m_findlow

Title: To the moon and back
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 39 - Celestial Bodies at fandomweekly
Summary: Jack has a unique way of teaching Ianto how to fly.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Ianto felt like correcting Jack. In this instance, size really did matter. A lot.

Atop the crest of the hill, the beacons splayed out before him, their pale golden hills and leas undulating for miles on end. The Brecon Beacons was a vast place, and there was a beauty to the quiet desolation of its farthest unexplored reaches, as if no man had ever touched it with his presence. Until now, that was.

The ship was simply enormous, its long supine shell a muted grey, picking up just the faintest hint of early morning light along its wide curves.

'Wow.' That was all he could say.

'She's a beauty,' Jack agreed. 'Forty-third century cruiser by the looks of her. Good condition.'

'But no life signs,' Ianto added, inspecting the readings on his PDA. 'Are they all dead?'

'She doesn't look crashed,' Jack replied. 'I'd say it got sucked through the rift unmanned. Probably some used vessel dealership mightily displeased that this baby has disappeared from their yard. She won't have come cheap.'

Ianto stood and admired it for a few minutes before turning to more practical matters.

'Uh, hate to ruin the moment, but we have a problem.'

'What's that?'

'Well, for starters, there's no Harwoods lorry going to be able to tow that, and secondly, I know Torchwood is big, but even we don't have space enough for that, let alone a door big enough to get it inside.'

'No problem,' Jack replied, smiling. 'We'll just do what we always do.'

Ianto was confused. In his considerably detailed memory, this sort of thing had never happened.

'And what's that?'

'We fly it to the moon.'

'Oh.' Yes, well, he supposed that might work. 'And we've done this before?'

'Loads of times. It's getting to be a real parking bay up there.'

'Right, and no one has ever noticed a bunch of alien spaceships on the moon?'

'Nope. Most of them are cloaked. And I always park them on the dark side. Can't be too careful.'

'Obviously.'

They trekked down the hill towards the vessel, Jack using his vortex manipulator to get them inside and leading them to the bridge.

'Lucky I brought you,' Jack said. 'She takes two people to fly her.'

Ianto was taken aback by the inference. Him? 'Me?'

'Unless there's another Ianto Jones around here somewhere. Which I wouldn't mind, by the way.'

'Oh. Okay,' he said, sounding reluctant. 'Is there a checklist somewhere for me to follow?'

Jack burst out laughing, making Ianto feel slightly foolish. 'Oh, Ianto Jones, you're just so adorable!'

'What?' he said, feeling affronted. 'No "Dummies Guide to Alien Spaceships"?'

Jack just chuckled at him. He hated it when Jack did that, belittling whatever idea made perfect logical sense to him in favour of the Jack Harkness mentality to life.

'You people ruined the idea of what it means to fly. You can have all the checklists and instruction manuals in the world and it won't mean a damn thing. Flying is something that can't be learned from books.'

'Encouraging,' Ianto quipped. 'I'll feel so much better next time I board a plane. And I don't see how that helps us move this thing, now that you've told me I can't learn to fly it.'

Jack shook his head. 'I never said you couldn't fly it, I only said you couldn't read what to do.'

Ianto pouted. 'That's exceedingly unhelpful.'

'Here,' Jack said, coming over to stand behind him. 'Put your hands on the console.'

He did so, and Jack snaked his arms around Ianto's body, pressing his own hands over the top of Ianto's.

'Flying is intuitive and instinctual. It's like making love. You don't think about what you're doing, you just feel it, go along with it, let it take you where you need to go and help guide it in the right direction. Close your eyes and feel it.'

At first there was nothing, just Jack hugging him close, then there was a slight vibration in his hands, rippling up his arms, suffusing his body with a tingling energy.

'First there's a spark,' Jack said, 'as you meet for the first time, getting a feel for one another. Then you push forward a little,' he said, pressing Ianto's hands firmer. 'Even the gentlest of touches can elicit a reaction.' Around them the engines began to hum and whirr.

'She rises up underneath you, wanting more from you, and you know what she wants. You press a little closer and before you know it, you're inside her mind, and she's inside yours.'

Oh, God, Ianto thought, he really could feel the connection, like he suddenly knew the ship inside out, but it was Jack's husky voice in his ear that was bringing him slowly undone as his legs quivered beneath him. Only Jack could take something as "simple" as flying a spaceship and turn it into something completely pornographic.

'Can you feel it now?' Jack asked, his warm breath ghosting Ianto's ear.

He could feel something, that was for sure, but now wasn't the time to admit it.

'Uh huh,' he replied, being as many coherent syllables as he could muster, opening his eyes and seeing Jack standing directly in front of him now. When had that happened? It still felt like Jack was there, but now it was the warmth from his connection to the ship that was giving him that sensation of being wrapped up in a lover's embrace.

'You're a natural,' Jack beamed. 'Just wait until we get her off the ground, though. Nothing beats the ecstasy of actually flying.'

'Nothing?' Ianto replied, quirking an eyebrow.

'Well, some things, but we can work on that after we get her landed.'

'And how do we get off the moon once we're there?'

'Teleport, of course. Assuming it works.'

'Assuming? We don't want to check first?'

Jack shrugged. 'We can always hitch a ride back on another ship. Plus, haven't you always wanted to walk on the moon?'