Ianto seemed to have an inept way of dealing with death. There was foam, a deep rooted bed of misunderstanding over the issue that he usually saw slip back into Jack's waxy eyes moments after collapsing onto the floor. It was with a heavy breath and a fierce protection of his brief dwelling in nowhere land that the Captain awoke, head awkwardly cradled in the unsure hands of his tentative companion.
"Another nap, sir? That's only the fifth time this week." Jack gave a devil's smile and hopped up, snapping his neck with a quick twitch.
"Well, it's not my favorite approach to questioning a suspect, Ianto, but it happens. Find out anything?" The manila folder Gwen put together on Jackson Settler was given an even tap by Ianto before laying it sarcastically into Jack's hands.
"Turns out we're out of our jurisdiction, oh Captain. Settler is an average murderer."
"So…no aliens? No ghosts, unexplained disease, fairies, Graham Norton? Just normal, average human death?" Ianto nodded plainly. Jack huffed, "What a waste."
Sprinting up the stairs of the HUB, Jack made his way towards the transparent walls of his office, which was more than one could say about him. Walking in, he propped his leather booted feet on the littered remains of his desk. Ianto, taking the seat directly across from him, placed his spine properly straight and set his chin slanting downwards, like a scolded child. Jack played with his fingers, netting them into a ball which he placed on top of his chest. He eyed Ianto suspiciously, to which Ianto only responded with a concerned eye.
"So…how did Settler kill me, out of sheer curiosity?"
"You don't remember, sir?"
"Ianto, you've seen my penis, you can stop calling me sir." Ianto was taken aback, but found solace in smile creeping up the corner of Jack's lips.
"Well, he hit you…over the head…with a Weevil skull." Jack's inner laugh died with a slack jaw stare.
"How-"
"Blunt force trauma, I suspect? I'm not really a doctor, just a suggestion," said Ianto. It had been a few months since the world "doctor" had not induced a complete state of depression or caused Owen's bleak outcome to come crawling inside their minds. While Gwen still held her own private ceremony for the passing of their two colleagues, Jack and Ianto and preoccupied themselves with the more complicated procedure of naming their many nights spent together. Snapping back to the issue at hand, Jack puffed his cheeks into a sodden sigh.
"Weevil skull…how lame. So what happened to Settler?"
"Gwen arrested him, took him to the police station. She's still there by the way, if you were curious or anything. Will be for some time." Ianto gave Jack his sexiest look, which in and of itself looked more like a precocious thirteen year old boy. Jack adored that innocence, and also despised it for making Ianto Jones a fragile item. It was with that mentality that Jack winked Ianto's offer away and proceeded to change shirts.
"You know, Ianto, it says a lot about the 21st century, what I assume we will now call the Settler Murders. Fifteen little girls, flayed open and skinned alive, unimaginable to the world as anything human; and then a nobody, another face in a crowd named Jackson comes forward and reveals his big secret. I guess just goes to show that not all monsters are complete strangers to this planet." Ianto stared darkly at the floor, waiting for Jack to wrap up another case with a flourished finish only to never be mentioned again. Clearing his throat, he stood up to leave.
"Well, Jack…I guess I'll be heading out for the day. Do you need anything else from me?" Jack studied a glass he produced from a file cabinet while pouring himself a sip of bourbon.
"Not tonight, Ianto," he paused giving his ready to please mate time to get over dissapointment, "But it doesn't mean I don't want to…just not tonight, hm?" Ianto nodded with a dutiful bow and retreated down the steps of the office and out towards the main control room.
Once gone, Jack rubbed his temple, still feeling the ache of a leftover skull fracture begging to be healed. He thought of waking up in Ianto's unsure hands, his marionette legs folded like tree roots to support his bleeding head. He wasn't for sure if he had loved anyone in quite a long time, much less pondered relationships. Marriages had come and gone for him, men and women and those in between revolved around his sexual identity. He had often wished he could be like The Doctor, keeping companions and dropping them off generation after generation. And then he thought, if The Doctor felt anything close to heartbreak then it came by recycling women to follow him inside dangerous holes of time. Perhaps there was no easy solution to Ianto Jones, only allowing the young man to feel whatever he wanted to and then wait for old age or destruction to claim him.
Ianto folded his coat over his arm, deciding the air outside the Stadium was warm enough to need no further protection. The heels of his shoes clicked slightly against the pavement with sturdy tides of motion. He thought he felt someone peering over his neck, breathing slowly down the cotton of his vest, but it left him before he could decide. The walk home was dreary, knowing he was not needed for tonight. It was becoming harder for him to rest inside his apartment, feeling bitter and sore from the pale wallpaper. Feeling too tired (or simply lonely) he hailed a cab to carry him the rest of the way there.
More to come if wanted, the plot being set up in the next chapter. This is basically a set up to what's going on. Enjoy? No? Please review