"Oh c'mon, Ianto!" Jack shouted with a nervous half laugh. "It was just a joke!"
"A joke that I didn't appreciate," Ianto snapped back. He was so pissed off. Jack wasn't taking him seriously. It might make him a colossal girl but he hated when Jack did that.
The Hub was in night mode and Ianto was going about the last of his routine. He'd waited until everyone had gone before confronting his husband about what had been bothering him since this morning. Miranda, thankfully, was in her rooms and unaware of the shouting match occurring above her. He probably should have pulled Jack aside immediately but had decided to wait for privacy.
"I thought we were past all this, Yan!" Jack yelled.
Ianto wanted to believe that he was better than this; more evolved. And with most things he was, but not this. It may have been years but this still touched a nerve with him. Ianto shouted without turning around, "Telling Martha you'd rather be dashing about with the Doctor instead of having 'pizza and Ianto' is not okay, Jack!"
Jack grabbed Ianto's arm. "I came back for you!"
He shook of Jack's arm and threw his own words back at him, "For all of us!"
Jack took a few steps back as if Ianto had slapped him. "You know how I feel about you, Ianto."
Ianto wanted that to mean something. He knew how much Jack loved him but Jack had admitted he'd loved him when he'd run off the first time. Love hadn't stopped him then. Why that stop him from doing the same thing again?
"It never changes does it?" Ianto said, softly. Hurt was on every inch of his face. "I thought we were past this too but I saw that look on your face when the TARDIS disappeared after the wedding. If you left, would you even leave a bloody note this time? Or would I have to watch you running away on the security cameras again?"
The old hurt and insecurity was a bitter pill in Ianto's throat. It embarrassed him to admit it but he'd done it anyway. It had been bothering him even more since he'd died his first death and become immortal. While time travel meant that Jack could swan off with the Doctor and return at any point, with Ianto's immortality, he wouldn't have to be quite as concerned with returning at the proper moment either.
"I'd take you with me!" Jack cried.
"What? So I could watch you fawn over him in person? Yeah, thanks for that," Ianto shouted with a spectacular roll of his eyes. "Don't do me any favours, Jack."
He stormed his way across the Hub and down into the archives. He slammed his office door and sat down. He scrubbed at his face and shook his head. He knew he was overreacting and letting himself stew about it all day hadn't helped but the Doctor hit a nerve. Jack knew that and mostly kept his rude comments to a minimum. Ianto always let those slide down off his back in the past but the piteous look Martha had given him was too much. All those wonderful amazing adventures with the Doctor were the one thing that Ianto knew he could never compete with.
The rift alert sounded and Ianto heaved out a sigh. He scrubbed at his face again and left his office for the main Hub. Jack was nowhere in sight. Up on the roof. He's good on roofs… Ianto narrowed the area of the spike. It was right up on the Plass. There was no reason for him to wait for Jack or Miranda. He was immortal now. He could take care of it himself.
He didn't bother putting his tie back on or his suit jacket. It was a warm summer night. He grabbed one of the portable kits and took the invisible lift up. With his PDA in hand, he started scanning the Plass. The row was still in the back of his mind. He pushed it back. It didn't take him long to find the object. A book?
It looked like nothing more than any misplaced object, laying on the ground. Ianto put on the protective gloves and picked the item up. It looked like any hardback book but there was no title printed on the spine or the front cover. Lots of books fell through the rift of all genres and types. There were even some personal journals and diaries. He scanned it with his PDA, it was bursting with rift energy so it was definitely what had come through. With a shake of his head, he got back onto the invisible lift and took it down. He put the book down onto Fish's worktable and dropped his gloves next to it. Curious, he tried to open the cover… and couldn't. It looked like a paper book with normal pages but it wouldn't open. Shrugging it off as typical Torchwood, Ianto left the book so that Fish could examine it tomorrow. With a sigh, he supposed he should go upstairs and apologise to Jack. No… not this time. The anger bubbled up in him again.
He turned towards the north stairs. He'd sleep on Miranda's sofa tonight. The rustling of paper made Ianto turn. The book was open. His eyes went wide and Ianto took a few steps back in surprise. He started to back up slowly towards the lockdown button on the wall. The book was starting to glow. Ianto gasped and just as he turned to run for the lockdown, a bright light enveloped him. It felt as if someone had put their hand in his belt and yanked backwards and the last thing he thought before the world went dark was I'm sorry, Jack…
