Clarification
By Siobhan Jane
Disclaimer: Torchwood does not belong to me. No copyright infringement meant.
Summary: A scene directly after Countrycide. Assume spoilers for all seasons.
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
The cog door alarm reverberated through the hub as Jack walked slowly up the metal stairs into the open computer area. He stopped and stared at Tosh's back as she scanned her computer screen. She didn't turn to acknowledge him or even seem to notice he was there. Her eyes scanned furiously at the police reports from the Brecon Beacons displayed on the screen. She was entering case notes onto Torchwood files and police files simultaneously, making sure all the facts were correct and covering up anything Torchwood didn't want the authorities to know.
Jack sighed and softly walked up behind her. He placed a hand gently on her shoulder, "Go home."
"When I'm finished," she replied with determination, her eyes never leaving the computer screen.
Keeping his hand on her shoulder for a beat longer than necessary, Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath before walking slowly over to the autopsy bay. He stood at the railing, looking down at a shirtless Ianto sitting on the table. Owen swirled around Ianto, writing down notes on a chart then stopping to stick a thermometer into Ianto's mouth.
"How's our boy doing?" Jack inquired, the usual sneer that would have accompanied a comment like that gone from his voice. He placed a foot up and leaned on the railing. His eyes roamed over the bruises that painted Ianto's skin an ugly brown and green.
Owen looked up from his chart. "Your boy is doing quite well, actually, considering he got the snot beat out of him," Owen replied as he removed the thermometer from Ianto's mouth and recorded the result onto his chart. "Few days rest and he'll be as good as new." Owen took a moment to stare at Ianto's bent head before looking up at Jack and mouthing "A bit shell-shocked."
Jack nodded and shifted his gaze back to Ianto's bare bent shoulders.
"Gwen get home alright?" Owen asked, his voice betraying his concern. He took off his white coat and filed Ianto's chart away.
"Safe as houses. Home with Rhys," Jack replied.
Owen fiddled around a bit, "Good then. How's she going to explain the shotgun wound to the little man?"
Letting a chuckle escape, Jack replied, "She was pretty quiet on the ride home. I didn't think to ask, but I'm sure she'll think of something."
"Lying, the number one Torchwood skill. Well, I'm off. Teaboy here will live to brew another day, and I'm knackered." Patting Ianto on the shoulder, he said softly into Ianto's ear, "Don't forget. Two pills every four hours. And get some rest." Owen bounded up the stairs and past Jack. "Tosh, go the hell home, will ya?"
Jack didn't hear if Tosh replied. He was staring down at Ianto. He watched as Ianto delicately pulled his t-shirt on over his head. It got stuck on his shoulders, and Jack heard Ianto sigh into the fabric. Jack unbent himself from the railing and slowly made his way down to the autopsy table. He reached for Ianto's t-shirt and gently pulled his arms through each short sleeve. Ianto remained limp, letting Jack maneuver his limbs wherever Jack wanted them to go.
When his shirt was rightly in place, Ianto finally lifted his eyes to Jack. "Thanks."
"My pleasure," Jack replied softly, once again with a lack of his usual leer. He cupped a hand against Ianto's cheek and rubbed his thumb against the stubble just below Ianto's sideburn. Ianto closed his eyes and sighed.
"I think I've got it all sorted, for now anyway," Tosh's voice rang out from the center of the Hub. She gathered her things and walked to the autopsy room. Ignoring the scene below her, she stated, "Owen's given me some lovely little pills to take, so I'm off to never never land. I won't be in tomorrow Jack." Tosh looked down at Ianto. "Ianto?" She waited for him to look up at her, Jack's hand still on his face, "Thank you."
Ianto nodded up to Tosh a "you're welcome."
"What was that about?" Jack asked as Ianto pulled away from him and gently slid off the table. Jack backed away to give him space.
"Nothing," Ianto whispered as he bent to retrieve his shoes, sighing as he noticed the dried blood splayed on the leather. "Well, that's not coming off easily." He walked barefoot around Jack and up the stairs, his trainers hanging from his fingertips.
