Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Jack heard the Hub come to life as the alarms went off and the cog door rolled open. After a few moments, he stepped out of his office to see Tosh and Owen settling in for the day. For Tosh, that meant hanging up her light jacket, setting up her computer station, and actually sitting down to work. For Owen, that meant tossing his coat on the sofa and stalking around, apparently looking for something.

"Where's Ianto?" he grumbled. "I need coffee."

Jack grinned down at him. "Late night?"

"Early morning," Owen replied shortly before turning around to shout into the Hub. "Oi, teaboy! Where's the coffee?" He stopped yelling when he got no answer and looked up at Jack in confusion. "Bollocks, I don't even smell it brewing."

Jack shrugged. "He's not in yet." Which was unusual, now that he thought about it, but then, he had been caught up in so many reports that he hadn't noticed the time. He had wanted to finish them so he was free of the damn things for the rest of the day.

"He's not coming in today," Tosh said over her shoulder. "Should have picked up some coffee on the way in, I forgot."

"What's he out for?" Owen asked. "And what are we going to drink in the meantime?"

Tosh whirled around on her chair. "You know, you like to give him a hard time, but you sure count on him for your morning fix, don't you?" Jack covered his mouth so he didn't laugh out loud, because seeing Tosh take Owen down a peg was always a thing of beauty.

"Seriously, though," Jack said after Owen had stopped muttering under his breath. "Why's he not coming in? He didn't mention anything last—" He stopped before he said "night" as he wasn't sure whether he should go there, particularly with Owen already in a foul mood. "Last time I saw him. Everything all right?" He was surprised and even a bit hurt that Ianto hadn't mentioned that he wasn't coming to work. They had spent a good deal of the previous night together, after all—dinner, a movie at Ianto's flat, a bit of a fun on the couch (and floor and chair and table) before Jack had headed back to the Hub. At least now he knew why Ianto hadn't asked him to stay the night.

Tosh smiled and nodded. "Everything's fine. Today is his birthday, that's all."

"And when did we start taking our birthdays off?" asked Jack. He had remembered that it was Ianto's birthday—well, Tosh had reminded him last week—and had even made plans for it, but he was still surprised no one, especially Ianto, had mentioned taking birthdays off.

Tosh took a deep breath, as if worried about Jack's reaction. "Gwen suggested it while you were gone. She took hers off to be with Rhys—that's when he proposed. And I've already got plans for mine next month."

"You do not," said Owen with a tone of disbelief, and Tosh gave him a challenging look that only Jack noticed was also slightly hurt by Owen's words.

"As a matter of fact, I do. And Ianto does as well. Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do." She turned her back on him and ignored them both.

Owen exchanged a look with Jack and shook his head, once again muttering under his breath. Jack watched the doctor head toward the kitchen, no doubt to microwave some sort of instant sludge to satisfy his need for caffeine; he'd be storming out to the local cafe in an hour.

"Right, well, I'm going to head out for a while then. Can you hold down the fort?" Jack asked. Tosh glanced toward the kitchen first, then turned and looked up at Jack.

"Are you going to see him?" she asked.

"Who?" Jack asked as innocently as possible. He didn't do innocent, though, so Tosh just grinned knowingly at him.

"Ianto, of course. For his birthday?"

"I thought I'd stop by while checking out a Weevil sighting, yeah." Jack shrugged and hoped he wasn't blushing. He didn't usually do blushing either, but there was something about the way Tosh was looking at him that made him think it could happen, at least when it came to Ianto.

"Tell him happy birthday, then," she said. If Tosh were a different sort of woman, she might have winked, but instead she just gave him another friendly smile and turned back to her work. "And have fun."

Jack laughed softly to himself as he hurried back into his office to grab his coat and the keys to the SUV. He also picked up the gift he had bought for Ianto, just in case he didn't have a chance to see him later. He almost ran over Gwen on the way out, offering a hurried greeting as he rushed past her. He wanted to catch Ianto before the man left for whatever he had planned for the day.

As he walked, he sent a text wishing Ianto a happy birthday and asking if he could stop by the flat.

I'm on my way out for the day. Be back tonight.

Jack frowned; he almost felt like he was being blown off. He sent a quick note back.

I won't invite myself along, but I'm on my way by anyway for a birthday kiss.

He could almost imagine Ianto rolling his eyes at that. Jack just hoped it worked, and Ianto didn't leave without at least saying goodbye. For some reason it bothered him that Ianto wanted to be by himself on his birthday, or that he was keeping secrets about what he was doing. Jack had thought they'd moved past much of that and had hoped for an easy day so they could call it an early night. He'd actually made reservations at one of Ianto's favorite restaurants in town and had tickets for a show on standby if Ianto was interested.

But Ianto already had plans—plans that didn't include Jack. Why?

His phone buzzed and he almost dropped the keys to the SUV before opening the door and checking his messages.

Good thing I'm still eating then. I'm not waiting for you. Don't speed.

Jack laughed at the response as he started the SUV. He tried not to speed, but he pushed it; fortunately Ianto's flat was not far. He pulled up and dashed to the door, hoping Ianto hadn't left as he knocked, his heart pounding.

The door seemed to open by itself. "Come on in, then," said Ianto, walking away. He grabbed his laptop bag from the sofa as he headed into the kitchen. Jack followed silently. Ianto took a water bottle from the icebox and tucked some snacks into his bag before turning to Jack.

