m_findlow

Title: Date night
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,614 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for fffc May Special Daily Challenge - May 10th - Moonlight drive (The Doors)
Summary: Jack has big plans for date night which includes a very special joy ride.

Ianto knew he couldn't trust Jack just by the look glinting in his eyes. 'Okay, what are you up to?'

'Nothing,' Jack lied.

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'It's date night, finally and hopefully without interruption, and you've got the look of someone with something hidden up their sleeve.'

'Who me?' Jack said, trying to be coy.

Ianto folded his arms. 'Tell me or we're not going anywhere.'

Jack groaned inwardly. Why did Ianto have to be so stubborn? 'It's a surprise.'

'Exactly. You know I hate surprises.'

'Then it's lucky I don't have to get you to go anywhere,' Jack said, grabbing him roughly around the waist and pulling him tight to Jack's body. He had no intention of waiting for Ianto's permission to be surprised.

When Jack grabbed him, he expected a kiss but what happened next nearly turned his stomach inside out. He couldn't see what was happening, but his body certainly felt it. It was a bit like when he'd been on those Gravitron rides as a kid, centrifugal force pulling on his body. A shame he didn't enjoy that feeling now quite so much as when he'd been younger. As the feelings of being in motion subsided Jack kept a firm grip on him.

'Your stomach will be telling you it wants to puke but just ride it out. The feeling will pass pretty quick.'

Jack wasn't wrong. The only thing stopping him from vomiting was the thought that if he did so, it would be all over the front of Jack. True to his word though, after about twenty seconds the feeling passed.

'Okay, what the hell just happened?'

'We teleported.'

'Intentionally, I'm assuming?'

'Of course.'

He wanted the next question to be how, but the where seemed more important. In the complete blackness, they could have been anywhere. 'Where are we?'

'Let go of me for a second and I'll show you.'

'Oh,' he said, realising he still had a death grip on Jack's arms, letting go. He caught the faint light of Jack's wrist strap as he flipped it open, pressing a few buttons. Then all around them, the place began to light up, revealing polished chrome. 'Um, still confused as to the where bit,' he said, looking around.

'This is a Q Class patrol vessel. Small but fast and light.'

Ianto frowned at Jack. It still didn't exactly answer the where question. 'Do you practice being cryptic?'

Jack smiled at him. 'Come on, Ianto. You claim to know everything. Tell me you don't remember seeing a Q Class listed somewhere.'

He thought long and hard about it. Clearly it was theirs, judging by Jack's answer. Torchwood owned quite a few ships that had been abandoned here, but there was only one place you could hide a bunch of spaceships where no one would find them. That lead to only one logical conclusion. 'Are you telling me we're on the moon?'

'Got it in one,' Jack beamed.

'We're on the moon,' Ianto repeated.

'Uh huh.'

Blimey. That was a surprise. He'd been up in space once before, though it hadn't been an enjoyable experience, bleeding and frightened on a spaceship trying to crash back to Earth. He'd decided from that point on that he was quite happy to remain earth bound.

'Ianto?' Jack asked, grabbing him and giving him a look. 'You okay?'

He nodded absently, trying to look out the narrow windows of the vessel. There was nothing but blackness out there. He pictured it more like Neil Armstrong's moon landing, all grey moonrock and dust. 'Where's the moon?' he said, realising how stupid that sounded.

'We're on the dark side. Can't have some super-powered American deep space telescope finding the stuff we've left up here.'

'Right.' That made sense. 'So, this was your big date night surprise?'

'I know I've been promising for ages that one day I'd take you out to see the stars.'

'Uh huh,' Ianto said, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

'Well, I got sick of waiting for the Doc to come back. Besides, why should he get all the glory of showing off. It was my idea after all.'

'Not seeing any stars, yet,' he said, trying not to sound ungrateful.

'Oh, you will. Just got to get this baby up and running.' Jack left his side to slide into one of two comfortable looking seats in front of trouble console, beginning to push buttons and spin dials, listening as the ship whirred into life.