"I'll drive you home," Jack called up at Ianto's disappearing form.
"Not necessary, Sir." Ianto sat on the couch and pulled his socks out of one trainer. He gingerly bent down to slide each sock and shoe on. When he was finished, his face shined with sweat from the pain in his ribs. Jack watched all this from the top of the autopsy stairs.
"Seems necessary to me." Jack walked slowly to the couch and sat next to Ianto.
Ianto leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes. "Whatever."
Jack's eyes narrowed, concern showing on his face. "When you're ready we'll head out. Anything you need from here?" Jack asked.
Ianto shook his head no.
"Okay. I'll be right back." Jack bounded from the couch with sudden energy, rushing into his office and returning a few minutes later with an overnight bag. He dropped the bag on the couch and headed for the kitchen area.
Feeling the 'plop' of the bag landing next to his thigh, Ianto opened his eyes and stared at it. He could hear Jack rummaging through the kitchen, but he couldn't find the energy to care. "Ah, HA!" Ianto heard Jack exclaim.
"All set?" Jack asked as he picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder.
Ianto stared up at Jack for a few moments, almost as if he was trying to make a decision. He then reached his left arm out for Jack, who in turn took his arm and gently pulled him up off the couch and up against his chest. They stood there for a minute, chest to chest, Jack's hand around Ianto's forearm. Jack leaned in and softly placed a chaste kiss onto Ianto's forehead, then pulled back and took Ianto's hand in his, leading him out of the Hub.
"Myfanwy needs food," Ianto whispered as they walked out the door.
"She'll live till tomorrow," was Jack's reply.
-
Ianto stood on the steps of his house and watched Jack fish out the key to the front door. "I forgot you had that."
Jack turned the lock and looked back into Ianto's eyes. "Regret giving it to me?" he asked as he pushed open the door and gently ushered Ianto inside. He placed his bag on the floor in the short hallway, removed his coat, and placed it on one of the hooks on the wall.
Ianto walked slowly into his living room and sat down on the deep red loveseat that sectioned off the hallway from the living room. He put his feet up on the coffee table and closed his eyes.
Jack moved down the hallway into the kitchen. It was a modern kitchen living in an old house, yet somehow it belonged and made perfect sense to Jack. The appliances were all American-style and chrome. The counter tops were gray marble, and there was a large marble island in the middle. Large bay windows sandwiched the kitchen with views of each side garden. It was the longest room of the house, spanning the width from end to end. Another, but smaller window, gave a view of the back garden from the sink. An ornate espresso maker sat next to the refrigerator. Jack smiled down at it as he placed the bags of coffee he had stolen from the Hub's kitchen on the countertop.
"The last time I was here there were boxes everywhere, " Jack said as he came into the living room and sat in the cream-colored high-backed chair across from Ianto. "This place is so you." Jack looked around as if he had never seen it before. The walls were painted a soft green and there was white crown molding everywhere. The sofa looked like something Martha-alien Stewart would have dragged in, all soft pale flowers and wood trimmed. On the wall behind the sofa hung a lovely local painting of the docks right outside of the Hub. The dark blood-red loveseat Ianto was currently occupying was the most comfortable piece. Its cushions were deep, and two soft green pillows lay on either side of Ianto's waist.
"How's that?" Ianto asked, his eyes still closed, his hands folded over his stomach.
Jack smiled at the scene before him. "It's all contradiction. It's all prim and proper in the front, modern and wild in the back." He stretched out his legs in front of him and folder his arms.
"Wild?" Ianto opened one eye to look at Jack. "I wouldn't call my kitchen, 'wild' exactly."
"Well, the kitchen is modern, and the garden is wild. Seriously, I'm amazed your OCD hasn't taken a shovel to it."
"I don't have OCD." Ianto closed his eyes shut, a pout on his lips.
Jack chuckled softly. "Yeah. You do. It's cute."
Ianto ignored Jack and settled deeper into the cushions.
"Coffee or sleep?" Jack asked.
