This is a follow up to the Big Finish audiobook Broken, which takes place after 'Cyberwoman'. I recommend it highly. That said, this little story contains spoilers, so if you want to listen to Broken first, get on that! If you don't care, it's not necessary to be familiar with the details of the story to follow along here. No beta on this one, all mistakes are my own. Do feel free to tell me 'hey idiot, you screwed this one up!' so I can fix it.

MENDING

Jack visits a barmaid to tie up a few loose ends from a case and winds up making a decision about one Ianto Jones.

#

Jack has been meaning to track Mandy down and deal with her since the events at the Ferret, but the Rift has been busy lately, and Ianto did a fantastic job with her new identity (behind Jack's back). But even Ianto's best work can't thwart Tosh, and once Jack set her on the trail, it was only a matter of time. Mandy's working at a pub in Bristol, and Jack is on his way to tie up that little loose end.

Things have calmed down now. There's the usual flurry of catching up on paperwork, gear repair and maintenance, and housekeeping, but it's quiet enough that Gwen has time to follow up on some civilian who got himself killed in a RTA. Jack is of two minds about this break in the usual chaos of Torchwood: on one hand, it gives them a chance to bond as a team. On the other, he's been using it to obsess over whatever the hell is going on with Ianto Jones.

It's a mess, even by Jack's standards. Not a John Hart level of fucked up, but only because Ianto's self-loathing was turned inward and his rage focused tightly on Jack. Hopefully he got that out of his system with consigning Jack to the Rift. Why else would he have rescued Jack shortly after? Or is Ianto playing an even deeper game, with the way they fell into bed right after, and the proposition with the stopwatch? If it were anyone else he wouldn't even consider it. With someone like Gwen Cooper, anger burns hot, consumes itself, and extinguishes quickly. With Owen, a simple punch to Jack's face would have settled things. Tosh doesn't get angry like that in the first place. Ianto, though… Ianto holds his emotions close; Jack has literally no idea what he's feeling. It's entirely possible that whatever they're doing in bed- and Jack has been careful to let Ianto take the lead- isn't a sign of forgiveness. And that would be a shame, because he sees now that there's far more to Ianto Jones than any of them noticed, and Jack likes that man very much.

The drive to Bristol takes less than an hour. The pub where Mandy works, The Crown and Feathers, is nearly empty in these hours between lunch and the after-work rush. It's an old-style local, all dark wood and dim lights with the smoke of a million cigarettes still scenting the damp air. Mandy is pulling a pint, her back turned, when Jack walks in. He toys with the little packet of Retcon in his pocket, enough to erase everything from the time she met the alien, hoping that he'll be able to slip it in her drink rather than have to force it down her throat. Ianto should have taken care of this, but she was his friend and Jack won't ask that of him

When Mandy turns and sees him, her face goes blank and white for an instant before her barmaid mask slides back into place.

"Don't hover in the door, Jack, it's rude," she calls. "What can I get you?"

"Water," Jack responds. Mandy's hand is shaking as she pushes it across the bar to him, but she's keeping her voice steady. In the grand tradition of pubs everywhere, she pretends there's nothing unusual about his visiting out of the blue in the middle of the day.

"Well aren't you a cheap date, then? Tell me love, how's Ianto? I've been worried about him."

"Ianto is," Jack is about to say fine. He means to say it, but what comes out is, "Ianto is complicated. I don't know what to do about him."

"Oh Jack, everyone is complicated if you're paying attention. We're none of us as simple as we look to outsiders. Here now, let me get a pint and you can tell me what's got you all in a tangle."

Mandy sets her pint of stout on the polished wooden bar top and turns to pull a stool up. There it is, Jack's opportunity to drop the pills in her glass, yet he doesn't take it and he doesn't know why. As she settles on her seat he notes that she's calmer now, as if they're on a script that she's familiar with. And it occurs to Jack that they are; people have been unloading their troubles on barmaids for as long as there have been pubs, and would keep doing so far into the future. Jack is unused to having someone to talk to, but it seems too good an opportunity to miss. She knows Ianto, after all, and she understands about aliens and his job and the moral gray area where you do what you must to survive.

