#191] A Taste Of Freedom (Torchwood)

[badly_knitted]

Theme Prompt: #191 – Freedom
Title: A Taste Of Freedom
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Ianto has never experienced so much freedom, but it makes him feel a little guilty when so many people will never be as lucky as he and Jack are.
A/N: Set in my Ghost of a Chance ‘verse.



Stepping down onto the planet’s surface, Jack threw his head back and spread his arms wide, drawing in a deep breath of fresh, unfiltered air.

“Free at last!”

Following his husband down the sloping ramp and onto the grass, since it turned out something of the sort grew on most inhabited planets, Ianto snorted, amused as always by Jack’s flair for melodrama.

“Anyone would think you’d just been paroled from prison.”

“I almost feel like I have, don’t you? We haven’t made planetfall in almost three months! All we’ve seen is the inside of our ship or the interior of space stations, and with the ones in this sector all looking the same, it was like we were trapped in an endless maze. Aren’t you glad you’re outside under blue skies, feeling sunlight on your face and wind in your hair?”

“Of course, but I can enjoy it without the overdone theatrics.”

Jack stuck his tongue out. Ianto just raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”

“A couple of millennia older than you.”

“Ah, of course; entering your two-hundredth childhood.” Ianto smirked lazily.

“It wouldn’t hurt you to live a little, you know; you’re barely a century old.”

“I live plenty. Come on, old man; race you to those trees.”

“Who’re you calling old?” But now Jack was talking to his husband’s back as Ianto took off at a run down the slope towards a copse of tree-like plants, growing alongside a winding river at the bottom of the wide valley. Realising he was being left behind, Jack started to run too, but he already knew he’d lost the race. “You cheated!” he shouted, as Ianto’s laughter drifted back to him on the breeze.

Ianto didn’t reply; he was already too far ahead to hear.

Because this small world was a bit off the beaten track, by space travel standards, it had so far avoided being colonised or exploited for its natural resources, which made it the perfect place for a couple of weary independent traders to relax for a while, away from the hustle and bustle of the civilised sectors.

As much as Jack and Ianto enjoyed their lives, wandering between worlds and space stations, delivering all kinds of cargo to where they were needed, it involved a lot of hard physical labour. Even immortals needed an occasional holiday, and since they worked for themselves, they were free to set their own schedule, taking a week or two off every few months. They’d choose a place, usually one of the less developed planets, take on cargoes heading in the direction they wanted to go, and simply not pick up any additional loads until after they’d enjoyed some leisure time.

When he’d first joined Jack aboard the Happy Wanderer, Ianto hadn’t given much thought to the kind of life he was embarking on, but after over seventy years of their nomadic existence, he’d learned to appreciate the freedom it gave them. There might not be as much job security as cargo crews working for the big haulage companies could rely on, but they weren’t tied down to set working hours, following the same routes over and over. They could go wherever they wanted, whenever they felt like it, explore the universe from end to ends and back again, and stop wherever they chose. They could even pick their cargoes, to a certain extent, instead of being obliged to carry whatever they were ordered to.

“You know, we’re really lucky,” Ianto commented when Jack finally caught up to him at the river’s edge.

“You’re only just noticing that?”

“No, I just…” Ianto shook his head. “Back on earth, before I died, I was never really aware of how little freedom I had. So many people were relying on me to do certain things, not just when it came to work, but… Well, Rhi and the kids always wanted more of my time than I could spare, and I was forever juggling the different parts of my life, trying to find enough time for all the things I had to do while still leaving a bit for the things I wanted to do. There were never enough hours in the day, but now… Time is one thing I’m not short of.”

“That’s immortality for you.” Jack sat down beside Ianto. “We’ve got all the time in the universe.”

“Mm.” Ianto stared into the distance. “Sometimes it makes me feel a bit guilty.”

“What d’you mean?”

“So many people have to work long hours every day, sometimes at more than one job, just to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. They can hardly make ends meet, and here we are, living a life of comparative luxury, with nothing to tie us down. It doesn’t seem fair that we have it so easy.”

“There really isn’t anything we can do about it though,” Jack pointed out. “Unless you want to return to earth and overthrow the world’s governments, which would seriously mess up the future and bring the Doctor down on our heads.”

“However tempting that might be, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.” Ianto smiled wryly. “He’s already going to be annoyed when he finds out there’re two immortals now instead of one.”

“I foresee a lot of outraged spluttering if we ever run into him,” Jack agreed. “On the other hand, the Doctor’s forever taking people from earth and showing them the wonder of the universe, so what would it hurt if we staged a few minor alien abductions of our own? It happens all the time on present-day earth.”

“What’re talking about?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe invest some of our savings in a nice little inhabitable asteroid, start a small colony. Refugees maybe, looking for a better life away from war and famine.”

“D’you really think we could?”

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to try if you are. Maybe we can give some of earth’s huddled masses the chance to know true freedom.”


The End