Greetings! So this is my first Torchwood story, and I hope you enjoy it! This is an alternate universe a friend, TheYaoiButterfly, requested that I cheerfully wrote. I've got most of it written, and I'm thinking a weekly update might be in the works - at least for the foreseeable future. I'm currently at a standstill (blame Owen - it's his fault!), but I'm hoping by the time I reach that point in posting, I'll be past it and to some more delightful works.

As I said, this is an alternate universe where Ianto Jones opens a coffee shop and bakery in Cardiff. This is being co-posted on Archive of our Own.

One thing - this story will mention events that happen in both Torchwood and Doctor Who, but may not directly interact with the episodes. My focus is primarily on Jack and Ianto and the relationship that builds between them. And it starts in a coffee shop...

Disclaimer: BBC owns "Doctor Who" and it's spin-offs, including Torchwood. Not me. (If I did, "Children of Earth" would have ended differently.)

Chapter One, A New Perspective

Stepping out into the sunlight, Captain Jack Harkness couldn't help the small sigh that escaped his lips as he blinked to let his eyes adjust to the sun. He didn't mind basically living at work, but he always enjoyed coming out into the sun every now and again. Right now, he had a specific goal in mind. He needed coffee and something for breakfast, and he had promised his team that he'd get everything.

As he headed to the nearest Starbucks, he spotted a sign that read:

Grand Opening

of Ambrosia:

Café and Bakery!

Come in and try

our Coffee and Tea!

Jack blinked before he stopped and took a look at the place. Prior to three months ago, the place had been "Timmy's Café" and had served some of the worst coffee Jack had ever tried. It had closed and been sold, not that he paid that much attention to details like that. Jack hesitated before he shrugged and began to head into the building. The old place had had terrible coffee, but that didn't mean that this new café would have terrible coffee. He'd give it a chance before deciding whether it was still worth going to Starbucks or not.

The inside was a great deal more cheerful than the last time he had been inside the building, which happened to be about two to three years ago. It wasn't particularly busy, having only two other customers inside. Jack had to smile, since it seemed people were nervous of trying the coffee at a place that had become notorious for its terrible coffee, even if it was under a different name and, probably, new management.

A young man suddenly came around the counter with a travel cup and handed it to the customer standing at the register. Jack couldn't help the grin that spread over his face as he appreciated the young man. He was wearing a suit that, from at least from what he could see (which was the waist up), looked good on him. If there was one thing that could be said about Jack, it was that he enjoyed finding people attractive. The young man running the cash register was definitely attractive.

"How can I help you?" he heard the young man ask the next customer. Jack immediately identified him as being Welsh. It wasn't surprising that he was Welsh, considering that they were in the heart of Wales.

Jack tuned out the rest of the conversation as he studied the case containing bakery items. There was a good variety inside, which Jack decided just made his morning easier. He liked one stop shopping trips. Idly, Jack mused that if the food and coffee turned out to be decent, he might just quit going to Starbucks for coffee and Cosmic Bakery for pastries. Of course, it depended on how good what he was buying really was, but it'd be nice to not have to walk as far to get a little pick-me-up.

Jack looked up as the woman in front of him left and the young man at the cash register looked at him. The young man blinked, probably taking in Jack's rather unique appearance. He recovered quickly enough to politely ask, "How can I help you?"

Jack grinned at him as he leaned over the counter a little. "I'm sure there are plenty of ways you could help me," he stated flirtatiously. He tried hard not to smirk as the young man blushed a little at the blatant innuendo in Jack's voice. "But I think we can start with coffee. I need four." He smiled as the young man in front of him blinked in surprise. "I'm doing a pre-emptive coffee run before my team gets into work. The first one needs a little bit of cream but no sugar." That was for Dr. Owen Harper.

"What size do you require?" the young man inquired as he wrote down the order on a sheet.

"Make them all large," Jack remarked dismissively.

"Any special flavorings?" was the next question.

