The commotion was loud enough that it forced Jack out of his office like a father having to referee squabbling children. At first he couldn't tell what was going on, but by the time he deciphered what Gwen was yelling at Owen (something about him being an insensitive ass) and what Owen was flinging back at Gwen (which was along the lines of him not seeing any need to be nice to someone who hid his murderous half-Cyberman girlfriend in the basement until she emerged to try to kill all of his coworkers), Jack had determined that Ianto's first morning back at work after Lisa's attack had not gone very well. He looked around for Ianto, who seemed to have disappeared as quietly as he usually arrived. Tosh, who was, as usual, dealing with stress by hiding herself in her work, noticed him looking around and helpfully pointed up. "I think he's feeding Myfanwy," she said softly.
Sure enough, Ianto was sitting next to Myfanwy, sharing with her pieces of a rather expensive looking dark chocolate bar. The young Welshman didn't seem to care that his suit was getting dirty sitting on the dusty ground of the pteranodon's lair in one of the unused upper levels of Torchwood.
"I was wondering where you were hiding," Jack said quietly.
Ianto didn't look up as he handed Myfanwy another piece of chocolate, eating one himself at the same time. "I made coffee, I cleaned up, I put the files away. Was there something else you needed…sir?" he added the last word grudgingly. "If not, then I'd like to take my lunch break alone, please."
"Look, I understand that your first day back after your suspension….It's got to be hard," Jack said. "And I'm sorry that Owen can't seem to say anything nice to, well, anyone really. That crack about Lisa"—Ianto flinched when Jack said her name—"was uncalled for."
Still no eye contact, though Ianto shrugged dismissively. "Owen's right, she did try to kill him." Ianto stared at the ground, back tense and shoulders hunched.
Jack looked him over, noting the sallow skin and the dark circles under his eyes. "Have you been sleeping?" he asked gently.
"What do you care?" Ianto asked softly.
"Of course I care. If I didn't care, you wouldn't be here." Jack reminded him.
"But why am I still here?" Ianto asked, still not looking at Jack. "Why didn't you just retcon me? There is no reason for me to be at Torchwood anymore. Not much reason to be anywhere." His voice was matter-of-fact and emotionless. When Myfanwy nudged him, he tossed her another piece of chocolate. Her craving satisfied, she graciously extended one webbed wing. Ianto ran his fingers over it softly, caressing the leathery skin like a lost little boy searching for comfort from a beloved pet. "She's all alone, you know," Ianto whispered. "No other dinosaurs here in the future, no family, no kids to teach how to soar and hunt. Just her, alone, forever."
Jack was suddenly afraid that if his young employee didn't talk to someone soon, he might do something drastic. Jack had seen too many young soldiers ripped to shreds by the traumas of battle until they decided to eat their own weapons. He wasn't going to allow it to happen again, not if he could help it. "You know, it took me a while to realize that you were the one who put Myfanwy in that empty warehouse," he said in an off-hand manner. "I was thinking about how we met while you were gone and there's no way that she would have flown in there on her own. How'd you capture her?"
For a long while it didn't seem like Ianto would reply. Finally he sighed, ran his hand over his face, and looked in the captain's direction. His eyes didn't move up past the hem of Jack's coat, but it was a start. "I told you," Ianto said, "I had a Rift monitor in the back of my car, along with a heavy tranquilizer, a net, other supplies. I just kept track of Rift spikes and searched until I found what came through. Passed on anything commonplace like Weevils. I knew that only something exotic would catch your attention." At that, Ianto raised his head slowly until he locked eyes with Jack. His gaze was bleak and far, far too old for someone so very young.
"Exotic, huh? By exotic, do you also mean that wonderful cup of coffee? And a certain sharp-dressed, blue-eyed Welshman?" Jack asked.
Ianto nodded, looking like he was too tired to be ashamed of his actions. "I'd read your file while I was at Torchwood One. Considered asking to transfer here. I thought Lisa and I could get married, move back home, raise a family." He laughed once, a harsh, humorless bark. Myfanwy startled at the sound, crying out. Ianto soothed her with the last of the chocolate. Once she was settled again, he looked back up at Jack. "After…afterwards, this was the only place I could think of to take Lisa. I didn't know what else to do. I remembered that you liked good coffee, that you would shag anyone—male or female—who was reasonably fit, and that you rounded up the creatures and things that come through the Rift." He shrugged. "I thought I could talk my way in."
