Jack was sitting in the interrogation room. Sleeves rolled up, he had his elbows on the table, staring directly into the green eyes of a young, blond girl.
"So, let's go through this again," he said, without even trying to hide his annoyance. He had been trapped in that room with her for a little over an hour, but it had felt like days.
He did not like girl at all. She was the only witness to the mysterious alien attack they were currently investigating, so they needed her help. There was no other way they could know exactly what happened, so she had to stick around.
Jack wasn't happy about it. As a rule, he never liked it when civilians ended up in the hub; it always ended up badly. This time, he was especially displeased, because Christine was a pain in the ass.
She was annoying. She talked too much and way too loudly, and she wasn't particularly sharp. She had the most obnoxious laugh, and she wouldn't stop chewing that damn gum. The universe couldn't have chosen a worse witness. Maybe it was punishing Jack for one of his many sins.
"I told you everything I saw," Christine replied, slightly bored, her hand torturing her long blond hair. Maybe she had something to hide. Maybe Jack's instinct was right and she was evil.
"Well, tell me again," he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, "what happened after the skin came off of it?"
"I told you, that thing was like...grey and...squishy."
Jack rolled his eyes at her. "Squishy?"
"Yes," she turned to Gwen, who had been standing in the corner of the room the whole time, "now can I please have some coffee?"
Of course she wanted another coffee. Coffee seemed to be the only thing she cared about. Well, that and the man in a suit bringing said coffee in.
Before Gwen could even answer, Jack snapped at her. "How much coffee does a person actually need?"
"Jack, come on." Gwen moved one step closer to them, looking at Jack like he was insane. He could not understand why no one else seemed to realize how annoying this girl was. He expected better observational skills by his team.
Gwen gave him a warning look, as if he was the one being annoying. "She can have all the coffee she wants. She's not a hostage, Jack. She's helping us." She turned to Christine with a smile. "I'm gonna call Ianto."
She stepped out the room, leaving Jack alone with Christine. He leaned back on his chair, folded his arms and looked at her. "Could you please stop chewing that gum? You're driving me insane."
"I'm sorry," she said, avoiding his eyes, "but it helps me stay calm."
Jack sighed. He wasn't going to win this one.
They spent the next few minutes in complete, awkward silence, until Ianto opened the door with his shoulder, holding a tray with two cups of coffee. Christine immediately put on her most exaggerated, ridiculous smile. It seemed like she wasn't that traumatized after all.
"So, Christine, are they treating you well in here?" Ianto asked her, smiling in that charming way of his. Jack gave him a killer look that he completely ignored.
"Well, he's not as nice as you," Christine replied, making Jack roll his eyes. He had to stop this.
"Thanks Ianto," he said, stopping him before he could reply to her, "we're kinda busy here. I think you've got work to do too, don't you?"
"On it sir. Tosh and I already tracked down the last two sightings of gray squishy creatures. Owen and Gwen are ready to go check." He flashed another smile at that annoying blonde and left the room. She didn't keep her eyes away from him until he was out of the door, making sure to take a long look at his ass. Jack's irritation grew deeper. Didn't these people realize they were in the middle of stopping a killer alien tribe?
The whole interrogation ended up being helpful enough, but they still couldn't let her go. They needed her to identify the thing once they actually caught it, so she got to stick around. Ianto insisted on taking care of her, making sure she was comfortable enough. Jack tried to think of an objection, but he couldn't find one.
So now Jack was looking down at the hub from the board room's glass doors, while he waited for Gwen and Owen to be back. Christina and Ianto were sitting next to each other, laughing. They seemed to get along pretty well. Jack didn't understand what Ianto could possibly find interesting about her. She was so bland. He had always been a good judge of characters, so how could he be so wrong this time?
He noticed how she was touching Ianto's arm a lot. Her flirting technique was predictable and not very smooth, and Jack knew what he was talking about. He was an expert at flirting. Ianto didn't really look like he was complaining about all the attention though. Actually, he seemed to enjoy it. He was keeping eye contact with her. He was touching her shoulder. Jack felt a little tug in his stomach.
When Gwen walked inside the room, ready to update him on the case, Jack didn't even notice her.
"So, we're back. We didn't find the thing but Owen might have found something useful and pretty disgusting, he's examining it now, and..." her voice trailed off, "you're not listening to a word I'm saying. Jack?"
He finally turned towards her. "What? Yeah. Sure." He immediately turned his attention back at the scene happening downstairs. He just couldn't look away.
"Jack, what?" Gwen moved by his side, trying to see what he was looking at. The moment she saw Ianto and Christine, she understood. "Oh. I see."
"You see what?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrow at her.
"You look pretty grumpy." She was trying pretty hard to keep herself from laughing at him.
"I am not grumpy." His tone wasn't really helping him deny it, and neither was his frown. "I just can't wait for this to be over so we can send that woman home. I don't like having strangers in the hub, they mess up our work."
"Well, she's nice. She's being very helpful to us, and she's been through a lot."
"Come on, look at her! She's terrible!" Jack was pointing at Christine. Judging from the way she was laughing, whatever Ianto had just said must have been the most hilarious thing in the world. It was pathetic. "Look at that! All that flirting during an investigation, that's just so unprofessional!"
Gwen eyes grew big. "Really, Jack? You are saying this. You. Jack Harkness. You're saying flirting at work is unprofessional. For real."
He had to admit she had a point, but he wasn't goin tell her that. He just kept staring at the couple below as if Gwen wasn't even talking. He wasn't in the mood to argue with her.