"I have to take the pills Owen gave me with food. Then sleep. I'm good, by the way, you can go now, Sir."
Jack pulled his legs up. He looked at Ianto and shook his head. "Not leaving, but good try. I'll go see what you have to eat in there." He rose from his chair and headed into the kitchen.
Ianto groaned. "Please Jack. Don't touch anything." He knew Jack couldn't hear him, so he stood up reluctantly and walked into the kitchen.
He found Jack with his head stuck in the refrigerator.
"Move. I'll do it." He tried to push Jack out of the way, but the pain in his ribs hindered him. He pouted instead. "I don't want you rummaging around my kitchen, Jack. You'll break something or burn something…like the house…down."
Jack pulled some cold ham and cheese from the fridge and placed it on the counter. He opened the cabinet to his left and took down two white plates. "I've been around forever, Ianto. I can make a sandwich."
"Considering your inability to make a cup of decent coffee, I beg to differ." Ianto leaned against the island and watched Jack work. The kitchen was quiet except for the sound of the knife cutting into the bread and the plates being moved around.
Jack reached into the fridge again and took out two bottles of soda. He snuck these under one arm and took a plate in each hand. Ianto watched with dread, waiting for something to crash to the floor.
Jack made it to the round, oak dining table located under the bay window without incident. Ianto smiled and moved to sit across from Jack. "You have such little faith," Jack said as Ianto sat down.
"I believe myself to be a realist." Ianto reached into his pocket and removed the packet of pills Owen had given him. He popped two in his mouth and took a long drink of soda. His throat stung as the soda fought its way down.
"So, what's Owen got you on?" Jack asked through a mouthful of ham sandwich.
Ianto shrugged, "Anti-inflammatory slash pain killer. I'm assuming."
Jack sighed and put his sandwich down. "Should have had him mix in a dose of retcon. No reason you should have to remember this night."
"I don't know. You crashing in, guns blazing, was worth remembering." Ianto took a large bite and closed his eyes.
"You okay?" Jack's concerned voice surprised Ianto. He opened his eyes to look at Jack.
"Hard to swallow," he explained.
"I'll keep that in mind," Jack winked.
"Keep it in your pants, sir." Ianto finished his sandwich and drank down the last of his soda before standing up and carrying his dish to the sink.
"Leave it," Jack ordered.
"Pfft," was Ianto's response as he turned on the water and cleaned the dish, placing it in the dish rack when he was done. "Don't leave yours there," Ianto ordered before leaving the kitchen.
Jack stared down at the remains of his sandwich then stood up and followed Ianto up the stairs and into the bedroom.
The cherry-wood sleigh bed was Jack's favorite thing in Ianto's house. It took up most of the room and had a pillow-top mattress the Queen would die for, 400-thread-count cotton sheets, and a goose down-stuffed deep blue duvet. Compared to Jack's bunk, it was heaven.
He crossed to the dresser and picked up a wood-framed picture of Ianto's niece and nephew. "These weren't here before."
"Of course they were. Misha's six. She was alive last time you were here." Ianto sat on the bed and removed his shoes and socks.
Jack put down the frame and picked up another of a woman in her 40s with light-brown hair and blue eyes. She was sitting under a tree. "The photos. I don't remember you having any last time I was here." He picked up another photo. This one a wedding photo of a plump girl with long brown hair and a blond male with a goofy grin on his face.
"My sister and her knob of a husband." Ianto sat back into the pillows and watched Jack.
"You left them out of your records." Jack began to reach for the next frame but stopped himself. He could see it was of Lisa and Ianto, sitting on a castle wall somewhere. They looked happy.
"You needed to know what you needed to know."
"What you wanted me to know." Jack took a step back and felt the bed hit his knees. He sat down and looked at the display of Ianto's life, pre-Torchwood.
Ianto shrugged in response to Jack's back.
"There are no pictures of your father," Jack noticed.
Ianto brought his knees up and rested his arms on them. "We were never close. He died when I was seventeen."
