Something moving in the hub caught Jack's attention. From up his office, he was too far away to see that it was Ianto, but he knew it couldn't have been anyone else. Owen, Gwen and Tosh had gone home, Myfanwy had gone back to her cave, nursing her wounds, and Jack had gone back to his office to nurse his.
Jack didn't know what to do with Ianto, and he was too angry to bother, so he just left him in the basement, with the blood and the corpses and the weight of his betrayal.
It was still a little too outrageous for Jack to be comfortable with. Ianto, of all people, was not one for secrets. He was not the kind of person who went so far from logic and sense that he jeopardized the entire human race, the planet which Jack had devoted the majority of his lives to protect.
Ianto was also not the kind of person who walked naked through the hub. He finally emerged from the basement, wearing nothing but his boxers.
Jack almost laughed; the once unassuming tea-boy just kept breaking conventions, going against every possible idea Jack thought he had about him, and so Jack swore under his breath as he went to the window to get a closer look. Ianto was staggering through the hub like a sleepwalker, knocking into a desk, tripping over chairs, and pushing himself up and kept walking.
It looked like he was just going to collapse onto the couch, but when he just continued past it, Jack figured he wasn't going to stop, and went after him.
"Going somewhere?" He called, as Ianto reached the door, waited for it to swing open, and walked through, making no sign of even noticing Jack.
Jack continued after him, even though he was in no mood to humor Ianto's sudden nudist whims. But if the tea-boy was going to go postal, it seemed much wiser to keep him in the hub than to let him wander out in public.
He tried again; "What happened to your clothes?"
"Got blood on them," Ianto muttered, sounding dazed and distant. Jack noticed that he wasn't wearing shoes or socks either.
"I never thought I'd see you out of a suit," Jack said, following close behind in case Ianto decided to check out and fall over, because he looked like a breeze would knock him over. Ianto was shattered, having lost the only thing that had mattered to him... thing, not person. Jack hesitated to consider that a robot with a penchant for murder could still be a person.
"Leave me alone, Jack."
Ianto had finally stopped, gripping the railing with both hands. Jack couldn't see his face, but he could see his back, shoulders, fine tremors that rocked him off balance, muscles clenching beneath skin that was dotted with goose-flesh and smeared with blood. "I'm going home," he insisted.
"Can't let you do that," Jack said. "Naked man, roaming the streets of Cardiff..."
He placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder, fully intending to drag him back down the stairs, but it affected Ianto like a shock, and he suddenly bolted, running up the rest of the stairs two, three steps at a time.
"Ianto, stop! Damnit," and Jack wished he could just let Ianto run into the street and go home or get hit by a car or get arrested. He wished he had shot Ianto. He really just wanted everything to be over so he could get back downstairs and mop up the blood and get rid of the bodies and go back to the usual aliens and rift activity, not his own team going behind his back like this.
The last thing he wanted to do was chase Ianto up the stairs, tackling him to the concrete floor. That's just what he did, though, and using the weight of his body to keep Ianto down. But it seemed like that was Ianto's last bid for freedom. He lay where he fell, spent, not even trying to get away, gasping for breath. His chest was tight, lungs straining to get enough air, but he wasn't fighting.
"Are you finished?" Jack wanted to be sure. In case Ianto was just trying to trick him, because he already proved to be more than competent in that department. "Ianto, look at me."
Ianto shook his head, and Jack could feel him starting to panic, each inhale more shallow than the last. "I... I'll ever need anything again," he said. Already, his voice was going hoarse from all the screaming and crying. "All I needed... was for her to get better. Can't do that now."
"You nearly lost me my team," Jack said, tightening his grip on Ianto's shoulders. "What makes you think that your life is worth all of theirs?"
Ianto was too far gone to hear any more. He was crying again, squeezing his eyes shut, blinking and focusing on the wall just over Jack's right shoulder, because he couldn't bear to look at him. "I couldn't help her, I couldn't... I couldn't!" Jack slapped him across the cheek, because he was just going to go on and on and there were a lot of stairs to drag him down, and Jack would prefer to descend in silence.
"Yeah, but I can still help you," Jack said, hauling him to his feet. "Hell if I know why..."
Trying to go down the stairs proved difficult even with Ianto finally quiet, except for his weeping. He proved so uncooperative, slumped like a dead man, that Jack eventually threw him over his shoulder and carried him.
Back inside the hub, Jack threw Ianto down on the couch and kept on walking. He came back carrying pants and a sweatshirt, and threw them at Ianto. "Put them on," he snapped. "I'm taking you home."
He didn't even wait to see how Ianto would react, already turning away to lock up his office, shut off lights. The shifting sounds of clothing surprised him. Didn't expect Ianto to have it in him.
"If you're not back tomorrow morning," Jack said, when Ianto was dressed and sitting up, head in his hands, "don't ever come back. You've done enough damage."
And then the next morning, Gwen is at his side, worrying about the pizza girl and whether or not her family should be contacted, and the door opens and in walks Ianto Jones, slow and nervous, like he's about to change his mind and turn and run. Finally, he looks up at Jack, and all Jack can do is approve, because there is really nothing else he can think to say to him.
When Jack looks away, Owen is glaring up at him with the nastiest look he can muster, nodding his head in Ianto's direction and stalked off with his arms crossed over his chest, offended. Gwen disapproves as well, but there is nothing to be done now. None of them ever thought they would see Ianto again, figuring that he wouldn't come back, that Jack would retcon him, anything but Ianto opening up a garbage bag and cleaning up the hub.
It doesn't go on for long though. Jack leaves Gwen and ignores Owen and takes the bag from Ianto. He tells him he's suspended for a month, to get himself together. He can't bring himself to respect Ianto for coming back, not after what happened. But he will admit one day that he was surprised, relieved, and, eventually, even happy, and Ianto will eventually realize that he was happy for it, too. After all, what else did he have?