"Nah." The young man nodded before he looked up expectantly for the next order. "The next one needs cream and two sugars." The pen moved quickly again, writing down the order for Toshiko Sato. Jack waited until the young man looked up again. "The third one needs two sugars, no cream." Suzie Costello liked her coffee with sugar, but nothing else. Still, it wasn't his place to judge. "And the last needs to have cream and one sugar." He didn't need a lot of sugar in his coffee.

"Would you like me to label them?" the young man inquired.

"That'd be great," Jack remarked, grinning again. "The cream but no sugar is Owen. The cream and two sugars is Tosh. The sugar with no cream is Suzie. And the last one is mine, Captain Jack Harkness." He paused as the young man finished writing his name down (although he'd shortened it to just 'Jack') before he added, "And who are you?" It wasn't hard to put interest in his voice, nor was it hard to use that interest to emphasize the word 'you.'

The young man gave Jack a measuring look before he answered, "Ianto Jones. Will that be all?"

"No," Jack answered shortly. "I need a variety of baked goods," he added as he indicated the case. "Give me two of each." Again, he was taking a risk here, but he always felt that life wasn't worth living without a little risk. Besides, he's probably had worse to eat before than some bakery items. It was also a calculated risk, as the pastries did look good.

Ianto smiled a little. "Coming right up," he said as he grabbed a box and began to put the pastries into it carefully.

"This is your first day open, right?" Jack inquired as he leaned over the counter to admire Ianto's butt. The suit was well tailored and complimented the young man's frame perfectly.

"Yes," Ianto confirmed as he placed two of the lemon poppy scones in the box. "It's been going well enough so far."

"You've got the location working against you, in some ways," Jack remarked idly. "Timmy's Café wasn't really a big hit." It was an understatement, but Jack wasn't inclined to be too negative. Not if he had someone as handsome as Ianto Jones to admire.

"I believe that their coffee was once described to me as 'not worthy to use for fertilizer,'" Ianto remarked dryly, causing Jack to chuckle.

He was sorely tempted to say that the one time that he had tried the coffee from Timmy's Café, he had compared it to Nyrinian halvic juice. The Nyrinians liked bitter drinks, but that didn't mean they were good. Well, at least to his sense of taste. Actually, make that most humans he's met who have also tried a drink offered to them by the Nyrinians.

But he had to be careful talking about aliens around people who weren't on his team. There was a reason that the public en masse were kept in the dark about aliens, and that was because most of them couldn't handle finding them to be a reality. Oh, one day, he knew that they'd be more than ready to accept not only aliens, but sentient species that originated on Earth as well, but now was not the right time. The human race still had a ways to go before they were ready for the rest of the universe.

Instead, Jack said, "The one and only time I drank coffee from Timmy's place, I wanted to come back in and demand a refund. I heard that at least at the end, the coffee wasn't put in the microwave to warm it back up."

Ianto shuddered at the implication that Jack had just made. "That is the worst thing I can think of doing to coffee, even bad coffee," he remarked sourly as he set the box of pastries on the counter. "I can assure you that my coffee has been freshly brewed," he continued as he walked around and into the area behind a wall that had an opening. The coffee machine must obviously be behind the section of wall that separated Jack from the interesting young man.

"Then it will already be an improvement on the Timmy's Café specialty," Jack joked cheerfully. "Mind if I ask what's up with the name? Ambrosia, nectar of the gods… it's an interesting choice."

Ianto offered Jack a wry smile. "My sister felt it was appropriate," he answered with a shrug. Jack blinked and realized that this meant that Ianto wasn't an employee, but rather the owner. "If her opinion makes a difference," Ianto added with a bit of a grin, "she thinks that any coffee or tea I make is worthy of the gods."

Jack threw back his head and laughed. The remark had been made in such a cheeky way that it instantly made Jack like the young man. "Well, it's nice to hear that your coffee has one vote of confidence," he teased Ianto with a wicked grin. "Did you also bake the pastries?"

"No," Ianto answered calmly. "I have a baker out back," he jerked his thumb towards a door that led further back into the building, "who makes them. They're freshly baked this morning, in case you're curious."