Turning his body to look at Ianto, he asked, "Your mother?"
"Died when I was young."
"How young?" Jack reached out his hand and placed it on a bare foot.
"Young, Jack." Ianto pulled his foot away and moved off the bed. He walked around the bed, stood in front of Jack, and opened a drawer. He pulled out two t-shirts, a red one for himself and a blue one for Jack. He also pulled out two pairs of black cotton shorts. "We're not sleeping naked tonight." He handed the clothes to Jack and walked into the bathroom across the hall.
Jack looked down at the shirt and shorts in his hands and heard the shower turn on. He stood up and removed his clothes, throwing each piece on the chair in the corner. He pulled the shorts up over his hips and the t-shirt down over his head.
Jack pulled back the duvet and climbed under the sheets. He wiggled around, pulled the pillows down under his head, and sighed. His eyes fluttered closed.
The water hit Ianto's back with a sharpness he wasn't expecting, but he stood his ground and let the hot water pound the day out of him. Minutes later he poured some shampoo in his hair and lathered up his body with the Bergamot-scented body wash he knew Jack liked best. He had thrown away the almond-scented one Lisa had liked.
When he was clean and dry and his teeth were brushed, Ianto raided his supply closet for fresh bandages, medical tape, and antibacterial ointment. He brought these into the bedroom and dropped them on the bed.
"Wake up, Jack."
Reluctantly, Jack opened his eyes. "Naked Ianto. My favorite kind." He sat up and arranged the pillows behind him.
"Don't get too comfortable. You need to bandage me up." Ianto sat down on the bed with his back to Jack and waited.
"Bondage, fun!" Jack kneeled behind Ianto and kissed the back of his neck.
"Bandage, Sir." Ianto leaned away from Jack and picked up the ointment. He pointed the tube in Jack's direction. "On my cuts, Sir."
Taking the ointment from Ianto, Jack sat back and stared at the cuts on Ianto's side by his ribs, the ones on his neck just below his ear, and the ones he could see on his cheek. He cursed under his breath. "Should have aimed to kill, not maim."
Ianto remained quiet as Jack gently massaged the ointment into the wounds on his side and neck. He felt Jack's hand shake a bit as he wrapped the bandage around his torso, over his ribs, and secure it with tape. Jack sat at Ianto' side and turned Ianto's face to him with two fingers placed on Ianto's jaw. He put some ointment on the cuts on Ianto's face and placed a plaster on the deepest one. Then Jack looked directly into Ianto's eyes.
They stared at each other for longer than Ianto felt comfortable with.
"Why are you here, Jack?"
"You're hurt. You shouldn't be left alone." Jack stood up and placed all the first aid fixings on the nightstand. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. When he finished getting ready for bed and returned to the bedroom, he found Ianto exactly where he had left him, although he was clothed in his red t-shirt and black shorts. Ianto looked up at Jack, a question in his eyes.
"What?"
"You haven't been here since before…" Ianto looked away.
Jack sighed but stood still. "Didn't think I was wanted here. "
Ianto stared down at the floor. "When have you ever not been wanted?" Ianto teased.
"Couldn't help thinking shooting your girlfriend would put a damper on whatever it is we have…had."
"It tends to confuse things." Ianto looked up at Jack and held his gaze. "But she was dead already."
Jack slid down to the floor. "Yup. She was, but I'm still sorry I had to shoot her. I never want to hurt you, Yan…any of you."
"Please don't call me that."
"Shut up." Jack scowled. "You lied to me. You lied to the team. You put us all in danger."
"I know."
"Shut up!" Jack snapped. "You let me come here, fuck you, when…"
Ianto slid from the bed to the floor in front of Jack. "When?"
Jack took a moment to reply. "You lied to me, to yourself. You pried your way into the Hub, into the team, into me…literally." Jack watched the smile play at Ianto's lips. "I'm not amused, Ianto." He waited for the words to sink in. "But the worst part is you let me practically rape you. You let me hurt you when I didn't even know I was hurting you. And even after everything that happened with those monsters today, I can't help but feel like what I did to you was worse."
