Author's Notes: Set pre-Cyberwoman, it was meant to be an action/adventure but turned into unrequited love/stream of consciousness fic. As they do.
Disclaimer: Torchwood and associated characters etc do not belong to me, they belong to the BBC.
He ran. He ran if he was chasing, if he was being chased, if he was late for something, or just for the hell of it. He really loved to run, it reminded him of a time when he was really truly happy, when he felt safe even though he was almost always running for his life.
His breath was coming in short, painful bursts but he was catching on his target. He pulled out his gun and yelled instructions into the coms, then rounded the corner. He was almost on top of his target now and Gwen was approaching form the other end. They had it trapped.
Jack fired off two shots to spook it and distract it enough for Gwen to get in and tranquillise is. Once they got back to Owen he could tell them important stuff like what sex it was, if it was dangerous and how long it had been here.
The beautiful Welsh vowels of Torchwood's youngest member drifted over the coms telling them where the SUV was and exactly how long it would be before he got to them. He would probably time it on his stopwatch and smirk when he got it exactly right.
The young man intrigued Jack. Aside from the fact that it wasn't just his vowels that were beautiful, he was tough, Jack knew that from their first meeting and it was clear that if he ever took to the field he would be exceptional.
Added on to all this was the frission of sexual excitement which had gone through him when they had been so close to each other in the warehouse after catching Myfanwy. And it riled him that Captain Jack Harkness was interested and it wasn't reciprocated. Aside form that one time, the younger man had shown no signs of anything other than mild amusement at his constant flirting. It wasn't the first time it had happened though, so why did it matter so much this time?
As he heard the SUV pulling up behind him he flashed his trademark 100 watt grin at Gwen and lifted the alien to put it in the boot. The young ex-police officer was definitely interested; he'd probably been leading her on if he was honest, but she was a good looking woman and, after the dry humour he got form Ianto, it was nice to have someone return his advances. And Captain Jack Harkness was never backwards in coming forwards.
Torchwood's general support officer, surprisingly essential for someone he hadn't wanted to employ, got out of the SUV and popped the boot with a smile and a nod of greeting, ever the professional, even at 1 in the morning. If he'd called them in at this time, Owen would have grumbled, Tosh would have sighed, he wouldn't even have called Gwen to protect the life he wanted her to keep, but Ianto would have greeted him with a smile and a "yes, sir." If he'd gone home at all that is. He lived for Torchwood as much as Jack did, and yet again Jack worried about the wisdom of hiring him.
Back at the hub the worries were gone. It had been a long day and even Ianto was starting to show his tiredness, but he still carried on as professionally as ever. Without him, Torchwood would have sunk in a caffeine-starved stupor long ago. Jack accepted his coffee gratefully and watched the younger man's retreating back appreciatively; it really was a very good view. If he'd known, Ianto would have made some quip about sexual harassment and Jack would have responded with a thinly veiled attempt to get him into bed and Ianto would have given him that slightly guilty slightly pitying smile that made Jack's gut clench painfully and, all things considered, it was better this way.