Kneeling down beside Ianto, Jack quietly said, "So you figured you'd bribe me with a drink and a dinosaur, talk your way into my bed, and then talk your way into a job?" He stared at Ianto, who stared back and then nodded once.
Leaning forward, Jack breathed into Ianto's ear, "Then tell me something, if you were part of the bait, why didn't you kiss me while we were lying on the floor of that warehouse?" He felt the other man shiver uncontrollably before Ianto jumped up and backed away.
"I have—I had—Lisa! I couldn't cheat on her. I just couldn't, no matter how much I needed the job."
Jack considered him. "But you wanted to, didn't you? You wanted to kiss me."
"What do you want me to say, Jack? Yes, alright, yes, I wanted to kiss you! Every day that I came in here I wanted to, right up until the day I watched you gun down my girlfriend in front of me! So thank you so much for reminding me that I have now betrayed the trust of everyone I know! I bribed you, I lied to the others, and I might as well have cheated on Lisa as many times as I was thinking about you!" Ianto's voice was rough and deep, torn by emotion.
"Ianto, she is dead. She was dead back then and she is dead now. Lisa, your Lisa, died the moment the conversion process began. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but there was nothing you could have done to save her. I know you loved her, but you are not the one who died." Jack reached out and grabbed Ianto by the shoulders. "Promise me you will try to remember that."
Ianto stared at him for a long moment, so long that Jack began to think that he had asked for a promise Ianto was not able to give. Finally, slowly, he nodded. "I'll try. I can't promise more than that."
"Fair enough," Jack replied. "But I want you to know that you can come to me if there is anything you need, okay?"
Blue eyes devoid of spirit gazed steadily at him. "I keep seeing her dead and you standing there with a gun."
"I'm not going to apologize for putting her out of her misery and saving everyone's lives."
"I know." Ianto regarded him. "And I'm not going to apologize for trying to save her. I just wish… Things were not supposed to happen that way. No one was supposed to die. It wasn't…" His voice broke and he swallowed hard.
Jack nodded. "I know." Sighing, he squeezed Ianto's arms. "I know." He dropped his hands, releasing Ianto. "Lunch break is over in half an hour. I'll expect you back downstairs then." He turned to leave.
"Sir, one more thing." Ianto called to him.
"Yes, what…" Jack began as he turned towards Ianto once more, but the rest of his statement was lost as hands cupped his cheeks and tugged his mouth forward. For the briefest moment Jack actually had no idea what was happening. Then he realized: Ianto was kissing him. Ianto Jones, coffee-maker and archiver, dinosaur hunter and ravaged Torchwood employee, was kissing him. Not only kissing him, but doing a damned fine job of kissing him. Shock quickly gave way to a surge of hot lust. Jack reached forward and grabbed Ianto's hips, pulling their bodies tightly together. As Ianto slid his tongue between Jack's willing lips, Jack could taste chocolate. He groaned as Ianto shoved him up against the wall of Myfanwy's lair and raised one knee to brush up the inside of Jack's thigh. But just as the kiss was getting past the point of amazing, and was well on its way into mind-blowing, Ianto pulled back, stepping away from Jack and straightening his tie.
"That is a good looking coat." Ianto said calmly, as if he weren't breathing heavy and sporting a raging hard-on. Jack could see it pressing against the zipper of Ianto's no-longer-as-crisp trousers. He forced himself to look away, back up at Ianto's pinked cheeks. The young man's mouth twitched slightly into a ghost of a smile and said, "I will let you know if I need you." He turned and left, walking back downstairs.
Jack smiled his best, most rakish grin. "Anytime, handsome, anytime." Jack admired the view until Ianto was out of sight and Myfanwy was beginning to gnaw on his shoelaces. Then he headed back downstairs to make sure his staff didn't kill each other over lunch. It would be a shame if Ianto died before Jack could show him that he had a very good reason to stick around.