve seen churches, but this is something else.'

'You’ve never been here?' Ianto asked.

'Nope.'

'A hundred years and I can still surprise you,' he smiled.

The chapel was beautifully appointed, set in a narrow street with two tall commercial buildings towering over it on each side. Had it not been for Ianto’s keen directions, he might have walked past the front of it altogether, tucked away as it was. The interior seemed to glow from an invisible light source, warm and yellow, with deep wall sconces and candlelight issuing from them, adding to the light. High sandstone arches rose up towards the roof, and rich timbers made up the pews and the side tables. Due to its narrow location, the was little in the way of grand stained glass windows looking out onto the street and beyond, but what little there was, was elegant and detailed.

'Kinda romantic,' Jack mused, giving Ianto’s buttocks a gentle squeeze.

'Jesus Christ, Jack!' Ianto exclaimed. 'It’s a church for God’s sake,' he said, cringing at the ill-timed invocations.

'It’s a place of worship,' Jack replied, seemingly unfazed by the situation.

'It’s my place of worship,' Ianto clarified.

Sure, he was no saint when it came to observing the religion, but he did what he could, trying to be a good son for the mother who had raised him. Church had always been more of a thing for Easter and Christmas, but that didn’t mean he could just set it aside during the rest of the year. Every now and then, when he’d had a bad day, he might come here. He didn’t know why exactly. Whether it was for the hope of salvation, forgiveness, or just to escape the hub and the people in it, he wasn’t sure. He was probably going to hell for all the things he done, anyway. It certainly didn’t help that he was in a forbidden relationship, and even less so that Jack was standing there flaunting it for all to see.

'We’ll be seen,' was all Ianto said.

'By who?' Jack replied.

Who indeed? The church was empty as best he could see. There were no stray worshippers or repentant sinners, no community choir practising their choral verses for Sunday mass. Even the pastor seemed to be gone, though surely he was hovering around somewhere.

'It doesn’t matter,' Ianto replied. God could see, he felt like adding. In the end, wasn’t that the only person/thing/it that mattered?

Jack shrugged, walking off. They never discussed religion. Jack knew Ianto was keeping to some God, not necessarily because he wanted to, but because he felt he had to. Family and duty ran deep within him, even if he never showed it, and he wasn’t above doing something simply because it would appease someone else.

Jack cleared his throat, hoping to change the subject that had suddenly descended in such awkwardness. Ianto was already consulting his PDA, looking for more information on the signal that had originated from this spot. Yes, that was the only reason they were here. They needed to focus on that.

'Any ideas?' Jack asked.

'It’s... vague,' Ianto said, frowning at the screen. 'Smaller than before. Not active any more, just traces of residual rift energy. Probably dormant, whatever it is.'

'Well,' Jack said, staring around again, 'at least the place isn’t too big. Should be able to find it somehow.'

Ianto sighed. Needle in a haystack. His favourite. Well, he supposed it beat running for your life against a terrifying beastie with razor sharp claws and teeth. 'Okay, why don’t you check along the pews, I’ll go look over there,' he said, pointing towards the transept and beyond. 'Try not to touch anything you shouldn’t,' he warned.

Ianto wandered up the nave, and into the ambulatory, seeing the tiny candles flickering in the darkened space above the crucifix. He spared a glance over his shoulder at Jack, watching as he busied himself searching under each of the long wooden pews, oblivious to Ianto. He wanted to focus on the task at hand but he couldn't help feeling he'd somehow violated the space by bringing Jack in here. It wasn't fair on Jack. He hadn't done anything wrong necessarily. He wasn't asking Jack to observe any of the religions Earth had to offer, certain he had his own, whether he practiced them or not.

"God loves all his children," his mum would say as she handed him the lit candle to place amongst the rest of them.

He wished she were here now to tell him that. There were days when he wondered if that wasn't true. So much had happened. What would she think of him, dating another man? He wanted to think she'd be understanding. She'd always been the sort of no nonsense woman, happy to tell him off for being smart, but just as like to ask him round for tea, and pepper him with questions about whether he was putting his socks in the dryer, and did he make sure to have a carton of long life milk in the pantry, just for emergencies? They hadn't talked about him getting out there again, trying to find love after Lisa. They both knew without saying it that he'd find his feet in his own time and his own way.