But where to start? His sips his water and she sips her beer until he finally says, "We're sleeping together."

Mandy blinks. "Well that's a bit unexpected, innit? You killing his girlfriend, him sending you to slavery, it's not the sort of thing that generally leads to a relationship."

"There's no relationship," snaps Jack. "We were very clear, he made it clear that there will be no relationship. Nothing between us but work and a bit of sex." Very good sex, Jack admits to himself. Ianto applies himself to things with a single-minded intensity, and sex is no different. Jack has been with virgins- which Ianto is decidedly not- and with experienced professionals, but nothing will ever compare to being with someone who sets all else aside and just focuses.

Jack clearly lost himself on that thought longer than he intended, because Mandy is looking at him with bemusement.

"But you want there to be more?"

Does he? Jack enjoys Ianto's company, but hasn't allowed himself to think of the man beyond employee and sometimes bed partner because- "There can't be. We work together. It's-"

"Complicated, yes. I know. But consider that it's only complicated because you let it be. Even the things you did to each other can be uncomplicated if you're honest. Just talk to him, Jack."

Talk? Jack is more of an action kind of guy. He can't even imagine what talking about those thing would look like. He snorts and says, "What, 'I'm sorry I shot your cybernetic girlfriend who was bent on world domination, and I forgive you for watching the so-called Savior send me into intergalactic slavery, maybe we could go out some time? Dinner? A movie?' Can't you see how awkward that would be? 'Hey, let's go kill aliens together, it will be romantic. Try not to shoot me in the back.'"

He hadn't meant to say that either, but he's going to retcon Mandy anyway, so it hardly matters. "I can't get involved with him. I can't lose sight of the job, put the team at risk. I don't even know how he feels about me!"

"It would seem that you're already involved. But put all that aside for now. In a perfect world, what do you want? How does Ianto figure into that?"

That's the problem, right there. It's been so long since Jack could just want, but there's something about Ianto that draws him. Something that makes Jack wish things could be different, that maybe they could erase the terrible things they've said and done to each other and just start out as Jack and Ianto. He thinks they'd be good for each other. But going back isn't an option, is never an option, and Jack's stuck with this tangled mess of guilt and blame, and he still doesn't know what he wants from Ianto, or if there's a chance in hell of him getting it, or even if trying for more will ruin what little they have.

"I don't know," Jack says with complete honestly. "I usually start with what's possible and work backwards."

Mandy chuckles. "Then you'd best ask him and find out what's possible. He seems an open minded bloke, maybe he'll surprise you?"

"I don't think there's any doubt that Ianto will surprise me."

"Then there you are! Relationships aren't always complicated, you know. Maybe what you need is a simple relationship with a complicated man."

As Mandy drains the last of her drink, it occurs to Jack that he never dropped the retcon in. He can't bring himself to drug her by force, either. What if things go badly with Ianto? What if he needs to talk to her again? What if they need an understanding pub for the Torchwood holiday party that inevitably goes horribly wrong as only Torchwood parties can? No, Mandy can keep secrets; she'd have been a problem by now otherwise. She can keep her memories.

"Yeah, maybe," he says, tossing a banknote on the bar to cover his water and her time.

"Jack?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful with him. He's fragile. And be careful with yourself, too."

"I'll try, Mandy," Jack promises. "I'll try."

#

On his drive back to Cardiff, Jack phones in a reservation for two to that tapas place that just opened up across the Plass. He'll take Ianto somewhere where the boss/employee divide is not so stark, and they'll talk. One way or another, things are about to change between Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones.

Author's Note: Gmariam gave me Fall to Earth for my birthday last year and reminded me to get Broken over the weekend, so this story would truly not exist without her. So great big thanks, yeah? Also, thanks to Big Finish for keeping Torchwood alive. Their stories joss a bunch of our speculations and fanon, which is occasionally problematic for me when it contradicts head canon, but it's worth it just to get back into this universe we love so much. Go throw money at them so they can keep it up.