Hey guys! It's been such a long time since I've written anything let alone posted it! I'm quite busy as of recent but I'm going to try to get in an update at least every week. I'm very excited about this one! Hope you enjoy!
Ianto woke hazily, breathing in Jack's pheromones. Jack's scent was always comforting and very attracting, as it always was. And since they were in Ianto's apartment, his bed sheets would smell like him until he decided to wash them, unless this continued. They had finally gone to that dinner and movie date and it went almost perfectly. They ended up back at Ianto's flat since it was much closer and much bigger than Jack's bunker in the hub. After a few drinks and a lot of snogging they ended up in bed. Ianto tried to push other thoughts to the back of his head regarding Jack's disappearance. He was still angry that Jack wouldn't tell him where he'd been all that time, though didn't push for the information yet. He had missed what they had and he hoped that maybe this time around, it would be different and not just an occasional shag.
Ianto felt Jack stir, his muscles tensing and relaxing. A warm breath wafted through his hair and Jack's nose became buried there. Jack had always been slow to wake up, according to the few times they'd slept the night with each other. Ianto thought it was cute because Jack became even more childish, whining and pulling the covers over his head. Ianto on the other hand, was claimed to be extremely grumpy when woken.
"What time s'it..?" Jack murmured.
"Time to go to work," Ianto whispered back, wishing they didn't have to move. It was comfortable wrapped in Jack's warm arms, cozy in bed.
He could feel Jack's pout against his hair and the tremendous sigh the immortal gave and chuckled. He tried to sit up, though Jack's arms wouldn't let him move from the bed.
"Jack, I'll make coffee and give you five more minutes if you let go." Ianto bribed, smiling when Jack reluctantly let go and curled up with a pillow instead.
Ianto pulled on a t-shirt and sweatpants along with some slippers before heading to the kitchen. He leisurely put the coffee on to brew and walked to the TV, turning it on and flipping through the channels before he landed on the news. There was a report on, detailing the disappearances of several people over the last few years. All were last seen at events held in the old opera house on the west side of Cardiff. Ianto watched it until he heard the quiet beep telling him that the coffee was done brewing. He returned to the kitchen and poured two mugs before padding back into the bedroom. Jack was still laying on the bed, splayed out and fast asleep again. Ianto set the coffee beside the bed and let the scent wake Jack.
He finished his own mug within a couple minutes and decided to take a quick shower before getting dressed. When he was finished, Jack was up and dressed, full of energy and ready to go.
"It's a nice day, Ianto. We can walk to the hub, grab some pastries on the way." Jack suggested, pulling on his coat.
"Sure, I don't see why not." Ianto replied as he took the two empty mugs to the sink, washing and putting them away quickly. He soon joined Jack at the door and the two of them walked out into the fresh morning air. Ianto's elderly neighbor smiled at them as they passed.
"Seems like a quiet day. No ones really out and about." Jack commented on the calm silence of the city, his hands stuffed comfortably in his pockets.
"Yeah. I suppose work will end early today." Ianto nodded in agreement.
TW
Jack and Ianto were the first to arrive at the hub, which was empty. Tosh arrived after them, then Owen, then Gwen. All got their appropriate coffee orders. The rift was quiet and most of the day was spent working on individual projects and paperwork. Ianto spent some time down in the archives before returning up to the tourist shop. While it was empty he spent time organizing and fixing any online files he needed to. Just a while after lunch, Jack called him down to his office with a request of filing a stack of papers and folders for him. Ianto picked up the stack in which Jack indicated to with a vacant flick of his pen. Ianto picked the pile up without comment and walked towards the door. He stopped though, hesitating as he glanced back at Jack.
"Sir…" He started, Jack replying which a distracted hum, his eye focused on the papers on his desk. "I haven't asked… Are you doing alright? I mean… You won't tell any of us what happened when you were away or why you even left in the first place. But you seem… Tired… I-"
There was the loud slam of a fist hitting the top of the wooden desk that made Ianto jump and nearly drop the paper cradled in his arms.