Jack grinned. "I'm seeing an improvement in the way you're running this place already, Mr. Jones."

Ianto smiled as he came around with a carry tray with four drinks placed on it. "I'm glad you approve, Captain Harkness," was his polite remark, although the cheerful look in his eyes gave away his real feelings. He began to ring up Jack's order. "I'm rather trusting word of mouth to help counteract the bad reputation that this building currently has," Ianto remarked carefully as he accepted Jack's credit card. "If you, and your coworkers, enjoy my goods, I'd much appreciate it if you told others about Ambrosia."

Jack grinned. "I'm sure we could arrange that," he reassured him. Hell, I might come back even if I don't like anything. Ianto Jones is very attractive, he thought to himself with a bit of a private grin. "I'm going to wish you luck with this adventure of yours, Ianto Jones."

"Thank you, Captain Harkness," Ianto said graciously.

"Please – it's just Jack," he insisted as he gathered up the box of goods and the tray of coffee. "And I'll see you around, Ianto."

"Very well – Jack. And I hope you and your coworkers enjoy," he added before he turned his attention to the next customer who had ventured in.

Jack sighed as he made his way back to the Hub. It would be very nice to discover that Ianto's coffee was at least good enough that he didn't have to go to Starbucks – and it wasn't even just the shorter trip that had him hoping for it. He'd sure enjoy taking the chance to chat with (and of course, flirt with) Ianto Jones.

He set down the box of pastries and coffee down in the conference room before he took the cup that was clearly labeled, 'Jack.' He took a deep breath before he took a careful sip of the hot liquid. He let out a moan of pure pleasure before he sat down to enjoy the ambrosia that he happened to have bought. Jack could already tell that he'd be going back… and probably before the end of the day!

He was about half-way through his cup of delectable coffee when Owen half-stumbled into the room. "There's my coffee," the medic muttered as he eyed the three remaining cups. He grabbed the one with his name before he sat down and put the cup up to his mouth and took a swig. "God," he gasped before he took a longer drink from the cup. "Where'd you get this?" he demanded of Jack before he took another sip.

Jack grinned. "The new place where Timmy's Café used to be," he answered happily. "I think we're going to make that our new place to get coffee – unless you have an objection?"

"Fuck, no," Owen retorted before he drank more from his cup. "This is better than Starbucks by a long shot."

Jack's grin widened. "Oh, I agree… and the owner of the appropriately named Ambrosia Café is just as delicious."

"Just as delicious as what?" Suzie asked as she came in. Her eyes zeroed in on the two remaining cups of coffee and she quickly picked up hers. "This came from that new café?" she inquired before she sat down and took a tentative sip.

"Yes," Jack confirmed as he leaned back in his seat. He couldn't deny the delight he took as a happy and satisfied look crossed Suzie's expression. "It's my new favorite café," he added cheerfully. "I think I'm in love."

Owen snorted at that. "I'd tell you that you were crazy, Jack, but I'm just as in love with this coffee as you are," he remarked before he drank more out of his cup. "I'm going to have to run out there to get myself another cup."

Jack chuckled. "If you're going to do that, you might as well get everyone a second one." Jack chuckled again. "Ianto – the owner – wanted me to help spread news about his place, since he seems to be banking more on word of mouth to counter the bad reputation the place got due to Timmy's Café rather than publicizing it. I don't think I'm going to have a problem with that."

"If it keeps him from going out of business? I'd tell everyone I meet to go there!" Suzie agreed wholeheartedly.

"And if that café of his does go out of business, we should consider hiring him permanently," Owen put in heatedly. "I'm sure we can find something else he can do, besides making delicious coffee."

Jack laughed, grinning as he favored Owen with a bemused look. "I'll keep that in mind," he promised. He reached into the pastry box and pulled out the first thing his hand landed on, which happened to be a cinnamon bun. "Tosh, so good of you to join us," he added cheerfully as the last member of his team came in.

She blushed, but took her coffee quietly before she sat down. "Sorry," she murmured.

