Title: Strange Behaviour

Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Martha Friendship, Captain Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Martha Jones, Mentions The Doctor (Ten)

Warnings: Fluff, Angst

Summary: Set before Martha leaves in 'My Day of Death', Ianto sits down with Martha and asks her about how she knows Jack.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, Ianto, Jack or Martha, which sucks 'cause it'd be awesome to own any of them.

Ianto brought Martha the last of the coffees, sighing heavily. He ran a hand over his face in a vain attempt to wash away the events of the passing days.

"Thanks Ianto, you're a life saver."

Ianto smiled, sitting next to her. The hub was pretty quiet now, only they could hear the conversation that would happen between them. The Welshman looked at Martha then to the floor and took a tentative sip of his own coffee, pausing in thought to speak.

"So…how do you know Jack then?" He asked curiously.

"We…we go to the same Doctor." She shrugged.

"You mean, you know the Doctor?"

"You know about the Doctor?"

"Of course, I worked at Torchwood London before Canary Wharf and Jack speaks of him from time to time."

"Wow." She murmured.

"What?"

"No, nothing. He just…he must really trust you, you know? The Doctor is a fairly locked away subject, we don't tell a lot of people."

"He talks to me like he wants me to know…I guess he's good at pretending." Ianto sighed.

Martha shook her head, trying to assure Ianto, "No. He does want you to know. We all want to tell someone, it's just hard to find someone who understands. You're lucky he trusts you enough to talk about it."

Ianto smiled, looking to the ground again, "Were you with him when he left last?"

"Umm, I think so. I doubt he would've left you again."

"Where did you go?" Ianto asked, a little bit of worry cracking through the mask he had automatically put on display.

"He didn't tell you?"

"To be fair, I never asked." Ianto chuckled, "I didn't think it was my place but I really want to know."

Martha nodded in understanding, "How long were we gone?"

"Four months. We had to deal with all this," Ianto gestured to the surroundings of the hub, "On our own for four long months."

"I'm sorry Ianto, if I could change that, I would."

"No, I wouldn't." Ianto smiled, looking at his mug now, "Don't get me wrong, I missed him so much but…he's changed since he's gotten back. He's more caring, honest, sensitive even. I wouldn't want to lose this side of him."

Martha smiled, putting an arm around the Welshman's shoulders. He turned to look at her and tried to read her, having no luck as usual.

"Where did you go?" Ianto repeated, "What happened?"

"We…" Martha groaned, "Do you want the whole story? Do you want me to be painfully blunt?"

"I can handle painfully blunt." Ianto chuckled, "I've been preparing myself for him to tell me for so long now, I could handle apocalyptic weevils."

"Well no." Martha laughed, "Not apocalyptic weevils. We went…well we went to the end of the world."

"What? That far ahead?"

"Yep. Jack hitched a ride on the Tardis. When we came out, I thought he was dead, I started CPR."

Ianto laughed at this, "I bet he would've loved that."

"Well, you know Jack." She chuckled.

"What happened though? Something must have happened for him to have changed this much."

"We…we were gone for a year Ianto."

Ianto's eyes widened and he just stared at Martha for a moment. How could it have been a year? That could explain the amount of care Jack was suddenly giving him. He sighed, running another hand through his hair.

"That can't be right. I mean, four months was hard for me but a year?"

"I don't think it was a picnic for him either."

Ianto took a swig of his coffee, wishing it was something stronger, "But you can't know that for sure and Jack…he isn't what I'd call reliable."

"He is now though, isn't he?" She pointed out.

"Well yes but…"

"So it shouldn't matter how he was back then, though for the record, I know that he wasn't with anyone else while he was away."

Ianto scoffed, "Jack going a whole year without getting any?"

"I know, amazing but true. He flirted with one or two people, me included, but nothing more."

Ianto smiled to himself, "I accept the flirting, that's just who he is. It wouldn't be normal for him not to flirt."

"I couldn't agree more." Martha laughed, "Don't be so hard on him though, okay?"

"Are you actually going to tell me what happened?"

Martha looked at the ground for a moment, unsure of whether it was truly her place to tell Ianto. The Welshman looked at her pleadingly, feeling lost.

"Please, I just…I need to know. I wouldn't ask you but I'm having no hope with Jack and I want to help him. I can see the hurt in his eyes sometimes. It scares the hell out of me."

"I don't know if he'd want me to." Martha sighed.

"I'm begging you Martha. I need to know this. If I'm going to help him heal, I need to know it."

She smiled at Ianto, "You care about him a lot, huh?"

"More than he seems to realise." Ianto murmured, "Are you going to tell me or do I need to interrogate you?" He teased.

Her smile faded for a moment, "You won't like it."

"As long as he wasn't with anyone else while he was gone, I won't care, I'll handle it."

Martha let out a shaky breath, "Blunt?"

"Please."

"Okay fine. Jack, he was…well…he was tortured…and killed."

Ianto's eyes widened, "No." He mumbled.

"That year consisted of him being stuck in a prison, tortured and killed over and over again while I tried to save them, save everyone."

"You saved him?"

"I guess you could say that. I prefer to think the Doctor did." Martha smirked, feeling just a little bit proud.

Ianto gripped her hand in his, "Thank you, so much."

"Anyone would've done it under the circumstances." She shrugged.

"No really, you don't know what this means to me."

At that moment Jack came down from his office, a small smile playing on his features.

"What are we talking about?" He called out to the hub at large.

Ianto smiled at Martha, standing up and heading in Jack's direction. The older man raised an eyebrow curiously but didn't move for fear of stopping Ianto. The Welshman stopped in front of Jack,looking a little bit tense.

"I'm so sorry Jack." He muttered before pulling the older man into a strong hug.

"Hey, what's wrong Yan?" Jack asked worriedly, instinctively wrapping his arms around the younger man.

"I'm sorry I haven't been looking after you." Ianto spoke into the crook of Jack's neck, "I should've known to be taking more care of you."

"I'm fine Ianto, honestly. Just calm and sit." Jack said sternly.

"How about I take you back to mine?" Ianto asked caringly, "Relax, just the two of us?"

"Sounds great but how about we wait until after we've said our goodbyes to Martha?" Jack chuckled, giving Ianto a quick peck on the lips.

Ianto nodded, resting his head against Jack's. Jack smiled, closing his eyes and letting himself take comfort in the man holding him close.

"You want to come up to my office?"

"How about we just stand for a while?" Ianto murmured.

Jack laughed, "I think I can handle that."

A/N: I apologise if this gets weird after "We were gone for a year Ianto." I decided to get drunk with my friend and then write the rest so yes…If it sounds weird I choose to blame the drink, all before that is my own fault. PLEASE REVIEW!

Cheers,
Gabz
xx