AN: I leave it up to everyone to decide for themselves whether the girl in the story is Gwen or not. For what it's worth I wasn't thinking about her when writing these specific parts. And yes, I deliberatly decided to not give that character a name.


Ianto Jones wouldn't call himself jealous, or possessive for that matter. These were more attributes that could be used to describe Jack. Not that Jack was jealous – much. Ianto after all didn't give him any reason to be.

Ianto on the other hand would have had quite a few situations so far where others might have acted jealous and probably throwing a tantrum. But he knew where he and Jack stood. He knew what to expect and what Jack wouldn't do. From the outside Jack seemed like a guy who would sleep with everything that moved and returned a smile to his 'Hello's – and maybe that wasn't too far-fetched.

When they started sleeping with each other it was just sex. Both of them had no expectations – or plans for that matter – beyond that one night. One night turned into a second night about a week after that. And somewhere between the sixth and tenth night they started dating. Ianto still isn't quite sure til today who of the two was more surprised about how things turned out. Up until their first date he didn't even really know that Jack Harkness did dating.

Ianto was just about to get Jack's shirts from the previous few days to get them to the dry-cleaner in his lunch break, when he spotted a nice and clean lipstick mark on the collar.

"Do I need to worry?" Ianto asked, holding up Jack's shirt, a smile on his face.

Jack just rolled his eyes as response, not at Ianto of course or the question, but rather in annoyance about his shirt being ruined - again.

"I really don't know how much clearer I can be," Jack said more to himself than anything. Ianto smiled at him in a false attempt of agony.

"Maybe you should just say 'I am not interested."

"That would be rude," Jack protested and sometimes Ianto really wondered how the other man's mind worked.

"Right, because that's something you never are," Ianto rolled his eyes.

"She's a team member."

"She needs to back off or get a clue," Ianto argued back, something he rarely did.

"Is it at least a color that suits her for a change?" Jack suddenly asked, taking the shirt from Ianto's hands and looking at it.

Ianto again was about to roll his eyes. Only Jack would make a comment like that in a situation like this.

"I don't know, and quite honestly I don't care. What I do care about however is, how she managed to get that imprint on that collar so perfectly clean."

"Do I detect a bit of jealousy there, Mister Jones?" Jack asked, grinning.

"More like a whole lot of annoyance."

"And here was me hoping…" Jack grinned at the younger man, making Ianto roll his eyes again.

"The funny thing is I can't really blame her," Ianto finally said after a moment of silence.

"Because of my handsomeness and my charms?" Jack asked, smiling confidently at Ianto.

"No," Ianto simply said, seeing Jack's smile fade. "Because of the mixed signals. On one hand you tell her you are not interested and on the other you make some comment that probably tells her you only mentioned the first thing to avoid harassment issues. I probably would be confused as well," Ianto simply stated and Jack had to agree it sounded like he was right. But then again Ianto was always right.

"So you … don't want me to talk to her?" Jack asked, slightly unsure what it was that Ianto was asking him to do.

Ianto just sighed, before shaking his head. "Unless you actually can have that conversation without some innuendo or harassment-worthy comment I guess it wouldn't solve anything. And knowing you, it just isn't in your… nature," Ianto admitted, smiling at the Captain.

A moment later both men heard the calling of their newest team recruit, the reason they technically had this conversation in the first place. Jack just shrugged, turned around and left.

Ianto knew he had no reason to worry, and he wasn't really. It was just so damn annoying. Strangely enough, he didn't mind when Jack got a bit friendly with Tosh or even Owen. But then again neither Tosh nor Owen usually got caught up in whatever Jack threw at them.

Letting out another sigh, he made a few steps towards the glass wall of Jack's office, overlooking the Hub and also giving him quite a give vantage point of Jack and her.

In a strange way she reminded him a lot about Jack. Her concept of personal space equaled pretty much Jack's and was therefore more or less non-existing. The could be said about forwardness and cockiness. But while most of these attributes worked for Ianto when it came to Jack, it was a whole different story for her.

He witness Jack smiling at her, listening to whatever she had to say. Her hand rested on Jack's shoulder a moment later, turning herself in an angle that would give Jack quite a good view of her assets.

Ianto wasn't quite sure what it was that overcame him that moment, but he needed to do something. A few long strides and he was next to Jack and her.

He tapped Jack's shoulder, waited for him to turn to him and a moment later his hands framed Jack's face, before his lips connected with the other man's.

He felt the hesitation, the surprise on Jack's side, but a moment later one of Jack's arms wrapped around his waist, while the other was placed around Ianto's neck. He was pulled against Jack, the kiss deepening with every passing second. Tongues danced around each other, tasting and teasing.

Ianto usually was not someone who was very much into very public demonstration of affection, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to care this very moment. He somehow heard Owen in the background starting to say something that might or might not have been case related before stopping mid-sentence and saying something along the lines of 'It certainly can wait'.

Eventually they came up for air again, breathing heavily and locking eyes with each other. Ianto could clearly read a 'why' in Jack's eyes, but before the other man could even ask, Ianto let go, walked past him and just looked at their newest team member who looked like she wasn't sure what just happened.

Somehow Ianto was sure that she finally got a clue and lipstick smears would from now on be no issue anymore.

Yes, Ianto Jones really wouldn't call himself jealous.

Unless - of course - there was a provocation.

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