Author Note: Thank you for all those that have reviewed my other stories recently and please accept my apologies for not replying to you all yet, life is proving to be a bit hectic at the moment!
This story has been rated M due to some swearing in this chapter and for sexual situations in future chapters. Thank you for reading!
Chapter One
"What the hell is that?" Gwen asked, looking up from her desk with a frown on her face.
"I don't know" said Tosh, abandoning her latest algorithm and cocking her head to the side to listen closely.
A few seconds of silence passed before the noise got louder and the team realised that it was actually muffled shouting.
"Shit" Owen said suddenly. "It's Tea Boy and Jack having a domestic!"
"What?" asked Gwen but before Owen could repeat himself, a semi-naked Ianto Jones burst out of Jack's office.
Ianto stormed down the metal staircase barefoot, carrying his shoes in one hand; his face was an angry red, his hair stuck up at all angles and his shirt was unbuttoned.
Before anybody could ask him what was going on, Jack was stood at his office door in a similar state of undress. Ianto had disappeared from the main area of the Hub well over half an hour ago, so it didn't take a genius to guess what they had been up to.
"Ianto!" he called desperately, beginning his descent down the stairs. "Please don't go." He tried to grab Ianto's arm but the irate man just shrugged him off.
"You're such a fucking knob Jack!" Ianto shouted.
The rest of the team looked at each other in shock; they never usually heard Ianto swear, let alone call Jack by his name in front of the team and hurl abuse at him.
Tosh glanced to her left as she heard Owen mutter, "what the fuck has he done?"
"Ianto, please" begged Jack, barely aware of the surprised faces of Tosh, Gwen and Owen staring at them. "It was an accident."
Ianto stopped his furious march out of the Hub and said, "oh well, that's just fine then."
"Really?" said Jack hopefully, stopping his hurried decent down the stairs.
"No you idiot!" exclaimed Ianto, awkwardly slipping on his shoes whilst standing on one leg. "It's not okay; I'm fed up of all this bullshit."
Jack was suddenly uncomfortably aware of the rest of the team staring at them, "Ianto please, come back up here and we can talk."
Ianto began to walk away and button up his shirt, "I don't want to talk about it and quite frankly I don't want to talk to you. I'm going home, don't bother following me."
Jack had finally caught up with Ianto and got a firm grip on his arm "Yan-" he began.
"Let me go!" Ianto growled, whipping around and glaring at Jack.
"Not until you talk to me" said Jack, firmly telling himself that he wasn't about to cry.
All of a sudden Ianto visibly deflated, tense muscles went limp in Jack's hand and his face closed, shutting off all emotion. "I am so tired of this Jack."
"Yan please" Jack said quietly. "Don't give up on me."
"Too late" Ianto replied. "You said that you came back for me. When Hart left, you came back to mine and you promised me that it was me that you wanted but I'm not am I? I am fed up of being second... or even third if you include the Doctor, in your affections."
Gwen suddenly began to feel awkward; Ianto couldn't possibly mean her could he? Sure Jack flirted with her but he didn't mean it, did he? To her shame she felt a flutter of excitement as she couldn't help but think of her conversation with Jack when he found out that she was engaged.
Tosh and Owen looked away, they had both known and had even discussed the fact that it would only take so long for Ianto to crack; they both just wondered what on earth had caused it.
Jack was shocked, "Ianto it's not like that, of course I care about you."
"But just not enough right?" Ianto gave a half laugh and shrugged. "Well you won't have to worry about me 'cause I refuse to do this anymore. I'm taking tomorrow off; don't call me unless the world is ending."
Ianto turned his back on Jack and left the Hub with as much dignity as he could muster, considering he had just effectively dumped his boss in front of his colleagues.
Jack stood silently for a moment, as if he was waiting for Ianto to come back and the rest of the team looked at each other speechlessly. Jack turned around and glared at them, "I don't want to be disturbed for the rest of the day, finish up what you're doing and bugger off."
"Er Jack?" Gwen said hesitantly, "what about that case...I wanted to...talk to you about?" Her last words ended in a whisper as she took in the expression on Jack's face.
Jack scowled and spat, "what part of, 'I do not want to be disturbed' do you not get? Now get out!" Knowing that they would follow his orders, Jack stomped up the stairs and slammed his office door so hard that the glass rattled, before disappearing back down into his bunker.
Owen, Toshiko and Gwen were left in an uncomfortable silence until Owen said, "you heard the Captain, let's finish up and go."
"Do you think I should-?" began Gwen, making to get out of her chair.
"No" Toshiko said shortly. "You heard what Jack said, he doesn't want to be bothered."
Gwen frowned but listened to Toshiko and began to shut down her computer.
-TW-
A short time later the team were sat down and eating in their local pub, inevitably their conversation turned towards Jack and Ianto's argument.