Ianto's head snapped up. He stared at Jack, his mouth hanging open. "I never did anything…"
"Would you have had sex with me if it wasn't for Lisa?" Jack demanded.
"Would you have bothered to spend five seconds trying to figure that out before you got my pants down?" Ianto glared at Jack. "You never bothered to find anything out about me Jack, except what my arse looked like. You're too busy dancing around your love for Gwen."
Jack's mouth tightened. "Gwen doesn't have anything to do with this. She's with Rhys. End of story."
"And doesn't that just kill you?" Ianto leaned toward Jack. "Let's be honest. When have I ever meant more to you than a shag? " Ianto waited for a reply. When none came, he continued. "Do you have any idea what the past few months have been like? Trying to keep Lisa alive? Trying to find a way to save her, when I already knew there was no hope? Desperate to find a way back into Torchwood? Instead finding you? " Ianto's voice trailed off.
Jack pushed back until his back hit the wall. "This is what I've been trying to say. I hurt you and you let me."
"That's what you're angry about?"
Jack sighed. "I love my team and you made me hurt one of them. Hell, I don't even know if you were ever with a man before me."
Ianto stared at Jack, afraid what the truth would mean to him.
"Well, have you ever been?" Jack pushed.
Ianto shook his head, no.
Jack bent his head, ran his hand threw his hair and asked, "Did you even want to…that first time?"
His head snapped up at the sound of Ianto's laugh.
"Of course I did." Ianto smiled at Jack. "I had never felt like that before. I was scared out of my mind, but I managed to survive it in one piece." He took Jack's hand. "Jack, you know you're hard to resist. But it was more than that. I don't know what exactly…I really don't, but…" He squeezed Jack's hand at the look of surprise in Jack's eyes. "I've never done anything I didn't want to do."
"It's the pheromones, " Jack explained.
"Yes, sir, you smell good, sir" Ianto sighed playfully. "Didn't know what hit me, sir."
Jack pulled Ianto to him and twisted him around until he was sitting between Jack's legs, his back to Jack's chest. Ianto wiggled his ass just a bit against Jack's crotch, smiling when he heard a groan.
Whispering against Ianto's ear, Jack said, "I'm still mad at you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, the whole 'my last kiss was Lisa', when you know it was with me."
Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure mouth-to-mouth resuscitation doesn't count." Ianto wiggled again.
"Stop that," Jack ordered. "I'm thinking, because Lisa technically died at Canary Warf, I was the last person you kissed."
Ianto smiled. "I suppose you are correct. But Gwen doesn't know that."
Jack kissed the top of Ianto's head. "Nope, I guess she doesn't." He thought for a moment. "Doesn't hurt to put her in her place now and then either. Between you and Owen, I don't think she'll be playing that game again."
Ianto chuckled, "I do not want to know anything about her and Owen, please and thank you."
"You already know, don't you?" Jack leaned around to look Ianto in the face.
"I know everything, Sir" Ianto smiled innocently at Jack.
Jack laughed, "Can we drop the sir?"
"If you insist, sir." Ianto yelped as Jack nipped his ear. "Haven't I been abused enough today, Jack?"
Sobering up, Jack squeezed Ianto softly. "Sorry, Yan." He pulled away and stood up. He reached down and pulled Ianto to his feet. "Your call. Do I stay or do I go?"
Ianto walked to the bed and climbed under the sheets. "You're already wearing my clothes."
"That can be fixed."
Closing his eyes, Ianto rolled onto his side. "Stay Jack. If you don't, I doubt I'll sleep well."
Jack's face lit up and he climbed onto the bed. "Move over."
"You always hog up the whole bed," Ianto complained as he made room for Jack.
Jack snuggled in behind Ianto and threw his left arm over Ianto's waist.
"Do not."
"Careful, Jack. Injured here."
"Sorry," Jack whispered in Ianto's ear.
"Do too."
Jack growled his response and snuggled closer. "Night, Yan."
"Good night, sir."
_end_