"What's up?"

Jack just stared at him. For one, Ianto was not in a suit: he was dressed casually in dark jeans and a maroon button down shirt, brown loafers finishing a look that was almost as good as one of his impeccable suits. Second, he had not shaved and had a fair amount of stubble that really looked quite nice. And third of all, Ianto rarely, if ever, asked, "What's up?"

"Jack?" Ianto prompted. "I'm on a schedule here."

"Why?" asked Jack, shaking himself out of his thoughts. "Where are you going?"

Ianto shrugged as he walked away, grabbing his jacket from the top of a chair and pocketing his keys. "Out."

"It's your birthday," Jack said, knowing how obvious and stupid he sounded. Ianto raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, it is."

"Happy birthday."

"Thank you." They stared at one another for a moment before Ianto gave him a questioning look. "And?"

"And why did you take the day off to go out by yourself without saying anything? I was sort of hoping to take you out later."

"I'll be back tonight," Ianto replied, ignoring the other half of the question. Jack wasn't having it.

"Where are you going?" he asked again.

Ianto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to London. Just for the day. I shouldn't be back too late." He gave Jack a smile, stepped forward as if he wanted to kiss him goodbye, then instead turned around to leave. "So if you want me to make it there and back, I need to get going."

"What's in London?" Jack asked, following him out and feeling like a kicked puppy. He did not like feeling like a kicked puppy. This was not normal for him or Ianto, and he was starting to get worried that something was wrong.

"I just want to visit a few places. Haven't been back since I left." Ianto tried to shrug it off, but Jack heard something in the tone of Ianto's voice, something that told him much more. Placing a gentle hand on Ianto's arm, he turned him around, but kept his distance even though he wanted to pull the man close.

"You're going to Canary Wharf, aren't you?" he asked softly. The look on Ianto's face answered for him, and Jack shook his head. "On your birthday? Why?"

"I missed the anniversary in June," Ianto said softly. "This is the first chance I've had to go back, pay my respects…" He trailed off, his eyes suddenly distant and haunted.

"Ianto, are you ready for that?" Jack asked, concern flooding through him. He knew well enough that returning to the scene of a trauma could often be just as bad if not worse than the trauma itself. Sometimes even a year was not long enough to accept such memories and move on with life. Had Ianto? Jack was ashamed to find that he really didn't know: they hadn't talked about it since he'd returned from traveling with the Doctor over two months ago. They had needed to figure out too many other things together.

Ianto didn't answer right away. "Yes, I'm ready. I need to go, Jack. I made a promise."

"To who?" asked Jack, realizing too late that it might be none of his business, particularly when Ianto gave him a sad smile.

"To Lisa."

Jack nodded. "Right. Of course." It didn't bother him, that Ianto was keeping a promise to Lisa, only that Ianto hadn't felt comfortable sharing it with him. Like he was hiding something all over again. Jack's thoughts must have shown on his face, because Ianto sighed.

"Look, it's nothing, Jack. I'm not trying to keep secrets, I just didn't want to worry you. Last year, she was upset that we couldn't celebrate my birthday…for obvious reasons." Ianto paused, looked away, then turned back and met Jack's eyes. "I told her it was all right, that we would celebrate this year, back in London. So I'm going to London, to remember that promise."

"I understand," Jack said, and he did. Sometimes he forgot just how much Ianto had gone through over the past year, given how well the man still hid himself sometimes. Jack wished that Ianto would trust him enough to share more of his past and feelings. Then again, Jack wasn't an open book himself, but he had tried, really tried, since he had come back. He wanted things to be different between them.

Leaning forward, he embraced Ianto before taking his face for the promised birthday kiss. He grinned as he felt Ianto melt into it and halfway wanted to drag him back to the flat for a quick shag before he left for London. But Ianto pulled away with a roll of his eyes, as if he knew exactly what Jack was thinking.

"See you tonight," he murmured. "I'll call when I'm back."

Jack nodded, still feeling strangely left out of Ianto's life when he knew now that he wanted to be a part of it. "Are you sure you don't want any company?"

"I really don't think I'd be good company, Jack," Ianto said, stepping into his Audi. He fastened his seat belt and rolled down the window. "I'll be fine. Really."

"I know," Jack replied, stepping back as Ianto started the car. "Just be careful."

Ianto nodded and began to back up. Jack once again felt oddly abandoned. He waved, but didn't move toward the SUV. Instead, he watched Ianto pull away, then grinned as he pulled right back into his space, put the window down again, rolled his eyes in that way he had, and barked at him in that beautiful Welsh accent.

"Well, come on, then—get in."

Jack laughed as he hurried to the other side of the car and jumped in. It looked like he was going to London after all, and he couldn't be happier about it. He could use a day off himself—especially if it was with Ianto.

Author's Note:

I decided I wanted to write a story for Ianto's birthday this month. Because he's a fictional character and that makes sense, right? Well, you might be expecting romance and fluff, but don't. This is actually a plot-driven chaptered story that doesn't just focus on their relationship. It's my attempt to write a bit of mystery, as well as a story about Jack and Ianto that's not just about how they hook up or get back together, but how they are together. It is set after the episode To The Last Man but before Meat. Jack and Ianto have already worked through any issues involved in Jack's long disappearance with the Doctor (because that's still languishing in the unfinished fic garden with several others.) I hope you enjoy this! It won't be too long but it's cracking along and I'm excited about it so far!