"Don't worry about it, Tosh," he reassured her. "You're not late – and besides, I'm flexible. You can come in whenever you want." It was easy to make those last two sentences sound dirty, even though he was being completely serious.

"Besides, we were just discussing the merits of that new café and bakery," Owen told her as he snagged an almond croissant. "I'm going to need a new cup of coffee before too long." He gave his cup a sad and slightly annoyed look, as though he was mad at it for not lasting longer than it currently was.

Tosh blinked before she took her own sip of coffee and let out a sigh of contentment. "This is really good coffee," she offered shyly. "I guess the café and bakery gets good marks on coffee?"

"Good marks? Hell, I'm giving it 'bloody fantastic' marks!" Suzie stated, lifting her coffee cup in good cheer. "Ambrosia Café and Bakery better stay in business! It's the best damned thing to go in there in years!"

"Mmm," Jack agreed around his cinnamon bun. "You got that right, Suzie. Anyways, down to business. Suzie, why don't you go first?"

"I'm still not sure what that machine does," she started. She had quickly shifted from happy about having good coffee to being frustrated with her current project. "But I think I'm getting closer to figuring it out."

"Good – keep me posted. Tosh?"

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Ianto looked up as a short man entered the café with purpose. He had been cleaning off the counter. He was feeling rather pleased with the way his shop had been doing so far. Sure, he hadn't had a huge number of customers, but rather a decent number of people coming in who seemed too busy to really stick around for long. Well, other than that Captain Jack Harkness. The man had seemed interested, and not just in coffee.

"Can I help you?" Ianto asked politely as the man came up to the counter.

"Yeah. I need four coffees. You're going to have to label them," the man explained. His voice was a little gruff – not overly so, but just enough that it was noticeable. "My name's Owen – and mine gets cream. Just cream – I don't need sugar."

"Of course," Ianto remarked casually as he wrote it down. "Size large?"

"You got an extra large size? Because that's what we all want," Owen inquired.

"I'm afraid to say that no, currently, I do not," Ianto answered regretfully.

Owen let out a sigh. "Oh well." He shrugged. "The next is for Tosh. She wants cream and two sugars."

Ianto blinked. He suddenly suspected that this would be the same order that he had done for Captain Jack Harkness. Well, the only way to know would be to ask. "Understood. Would the next one be for Suzie, two sugars with no cream, and the last one for Jack, cream and one sugar?" he inquired.

Owen blinked, startled. "Yeah. You remembered that from Jack being in here earlier?" Owen asked curiously. The shorter man had his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yes," Ianto confirmed, seeing no reason to lie. "I have eidetic memory," he explained further. He smiled faintly. "I take it that you all approve of my coffee, then?"

Owen chuckled. "'Approve' might be the wrong term for how we feel about your coffee. It'd probably the best damned coffee any of us have ever had," he answered, smirking slightly. Ianto blushed slightly at the compliment. He was suddenly glad he had taken the chance while Owen had been talking to head back to where his coffee machine was sitting. His back had been facing Owen when he had blushed. "And the best part is that your place is closer to our workplace than Starbucks. You're going to find yourself very popular with us."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ianto remarked as he started putting together Owen's order. He was tempted to ask Owen what he and Jack did, but decided that he wasn't going to press for details. If they wanted to tell him, he reasoned, they would do so in their own time. Besides, if they were going to be coming to get coffee from him as often as Owen was implying, he'd have plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Still, it was good to hear that he already had at least four repeat customers. It'd be great if they told others about his business, but he suspected that they already were planning on working on keeping him in business if for no other reason than to keep his coffee around. His sister had the same opinion, especially now that he had moved to Cardiff. It had been marginally cheaper to buy a place in Cardiff to set up shop, rather than London.

He missed London, if only for the friends he had made there. And, if he wanted to admit it to himself, he missed Lisa Hallet. She had been his girlfriend, at least until he had made the decision to move to Cardiff to open up his own coffee shop. Since she hadn't wanted to give up her job and they had both agreed a long distance relationship wasn't likely to work out well for them, they had gone their separate ways.