"Ignore whatever your sister tells you. She's only looking for something to gossip about. It's your life."

She'd have plenty to gossip about now, make no mistake.

'Found it,' Jack said, startling him.

'Huh?'

'A first edition copy of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,' he said, brandishing the leather bound novel. 'Wasn't sure at first if it was just lost property, but it's got rift energy traces so I think it's safe to say this is what we came for.'

'Oh.'

Jack frowned at him. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, just got distracted is all.'

'I know.'

'Huh?'

'You've been standing there staring off into space for the past ten minutes. I didn't wanna interrupt. Comuning with God?' he asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Ianto shrugged it off. 'Please don't make fun of it.'

'I wasn't.'

'Yes, you were. It might be okay for you, never having to worry about what comes after...'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa,' Jack said, getting annoyed. 'I was only trying to find out what was on your mind.'

Ianto gave a half-hearted laugh. 'I don't know what to think anymore. I'm half surprised I don't get struck by lightning every time I walk in here.'

'You know that isn't a thing, don't you? There's no almighty being waiting there to burn you to death. You don't have to beg for forgiveness for whatever you think it is you've done wrong.'

'Oh, right, well why don't we just have sex right here then, since it's no big deal; since there's no repercussions whatsoever.'

'I didn't say that,' Jack replied, Ianto putting words in his mouth.

'Yes, you did. You think it isn't hard enough to try and do this job and then have to worry about what the church thinks about it?'

'The church or God?' he asked, cocking his head to the side.

'Does it make a difference?'

'Well, yeah. You think you're a bad person because the church tells you that the only union is between a man and a woman, and that God will punish you for it?'

'S'pose I'll find out soon enough. Torchwood agents tend not to live very long.'

Jack let out a vexed sigh. Twenty-first century humans were so narrowminded sometimes.

'You see this?' Jack asked, holding up the book.

'Yeah.'

'Fiction, right? But based around some facts perhaps? I mean, it describes people living in London in the nineteenth century. That much is pretty accurate. Whether there was a superslueth detective that solved crimes? Probably more fiction than fact.'

Ianto narrowed his eyes at Jack. 'I'm failing to see your point.'

'My point is, you believe what you believe because some book told you that was the reality of it all. In the end, that's just one person's take on something that may or may not have been.'

'You're going to tell me the Bible is a work of fiction?'

'No, but what I'm saying to you is,' Jack sighed. 'Ianto, I've been a lot of places and met a lot of different people. There's a billion and one religions out there, but the one thing they all have in common is that love is at the center of all of them. No God or gods would deny that the most important thing is that we all learn to love one another, and any God that would deny love is no God at all.'

'And how is that supposed to help?'

'If your God thought that there was something wrong with us being together, then wouldn't he have done something about it? Religion is just a set of underlying principles on which we live our lives. Be good to your parents, be charitable, be honest, love your fellow man. Gods aren't out to punish. The only person who can punish you for not doing those things is you. Repenting your sins is allowing yourself to accept your failings so that you don't go on punishing yourself. The rest is just... living your life as best you can.'

Ianto pondered it. Everything Jack said made sense, and it wasn't if he himself was a logical sort of person, but somehow he needed to believe there was some higher power, looking out for them. Could it be that Jack was right, and that he was meant to have met Jack because some divine intervention had made it so, or was he meant to find his own path despite the stumbling blocks set in his way? Was Jack nothing more than a roadblock meant to test him?

"God loves all his children, sweet boy," he heard his mum say again. He'd been so young back then.

"What about if I'm naughty? Will he still love me then?"

"He will always love you, because love is the most important thing in the world."

As he reached up to touch Jack's cheek, he hoped she was right, leaning in to kiss him, in sight of God and all the powers that be.

'All that matters in then end is love, right?' Ianto asked.

'And in the end all that matters is love,' Jack agreed.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Awwwww! Yes, Jack talks a lot of sense. Nice to see Ianto listening and taking it all on board/