That kiss. What was the line? "Since the invention of the kiss…"? Ianto had a feeling a new high mark had been set that evening – and through the ensuing night.
He knew Jack had been feeling rather brooding since it became apparent that they were going to have to send Tommy Brockliss back into the war sooner than later. Surely it must have brought back memories of being in those trenches, of going over the top with his men. Maybe even dying with them… but still being the only one to make it out. And maybe it also served as a reminder to Jack that it wouldn't be very long before he was the only one still alive who'd been there.
Maybe Tommy going back to his own time was fated to have a poor outcome for Tommy, but Ianto couldn't help imaging that there would be no such ill fate waiting for Jack back - or, rather, forward – in the 51st century.
It was finally quiet in the Hub. Tosh had taken Tommy home with her, Gwen had gone home to her fiancé at an almost reasonable time, and Owen… who knew? Most likely the nearest pub. At any rate, it was just the two of them there. Ianto wondered if this was one of those situations Jack would feel better talking about, so he approached quietly, feeling his way, as it were, reading Jack's responses.
When Jack said something about loving people he might never have known, Ianto knew there was only one 'right' response. Jack needed a kiss, and Ianto needed to shut him up, fast, before they ended up talking about things that were lightyears scarier than a hoard of Weevils. Fact was, Ianto knew the same could be said of him. If he'd never 'escaped' and gone to London….
Well, between the two of them, they could trade what-ifs till the sun came up, and Ianto had in mind trading something quite different until the sun came up. And it started with that kiss.
That kiss, spontaneous and impatient and almost desperate, didn't take long to turn into a full-on snog. At the same time that Jack started tugging Ianto into his lap, Ianto decided that was where he'd rather be anyway. Without breaking the kiss, he found himself straddling Jack. His fingers tightened a bit in Jack's hair as Ianto felt himself twitching and growing in his trousers from the feeling of Jack's fingertips lightly tracing his neck.
"Oh, god…," Jack moaned, pressing his face against Ianto's collar when Ianto's hand stroked down from Jack's shoulder to his thigh. "I need you. I need you so much, Ianto."
"Yeah," Ianto agreed, with a ragged breath. Whether that was a "Yeah, need you, too" or a "Yeah, you do need me" even Ianto wasn't sure. One thing he could tell, though, was that the war memories were leaving Jack feeling more fragile than he'd admit, and that a tactile person like Jack needed physical contact to steady him again.
"Tell me what to do, Ianto," Jack all but begged. For a moment, Ianto wondered if he meant about Tommy. "I don't want to give the orders tonight," Jack whispered.
Ah. Jack was an excellent leader and wore his rank as proudly as his greatcoat and his trademark grin, but sometimes…. Ianto knew that Jack's impossibly long life often seemed like nothing but an unrelenting requirement to sacrifice one for the lives of many, and being leader, being Captain, meant it fell to him alone, every single time.
He would never forget the day Jack had let that little girl go live with the faeries to spare the entire world. The rest of the team had picked up their coats and bags and stormed out the Hub minutes after they'd returned. Ianto stayed back, out of their way, until well after the clanging of the 'front door' alarm had stopped echoing round the place. That was when he heard in the overwhelming quiet what sounded suspiciously like sobbing coming from Jack's office. He'd recognized the gutting heartbreak in that sound all too well. That was Ianto knew without a doubt how he'd been wrong when he'd called Jack a monster. No, Jack cared. Probably too much. Even if he wasn't always so brilliant at showing it.
It was a weight that would break anyone even just one time. Sometimes Jack just needed someone to help him take the weight. And in spite of all the breaks Jack must surely have suffered, loving touch always seemed to do so much to help Jack heal emotionally as quickly as he did physically. Ianto was more than grateful to be able to do that.