Ianto couldn't blame her. He didn't know exactly what she did, but he had been able to tell that she loved her job. He wouldn't ask her to give that up just to come with him. They hadn't even been sure that they wanted the same thing, so asking her to come would have felt selfish. Still, at least they parted on a good note and could keep in contact.

Ianto glanced up as he heard the door open again and had to fight down a smile. Jack Harkness had just walked into his shop. Ianto watched with amusement as a huge grin spreading across Jack's face as the older man spotted Owen.

"So that's where you disappeared off to, Owen!" Jack remarked cheerfully. "I can't say that I blame you!"

"Good, 'cause you're paying for it," Owen retorted, a smirk spreading over his face.

"So does this count as a date?" Jack teased as he came up to the counter. Ianto blinked, and made the mental note that Jack seemed to be a major flirt. Whether or not he was gay remained to be seen. The only people Ianto had seen Jack flirt with were himself and Owen. Ianto didn't like to assume anything.

Owen rolled his eyes. "In your dreams, Harkness," the shorter man snapped back. Ianto stepped around and set a new tray down with the four cups. "As I said, he'll pay," Owen remarked before he snagged the cup with his name on it and left.

Ianto's mouth twitched as Jack stepped up to the counter with a grin. "He's a pain in my ass, but he's a good doctor," Jack said cheerfully. He set his credit card on the counter again. "And he thinks that if this place doesn't work out, I should hire you to work for me." Jack grinned. "I can't say that the idea doesn't appeal to me. With your… talents… I'm sure we could put you to good use."

Ianto smirked. "I think, given the way things are going so far, that Owen won't have to worry about Ambrosia closing down any time soon," he noted calmly as he rang up the order for Jack. "I've already had a few people come in who say that a friend or coworker recommended my coffee to them." If things continued to go well, then Ianto could hire more people. For right now, it was just him and Daniel Brown, the baker he had hired.

Jack laughed. "So it's going well," he remarked with a great deal of cheer. "That's great news. I'd hate it if I never got to see you again." Jack's eyes went up and down, obviously checking Ianto out. "I'd miss the coffee as well," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"I see," Ianto stated, trying hard not to laugh. "Well, I'm not planning on going anywhere any time soon. Besides, I believe you just gave me a job offer should Ambrosia close permanently."

Jack laughed at the deadpan way Ianto had said the last sentence. "Oh, I definitely did," he agreed with cheer. "By the way," he added as he picked up the tray with the three remaining coffees, "you look great in a suit."

Ianto blushed as Jack made his way out of the shop. He caught himself admiring the way Jack's World War 2 royal air force captain's greatcoat, if he was identifying it correctly, fit Jack perfectly. It surprised him to realize that he was attracted to the enigmatic Captain.

He'd never really thought about men that way before. It wasn't that he had anything against people in same sex couples, but it was just something he had never thought he'd find himself interested in. It didn't help that his father had been strongly homophobic, and his brother-in-law thought the whole idea of same sex couples as hilarious, but Ianto himself hadn't ever really seen anything wrong with it. And he had thought, since he had never shown any interested in men before, that he was straight.

Well, maybe I shouldn't label myself then, he decided as he cleaned the area around his coffee machine to fill the time. Maybe some labels… hurt more than help, in the long run. Ianto paused, and smiled ruefully. Especially the younger you are.

Ianto supposed it didn't really matter. He was still getting his footing here in Cardiff, especially with his new shop. He wasn't interested in any new romantic relationship just yet. Still… that didn't mean he couldn't flirt right back with Jack. Ianto had a good feeling that Jack might like that. Thinking back carefully, Ianto couldn't help but smile. Yes, he was pretty sure Jack would enjoy Ianto flirting right back with him.

Notes:

One final note. I am posting the next two chapters immediately, as the newest update SHOULD be chapter three. So don't be too surprised to see three chapters and yet a promise of a weekly update - I'm just catching up this account with my Ao3 account.

Please review. I want to know what people are thinking! (Although no flames, please - if all you're going to do is say what I'm doing is terrible, you can take your bile elsewhere.)

~Star~