"Ok, Jack. I think I know what is going on here." She put an hand on his shoulder. "You're jealous."
"What?" Jack turned toward her, deeply outraged by the accusation. "Me, jealous?" he scoffed. "First of all, when you look like this," he gestured to his whole body, causing Gwen to roll her eyes, "you don't have a reason to get jealous of anyone. Second, I always say the more the merrier. Why would I care?"
"So you're telling me it's a total coincidence that you are unreasonably annoyed at this poor girl just because she has a crush on Ianto?" Gwen was using that tone he hated. The one she used when she knew she was right.
"Yes, it is! I don't care!" He looked downstairs again. "Do you think she has a crush on him?"
Gwen smiled. " Of course she does. Ianto is a pretty charming guy."
Jack knew that way too well. Of course she had a crush on him. He was Ianto.
"Well, I don't care," he told her, sounding less convinced. "It's their business. And even if I did, there's no way Ianto would like that girl. I am not jealous, I have no reason to be, and I don't care what Ianto does, ok?" The way he raised his voice at every single word contradicted everything he was saying. He was acting like a child, and he knew it.
"Ok, ok, calm down." Gwen raised her hands, "It's none of my business. But just so you know, if you actually were jealous, you would have nothing to be ashamed of."
Jack's tone this time was a bit more serious, like he was asking this question to himself as much as to her. "Do you really think I care?"
She touched his shoulder again. "The truth, Jack? I really think you do." And with that, she walked out and left him alone with his thoughts.
So, was that true? Was he actually jealous of Ianto? Was that the reason why he had been in such a bad mood all day long? That made no sense. He was Jack Harkness! He didn't get threatened by a random charmless girl.
But still, he couldn't deny the fact that seeing Ianto flirting with her was not pleasant. After all, they were kind of a thing, so maybe Ianto shouldn't have been doing that.
But he really wasn't in a position to talk, as he flirted with everyone, and a lot of time directly in front of him. But it was also true that he had never gone further than flirting since they'd become more serious. Not that they'd ever decided to be exclusive. Jack hadn't feel the need to be with someone else when he spent almost every night with Ianto. But what if Ianto did?
And then, suddenly, Jack realized what was really bothering him. He was scared of losing him. His jealousy didn't come from possessiveness, but from fear. He knew Ianto was a loyal person who would never cheat on his girlfriend. It wasn't a coincidence that they'd never slept together before Lisa died, no matter how clearly they both wanted to.
If Ianto actually liked this girl, if he wanted to date her, Jack would lose him. Ianto wasn't the type to have a girlfriend and sleep with his boss. The idea scared Jack more than he could have thought. He knew his feelings for Ianto were growing deeper and deeper, and he realized he needed him. He felt better when they were together. He didn't want to lose that. He didn't want to be alone again.
When Gwen and Jack finally captured the aliens (which ended up really being pretty squishy), they retconned Christine and send her home. Everything came back to normal, except for the fact that Jack's uncomfortable feelings where still lingering on.
He was in his office, standing behind his desk, some files in his hands. Ianto was behind him, leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, waiting for him to finish. They were alone in the hub like most nights, but something was definitely off, and apparently Ianto could feel it.
"Jack, are you ok? You're unusually quiet."
Jack kept looking at his files, pretending he was captivated by them. "Yeah. I am fine," he paused for a moment, unsure if he wanted to keep talking or not, but in the end, he couldn't help himself. "So...you and Christine were getting along great, weren't you?" Asking this was so much easier knowing that Ianto couldn't see his face.
"I guess so. She was nice." Jack could tell by his voice that he was confused. He couldn't blame him.
Still moving random files around, Jack figured he might as well keep going. "You noticed she had a crush on you, right?" He tried to sound like he was teasing him, but he realized how forced his tone actually was and he hated it. He didn't like to show vulnerability, not even to Ianto.
"Yeah, I noticed that. She asked me out on a date actually."
Jack pulled his head up, forgetting the papers on his desk. He was once again really glad Ianto couldn't see his face. "Oh. Good." Good? What was he saying? Was he actually encouraging him to date this girl and never sleep with him again?
"Well, I said no to her," Ianto replied, his voice soft and reassuring.
Jack could feel the tension slowly leaving his body. He closed his eyes and breathed out in relief. He wondered if Ianto noticed that. He probably did: he started moving closer. He was just a couple of inches away now.
"You did?" They still weren't looking at each other.
"Yes. I wasn't really interested."
Jack finally turned around with a smile, his eyes saying everything he didn't know how to. Ianto was looking at him with a little grin on his face, obviously satisfied by Jack's reaction to someone hitting on him. Jack didn't care, he was too relieved to care about pride. He would probably get some little revenge later. He closed the little distance still between them.
"Well, that's a shame. She was a very nice girl."
Ianto put his hands around Jack's waist and pulled him so close there was no air between their bodies. "She was, but I told her I'm kinda seeing someone right now."
Jack's heart skipped a bit. He didn't really know how to react to that. It didn't make him wanna run away like he imagined. It actually felt pretty good. Still, he had no idea how to seriously express his feelings, and like always he hid behind a joke.
"Oh, really? I hope this someone doesn't mind me doing this." He kissed him passionately, holding his face in his hands, while Ianto's hand clinged his shirt. They stopped for a moment, forehead pressed against each others. Ianto breathed a second, then grinned at him and said, "I'm sure he won't mind. He's not the jealous type."