Title: Date Night

Timeline: Season 2, post-'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'

Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own Torchwood

Gwen was in Jack's office, debriefing him about some of the things they had done while she was in charge, but she could see that his heart wasn't really in it. Oh, he was playing the part perfectly, saying "yes", "no" "and hmm?" in all the right places, but every couple of minutes or so, his eyes would glaze over and he'd end up looking over her left shoulder, out into the Hub, as if he was looking for someone.

"Alright, Jack what is it? You're not paying a bloody bit of notice to me here, I may as well be talking to you in Ancient Greek"

"How do you know I can't speak it. I knew a great professor of classics in London a couple of decades ago. Oh, the things he could do with his tongue" said Jack with a shiver.

"Jack, quit kidding around. What is up with you?"

The captain sighed. "Well, if you must know, it's Ianto. I asked him out on a date, the night I got back. It was supposed to be last Tuesday, but that was when the dragon slipped through the rift. And it was also meant to be the Friday before that, but that Weevil went mad in the shopping centre. There were two more before that and both got cancelled. Now Ianto thinks I'm not interested anymore, even though I tried talking to him and explaining that it was just the Rift, but we just got into a huge fight. Now he's barely speaking to me"

Hmm, well Gwen and the rest of the team certainly had noticed that Ianto wasn't his usual self. He was spending more time down in the archives than ever, and consequently less time in Jack's office. The cups of his gorgeous coffee were becoming less frequent also. "Do you want me to have a word with him? I could try…"

"No Gwen, please don't do that, I'm begging you. Ianto would kill me if he found out I was discussing our relationship with anyone"

Relationship, thought Gwen, filing away that information for future reference. "Okay Jack, my lips are sealed. I might ask Tosh to have a word with him though. Not about you" she added hastily "just to ask him how he is in general. Other than you, she seems to be the only one he'll open up to"

True to her word, Gwen had sent Tosh to talk to Ianto. She went looking for him and found him deep down in the vaults, back where the oldest of the archives were. "Ianto" she called out nervously.

He popped his head out from behind a shelf, sneezing as he did so. The dust down there was something terrible, "Yes? Oh Tosh, it's you. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Erm, yes, I finished this report on that thing we found last week. It's a scanner, but I think it might be broken. Nothing I've done has got it to work. I thought you might want to file it away"

"Well, yes of course Tosh, that is my job. Can I ask why you didn't just leave it on my desk though, like you normally do? I'm not complaining, just curious"

Damn it, thought Tosh, Ianto had seen through her weak excuse almost immediately.

"Well, I er, I actually came down to see if you were okay. You seem to be acting a bit out of sorts lately, and I just wondered if it had to do with Jack returning, or is there something else bothering you"

A look of anger momentarily flashed across the young Welshman's face "did he put you up to this? Oh God, why can't he just come down here and ask me himself"

"I take it this is about Jack then, and to answer your question, no, he did not put me up to this. I merely noticed that a friend seemed to be a bit down"

Seeing the hurt look on Tosh's face, Ianto instantly regretted what he had said "I'm sorry Tosh, I shouldn't have snapped at you, it's just this thing with Jack. It just makes me feel… I don't know, I think it's the fact that he provokes feelings in me at all is what frightens me so much"

Tosh was astonished at this rare outburst of emotion from Ianto. Usually he was only like this after a good few beers. She went over to him and put her arm over his shoulder to comfort him "It's okay to feel Ianto, it just makes you human. Now what exactly is the problem with Jack?"

"Well, he and I, we were supposed to go out on a date, but the stupid Rift has gotten in the way four times already. I'm beginning to think it just wasn't meant to be. And in my head I know that we can't help it, we're at the mercy of the Rift, but my heart is getting very annoyed. I tried talking to him about it and explaining how I felt, but we just got in a fight. Now, all I want to do is just avoid him"

Tosh felt so sorry for Ianto. They all hated the unpredictable nature of the Rift, it seemed to pick the most inconvenient times to act up, but Jack and Ianto seemed to be the worst affected at the minute "Ianto, it'll all blow over soon enough. I'll run some predictor programmes and see if I can find a quiet night for you"

"Tosh, thank you, but you don't have to do that. Jack and I will work it out soon enough I hope" With that, Ianto stood up, straightened out his suit and turned back into the complete professional that he usually was. "Now, will there be anything else? Maybe a coffee"

"Thanks Ianto that would be great" said Tosh with a weak smile, feeling slightly hurt at the quick dismissal

Ianto quickly made coffees for the team and brought them round to each desk on his tray, really playing the part of butler. He stopped at Gwen's desk and whispered something in her ear, before laying down two cups on the surface in between all the scattered sheets and boxes.

There was a knock at Jack's door, and it swung open. "Hello Ian-" said Jack looking up from the papers on his desk. "Oh, it's you Gwen. Not that I'm unhappy to see you, but where's Ianto?"

"He said he had a scan running down on his computer and that he had to go and check on it immediately so he wouldn't be able to deliver your coffee. So he sent me up with it instead" said Gwen holding up the steaming mug as evidence.

Jack just stared at it for a moment, before letting out a heavy sigh. "He can't even bear to face me now. What have I done" He walked over and took the mug out of Gwen's hands.

"Are you alright Jack? If it's any consolation, I really don't think he was lying about the computer"

"Yeah Gwen, but even if he wasn't that still means he set it on purpose so he wouldn't have to face me"

"I hadn't thought of it that way"

"Yeah, well Ianto knows every trick in the book. Probably wrote the damn thing himself" Jack turned back around and went back to his desk "Now, if you don't mind I've got some paperwork to be doing"

"Paperwork? Jack you never do paperwork, not if you can help it. Are you sure you don't want to talk about this?"

"No!" Jack was practically shouting at her. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine really" but his face told a different story.

Seeing how devastated Jack looked, sitting there at his desk, looking into the cup of coffee, as if it had the answers to life, the universe and everything, Gwen had a brainwave of how to get him back to the cocky, confident captain they all loved.

"Jack?"

"What?"

"I'm working on a project and I might need to take an afternoon off sometime this week. Is that ok?"

"What kind of a project?"

"Oh, it's just a surprise for Rhys. Nothing work-related, don't you worry. So can I take an afternoon off?"

"Sure, just run it by Tosh and see which days are quietest Rift-wise"

"Sure thing Jack. Thanks"

Wow, thought Gwen, he must be more upset than I thought about Ianto. Usually he'd want to know every single little detail about any surprise I had planned for Rhys.

Gwen went back down into the main Hub, and went over to Tosh's workstation. "Tosh, you know you're Rift-predictor thingy"

"Thingy? Is that the technical term?" giggled Tosh "Yes, what about it?"

"Well, when's the next quiet day. I have a bit of a plan"

"It's tomorrow, by the looks of it. Why?"

"Promise me you'll come down the pub after work tonight, and all shall be revealed. Owen, you too" she said, glancing over at the medic.

"Well, since I've got nothing better to do, I have graciously decided that I will go; well, as long as you're buying"

"Whatever Owen, whatever"