"So what do you think it was about then?" Gwen asked, popping a chip in her mouth. She had an idea but wanted it to be confirmed; she couldn't explain how she felt about it, did Jack have feelings for her? Hope and lust swelled in her chest but then she immediately felt guilt as she thought about Rhys and Ianto.
Owen rolled his eyes, not willing to pander to Gwen's ego. "I imagine that Jack cocked up and Tea Boy finally grew some balls."
"Owen" Toshiko said sharply. "Don't speak about Ianto like that."
Owen took a gulp of his drink and said, "what? It's true! Jack's treated him like shit since whenever they started their little 'secret' affair."
Toshiko couldn't deny what she knew was true, even if the others did not know to the extent of how badly Jack had treated Ianto. She and Ianto had grown closer over time, especially since what had happened with the cannibals and Mary and Ianto had taken to confiding in her, although only when he had had a tad too much to drink.
"So when did it start?" Gwen asked thoughtfully. "I didn't realise anything was going on until Jack kissed him after..." her voice faltered and she looked into her lap.
Owen rolled his eyes, "after we released Abaddon you mean?"
Gwen nodded her head and quickly ate another chip. Toshiko poked her fork at her lasagne; it didn't look quite so appetising now. She hated gossiping about Ianto and wondered how much information she could say to stop the conversation without divulging too much.
"No idea, I guessed that they were shagging when Tea Boy started" Owen said, before taking a big bite of his burger.
"Ianto wouldn't have, would he?" Gwen said scandalised. "Not when Lisa was downstairs!" She quickly looked side to side, as if the rest of the pub would know who Lisa was and what she became.
Toshiko threw her fork down in disgust, "no he didn't, for God's sake you two! He loved Lisa he never would have cheated on her."
Owen looked a little shocked at her outburst, "well they did flirt!"
Toshiko ran her hand through her hair in frustration. Ianto had admitted to her that he had never felt so low in his life when he flirted with Jack but Jack's reputation had spread to Torchwood One and Ianto had known at the time that he would have needed to keep him distracted. Toshiko took a large gulp of her white wine and sighed, hoping that Ianto wouldn't be upset if he found out what she was about to say.
"Yes he did flirt Owen, but only to protect Lisa."
"That's awful" Gwen said.
Toshiko glared at her and aimed for making a low blow, "flirting is not the same as shagging, is it Gwen? How can you judge him?"
Gwen's lips thinned and her face whitened, "don't go there Toshiko" she warned.
"Why not?" Toshiko said angrily. "How dare you judge him when you've done so much worse?"
"Keep your voice down!" Gwen hissed.
Owen looked at Toshiko in shock, he'd never seen her act like this before. "Drop it" he said firmly.
Toshiko opened her mouth and snapped it shut when Owen added, "both of you."
An awkward silence enveloped them all; Toshiko wondered if she had gone too far, Gwen was angry and embarrassed and Owen didn't know what to say to either woman, so continued to eat his meal.
Toshiko resumed poking her lasagne for a few moments before sighing and grabbing her handbag, "I'll see you tomorrow" she mumbled.
Gwen caught Tosh's arm, "don't go" she said quietly. "Please Tosh, you're right we shouldn't judge or assume anything."
Toshiko sat back down abruptly and bit her lip, "I'm not sure exactly when it began" she offered. "I think that they got closer after the cannibals." She decided that, that was enough; they didn't need to know details but it was a peace-offering of sorts.
"Right" said Owen, talking with his mouth full. "And ever since Ianto has been treated like crap. Let's face it Jack practically lives at his place, they spend all their time together and Tea Boy gets ditched the minute Jack sees an attractive witness, UNIT guard or copper."
Gwen flinched and immediately tried to defend their leader, "Jack's a natural flirt, he can't help it."
"But he can control it" Toshiko said, now creating patterns in the cheese sauce of her meal with her fork. "And for periods of time he does, like when he came back after travelling with the Doctor but then he gets comfortable and forgets that Ianto has feelings."
"I wonder what he did to piss Tea Boy off" Owen said.
"It must have been bad, Ianto never loses his temper like that" Toshiko said.
"They'll be fine" Gwen said with false cheer. "Won't they? Every... couple... has arguments from time to time" her voice faded to a mumble.
"I just hope that they sort out whatever happened sooner rather than later" Owen said. "We can't have any rifts in the team and I won't have Tea Boy fading back into the background again."
Gwen looked at Owen and was almost shocked, "you know Owen that's the nicest thing that you've said about Ianto, it's almost like you care."
Owen took a gulp of his pint, along with a bite of his burger and then belched loudly, making the two women wrinkle their noses in disgust. "I'll deny everything if you ever tell the little git" Owen finally said.
Toshiko shook her head and smiled at her team mate fondly before finally beginning her dinner. The team ate the rest of their meal in silence as they wondered what was happening between Ianto and Jack.