"Enough, Ianto. It's none of your goddamn business. It's no ones business! Out!"
Ianto swallowed and retreated out the door, unsure what he should be feeling at the moment. Concern and anger were two majorly conflicting ones.
TW
That evening, Jack bounded down the stairs from his office, pulling his coat on. "Alright everyone! Field trip! I'm sure you all know about the disappearances at the Cardiff Opera House. I did some research and found that back in the day, it used to be a Gentlemen's Club." He said the last words with a flair, waving his hand.
"What's a Gentlemen's Club?" Gwen asked, sitting back in her chair. She'd had enough of paperwork, excited to be able to leave the hub. Field work had always been more of her forte.
"Sort of like an old fashioned strip club. With booze, flappers, dancing. The usual. Much better than the clubs now a' days." Jack replied with a sly smile. He took a breath before continuing. "Over the past few years, there seems to be more and more people disappearing from the opera house. Lately, they've been working on repairs, trying to fix it up, and some workers have disappeared. When it was closed down, people would sneak in and disappear. I don't believe this is just a coincidence, so we're going to check it out."
Everyone was up and ready within five minutes. It was a while since they got to go out into their field. Being cooped up in an office underground wasn't fun and field work was always a relief after days of boring paperwork. They all piled into the SUV. It took about half an hour to reach their destination and by the night had fallen on the city. Arm with torches and weapons they crept into the large, extravagant opera house.
"They really did fix this place up nice." Jack murmured, shining the torch around the main hall.
"And you were here when it was a strip club, I assume?" Gwen teased, her eyes following the light around.
"Yeah, once. Maybe twice. I didn't really frequent Cardiff." Jack replied with a grin, which seemed to give off its own light.
"Well, there are three floors in this place," Owen cut their chatter off grumpily. "Jack, you take the top floor. Gwen, Tosh, you two take the main floor. Ianto and I will search the basement."
TW
"Of course you had to chose the bloody basement." Ianto muttered, gazing around at the amount of cobwebs there were on the cold cement walls. "They didn't bother at all to fix it up down here."
"Oi, stop complaining. Basement's more fun anyway. Spooky." Owen tilted the flashlight up under his chin as his said the last word.
"Yes, I'm sure we'll run into the ghost of a stripper. You'll have some fun, won't you?" Ianto retorted.
"Shut up, teaboy." Owen hissed at him, walking forward. "Ah, there's another room over here. Looks like this rooms for stage props. There's some dusty oldies in here." He peeked inside, shining the light around. "Take a look around in there. I'm gonna see if I can find a light panel or something out here."
Ianto nodded, cautiously entering the room. It was cold and damp and cluttered with old props and posters. Curiously, he gazed over the ones on the shelves. He picked up a prop dagger and chuckled quietly. He set it down again and let the flashlight shine towards the back of the room. He gasped, his heart leaping into his throat for a few seconds.
"Oh… Just a prop…" He let out a breath, walking towards the life size statue. He shined the light up at it, squinting. "Odd… Looks quite realistic." He murmured as he examined the stone. He took in the hands over the face and the draped wings behind it's figure. He sighed and turned away finally, continuing around the shelves. The torch in his hand began to flicker and he sighed whilst hitting it. "Crap. Owen! Got any batteries? My torch," He sighed as the light turned off completely. "Went out."
"Almost got the lights, mate. I found the panel!" Owen called back, fiddling with the wires carefully.
Ianto sighed and leant against one of the shelves as he waited, tapping his foot. A scuffling noise made him stop, frowning and turning his head in the dark. "Just a mouse…" He muttered, pressing his lips together.
"Ah, got it!" Owen yelled.
The lights above flickered on and Ianto only had time to gasp, the torch dropping from his hand with a loud clatter when he saw the fanged stoney face inches from his.