Ianto gingerly sat down in the seat next to him and watched with curious interest. 'How did we get up here exactly?'

'Well, I did a little tinkering with this,' he said, pointing to his vortex manipulator. 'Okay, actually it was a lot of tinkering, but I managed to connect it to the transmat feed. Can't believe I never thought of it before, actually.' It was one thing to park a ship up on the moon and to use its own technology to beam yourself back down to Earth. It was quite another though, to be able to get yourself back up there without the right technology, or someone on board to help you out.

'So, that's a thing we can do all the time now?'

'Just this ship for now,' Jack said. 'Most have technology way too advanced to let me override their protocol. Imagine if any old person could just hack your ship's transmat and beam themselves on board. It's like the equivalent of leaving your car keys tucked under the wheel rim.'

'Fair point.'

'She's a little low on fuel but there should be plenty enough for a quick little spin around the planet.' Jack looked back at him and grinned. 'Ready for your first big trip?'

There wasn't much point in saying he wasn't. 'Just don't crash us, okay?'

Jack laughed. 'Don't worry, you're with the Captain.'

The ship glided upwards with barely a sense of movement, and before long, Jack had it skipping smoothly through the sky. It didn't taken long until Ianto could see the greyness of the moon scape sweeping by, lit by the sun's rays. Jack turned the small vessel, guiding it around the edge of what appeared to be a huge crater, and he got an up close look at the craggy grey moon rock. It was all he could do just to stay in his seat and not lean forward towards the windows. He hadn't really thought the moon would be that fascinating, but now that they were up here, it was brilliant.

Jack was flushed with self satisfaction. Ianto may not like surprises but he was enjoying this one even if he'd never admit it. Jack pulled up, taking them out of the gravitational pull of the moon. He loved the feeling of being back behind the controls of a cruiser. Flying a plane was one thing, but flying through space was something else entirely. As they cruised upwards, millions of stars came into view on one side, and on the other side they got a fabulous view of the moon, glittering amongst the starry backdrop. Out here where there was no light pollution, the stars came out in their millions, more glittering silver than the blackness of space. This was the ultimate joy drive.

'You've been quiet,' Jack said, casting a glance at his lover.

'There are no words,' he replied. What was the point in spoiling the views with commentary? They spoke for themselves.

Jack smiled. Wasn't that the truth of it? Gods but he'd missed being out here amongst the stars, but now perhaps they could at least have this much. All he needed was to find a way to source some ion fuel to keep their craft ticking over. He could already picture kinds of things they could do with a fully working ship. Picnics in the Sea of Tranquility would be just the beginning. And the best thing about it was that they didn't have to worry about crowds or restaurant reservations. The moon was all theirs, whenever they wanted it.

Eventually though, Jack was forced to put an end to their date, carefully landing the ship back where he'd put it the first time, making sure to leave just enough fuel for emergencies in case they suddenly found themselves needing a ship. He was sure he could beam a message to the next transport vessel that happened to pass by the edges of the Milky Way and see if they could arrange a trade. He had plenty of currency stashed away and there was always something worth trading. It might take a few weeks, or even a few months, but he was sure he could wrangle it for the right price. Once they had a steady fuel source, they could travel a lot further. He couldn't wait to be able to give Ianto a bird's eye tour of the Earth, to navigate the asteroid belt and to glide between the rings of saturn. This was only the beginning.

'So,' Jack said, 'how was your first intergalactic date night?' He was suitably pleased with himself, knowing his reward when they got home would be almost as good. A shame this little ship had such spartan facilities or he might have opted to continue their date in what counted for its sleeping quarters.

'Out of this world,' Ianto replied, unable to wipe through smile off his face. The fact that he'd used such a shameless play on words spoke volumes about just how much he'd loved it. 'I might even to start to like surprises.'

'Stick with me, and there's plenty more where that came from,' Jack assured him.