Vacation to Rest and Recover

Disclaimer: Own things? Me? Absolutely not! I'm just playing with these toys and I shall give them back to their proper owners once I am finished.

123/? of the "Immortal Janto" series.

It's been a minute, you all. Sorry about this one. Once again, life has gotten the better of me. Still, I hope that you all enjoy this new installation and that it was worth your wait. I appreciate your patience in all of this.

Please enjoy!

When Ianto had promised Jack a normal vacation where he couldn't get hurt as a result, he absolutely meant it.

It had taken him a few days to bounce back completely from his near-death experience. Ianto was glad that he hadn't died this time around. His recovery would have taken much longer. As it happened (and was usually the case, it seemed), the TARDIS had him patched up fairly quickly once he had gotten back aboard. (Ianto was perpetually grateful for the old girl.) Still, he was tired out by the whole ordeal, so he did what Jack, Donna, and the TARDIS suggested and rested for a few days.

In that time (and much without Jack noticing it), Ianto scheduled a family vacation. Andy was very helpful on that front. Annabelle was otherwise focused on looking after her little brother while Ianto recovered. Jack, rattled by the whole ordeal, alternated between taking care of Ianto and being supportive of Fred, who was still grappling the ongoing fear he felt at Ianto's near-death experience.

The family time would be good for all of them really. They definitely needed to have the time away from the insanity of time and space travel.

So, when Ianto was safely back on his feet, he had the Doctor drop them off on the Outer Banks of the United States' North Carolina. He had arranged a small ocean-front house with enough privacy for them to enjoy themselves, but near enough to one of the small towns that littered the barrier islands that they could run in for supplies when needed. The fact that they planned it for the bridge between the end of August and the beginning of September, just before Fred was due back to school for the autumn term and just after the American school systems started up for the academic year, meant that they missed most of the crowds.

Cherise, Alexis, and Margaret were there already, waiting for them when they arrived. The small family had flown over from London the day before, picking up a van and stopping by the supermarket to stock up the house. Fred perked up at the site of his best friend and her mothers sitting out in front of the beach house, as soon as he stepped out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor poked his head out behind them, once Andy and Jack had gotten the last of their bags off the TARDIS.

"Have fun, you lot," he said. "We'll see you in a week."

"Thanks, Doctor," Ianto said genuinely. Then, he looked past the Time Lord to Donna, who was just lingering on the other side of the Doctor, a smirk on her face. "Make sure he's doesn't get too distracted, will you, Donna?"

The woman shook her head. "The TARDIS and I will do our best."

That, Ianto could believe.

At any rate, once the TARDIS had vanished from sight, everyone went into the house to claim their rooms.

They had a four-bedroom house spread over two floors. Jack and Ianto took one of the master bedrooms on the top floor and Margaret and Alexis took the other. Annabelle and Andy took the master bedroom on the lower floor. Fred, Cherise, and Ewan bunked up in the remaining room, which had a bunk bed set and a twin bed.

On the first night, they did little more than settle in. The kids went up onto the beach to splash about in the ocean while Annabelle and Jack got dinner set up. They didn't want to do a lot of cooking, not with Margaret, Alexis, and Cherise still getting over their jet lag coming over from England. (Going back wouldn't nearly be as bad. They'd be traveling by TARDIS, with the ship providing the appropriate forged documents to make it look like they had flown back to England from the States.)

When morning came, they trooped up to the beach and proceeded to spend the first of several days having fun in the sun and surf.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Alexis asked Ianto late in that first full day, when they were puttering about the kitchen, working on the side dishes and salad. Andy and Margaret were having a very intense debate over grilling techniques, while Jack entertained Ewan and Annabelle, Cherise, and Fred were playing a very intense game of Scrabble. (Cherise was winning.)

Ianto looked over at his friend. "Yeah, something happened. How did you know?"

She stopped tossing the salad and rounded on him.

"Jack's been watching you when you aren't looking and your kids kept asking you to join in the fun today. They won't say anything, but it's clear that something happened to you."

There was no hiding from it really. He exhaled.

"I nearly died a few days ago," Ianto admitted slowly. "I got kidnapped and things went sideways." Alexis raised an eyebrow at him. Her unspoken question was almost unbearably obvious. "Yes, I know. How on Earth did I managed to get kidnapped, at my age and after everything I've been through?"

She snorted. "I wouldn't have phrased it like that, but yeah, that's basically what I was going to ask."

Ianto managed a small laugh, acknowledging the general absurdity of the whole situation.

"No idea," he answered at last, shrugging a bit to acknowledge and concede her point, "but it happened and it was worse than either of us could have planned."

Alexis reached over and placed a hand on his, stilling his movements. The immortal looked over at his friend. For a moment, he realized just how precious moments like this were. Save for those lucky enough to either be born into or marry into his TARDIS family, everyone he and Jack ever knew, befriended, and loved would die and fade away. It was strange how this realization hit him in this moment, but it also meant that he needed to enjoy this vacation.

"Ianto?" Alexis' question drew him out of his thoughts and kept him from going down a particularly sad thought spiral. "What's going on in there?"

"Nothing worth mentioning," Ianto answered with a smile.

"I can't pretend to know what it's like, living the life that you two do," she told him honesty. "Going out into the universe and having any number of adventures. But I can tell that you need this week more than the rest of us."

"Not just me!" he protested quickly. After a moment, he laughed. "Alexis, a lot happened out there and I don't know if I'll be able to talk about it to anyone. But you are right. I do need this week more than I probably would have cared to admit."

Alexis patted his hand gently in agreement.

That little conversation proved to be a turning point for Ianto for the week.

He made a silent promise to himself to let himself enjoy the moment and to make as many memories as possible. It was fortuitous, it seemed, that Cherise had decided that she wanted to take video of as much of the week as she could because there was a lot that happened that he didn't want to forget.

Ianto couldn't decide what his favorite part of the week.

It might have been when Fred and Cherise decided that they wanted to make a variety of pizzas for dinner one night and things went sidewise. (They swore that there was no good reason that the sauce got so lumpy or why it all exploded in the oven.) Or it could have been when they had a talent show and Andy was the only one who took it seriously. Or, even, it might have been when Jack had convinced Ianto to sneak out in the middle of one night and they had some very delightful sex on the beach-side of the dunes.

All in all, by the time the Doctor and Donna showed back up at the end of the week, the TARDIS nestling very innocuously by the pool of the house, Ianto felt a little more at peace with everything.

He would never quite get over every death or near-death experience. Ianto feared that, one day, he would, but that was something that he would have to talk with Jack about when they were alone and not on vacation. Jack understood the struggle of seeing all of their loved ones grow old and fade away – and his love was one of the constants that Ianto could trust implicitly.

All would be well for them.

Well, that's that. I hoped that you all enjoyed this. Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter.