Bumper Cars Are Always Cool

Disclaimer: I own nothing here.

Summary: Adults can act like children sometimes too. Johnny brings out the competitive nature of Jack and the Doctor while at a carnival on another planet. Everyone else just watches. Ianto/Jack. Sixtieth in the "Immortal Janto" series.

Just a humorous little plot bunny that came hopping into my head.

How they managed to find the one carnival planet in this particular corner of that galaxy during the twenty-ninth century was well beyond Ianto, but they did. Even stranger, they had found the alien version of bumper cars – which was exactly like the bumper cars of Earth, except with anti-gravity vehicles.

It had taken all of about three seconds for Johnny and Jack to decide that they wanted to play. The Doctor was quick to follow. Within a minute, all three were bickering amongst themselves about who was better at bumper cars.

This was surprisingly quite amusing.

Donna shared a knowing look with Ianto. She rolled her eyes expectantly, pursing her lips ever so slightly. She was trying not to laugh.

Annabelle, as soon as she had spotted said carnival ride, pulled Andy out of the line of fire. Ianto didn't disapprove. Knowing Johnny as well as he did, Ianto's dear brother-in-law would be more than happy to use this opportunity as a way of grilling the blond former police sergeant and Ianto did want to keep Andy around. The younger man was handling all of the weird that came with the Doctor and TARDIS travel well enough and he genuinely cared for Annabelle – which was a rare combination.

Rhiannon, on the other hand, wasn't handling the petty disagreement between the three grown men as well as the rest of them were. She moved to insert herself into the conversation.

Ianto reached out a hand and caught her elbow, stopping her. Rhiannon look at him with confused eyes. He shook his head.

"Let them at it," he advised. "Trust me, you don't want to break this up."

"They're being bloody ridiculous," she replied, glancing back at the three men as they disappeared in the line ahead of them. Ianto could detect the faint level of concern in her voice and, knowing his sister the way he did, she would be concerned for Johnny's safety until they returned.

"Honestly, it's better to let it play out," Donna said, calmly. "You'd be surprised how often this kind of thing happens."

"Really?"

"With Jack and the Doctor around, oh yeah."

Donna had hit the nail on the head, that was for sure. Ianto rolled his eyes.

"How about we go find something to eat," he suggested, looking between his biological sister and his adopted sister. "The boys will get bored eventually and they'll come and find us."

"Eventually," Donna agreed.

Rhiannon looked between the two of them, clearly torn between trying to corral her husband, Jack, and the Doctor (her mother instincts had been on over-load ever since she and Johnny set foot on the TARDIS) and going with Ianto and Donna. He saw the indecision in her eyes.

Ianto slipped an arm around his sister's waist.

"Trust me, Rhi, the worst possible thing that happens today is that Jack gets over-zealous and attempts an anti-gravity trick. If he does that, he'll end up with a few broken bones, which will heal up soon enough. The Doctor's responsible enough to keep Johnny from getting hurt."

"I hope you're right, Ianto," Rhiannon told him, a faint hint of a threat in her voice. "If not, I will have to hurt you if Johnny's caused permanent bodily harm because of the stupidity of your American."

Ianto found that he could agree to that and the three departed to find a light lunch.

Near two and a half hours later, Jack, Johnny, and the Doctor appeared from the crowd, all wearing shit-eater grins. There were a few cuts and bruises between the three, all of which were fairly minor and would be tended easily back on the TARDIS, all carrying assorted carnival game prizes.

Rhiannon let out a sigh of relief at that, tension easing out of her body, even as Johnny presented her with a very large stuffed teddy bear that he had clearly won from some game stand. She laughed and accepted the neon purple and green thing, planting a kiss on her husband's cheek. The teddy was absolutely horrendous and an eye-sore, but the thought behind it was genuine and it was clear that Johnny had made a serious effort to win said stuffed animal for his wife, despite its appearance.

Ianto covertly watched as the Doctor presented Donna with a bouquet of glass flowers shaped as daffodils. It was a little known fact about Donna Noble, Time Lady and super temp extraordinaire, that she adored daffodils above all other kinds of flowers – even roses. Ianto smiled happily as she slipped into the Doctor's embrace, the Time Lord setting his chin on her shoulder, the grin on his face actually happy and nowhere near his trademarked mad man grin.

Jack's hand slipped into his.

He looked over at Jack and saw the item sitting in his hand. A broad grin crossed his lips and a laugh bubbled up.

Only Captain Jack Harkness could find miniature pterodactyl in a game booth at a carnival on an alien planet and win said miniature pterodactyl – not that Ianto Jones was complaining much.

Leaning over, he kissed Jack on the cheek. "You really are an amazing man, Jack."

"I know."

And that was how the TARDIS got a miniature pterodactyl.

Short and sweet. This story kind of when in a direction that I was not intending it to go, but such is the nature of these things. I hope that you enjoyed it, regardless of its general silliness and sappiness towards the end.

As I always ask, please review and let me know what you think. I benefit greatly from your feedback!

And I will do my best to have the next story up as soon as I possibly can.