"By the way… Love the coat."
Ianto Jones was not joking when he said he loved Jack's coat. He really, freaking loved it. Of course, the coat lost most of its magical and erotic qualities when Jack wasn't wearing it; so what he really loved was Jack in the coat.
And what no one but Jack knew, is that those six words made him decide that he needed to have Ianto; in Torchwood as part of the team, but also as his next conquest.
The cool, demur demeanor of that uptight Welsh boy was just the first layer of many; the many layers Jack would just love to peel away, not unlike the many pieces of clothing Ianto wore.
It was not long after Jack accepted Ianto to the Torchwood team that their little dance began. Ianto would give Jack those looks; looks that urged words from Jack's mouth, which in turn made Ianto reply, reservedly, and yet still on the edge of flirtatious. Jack would then get them alone, in a corner, and they would not-talk-about-it for a full thirty seconds before one of them were called away or Ianto made up an excuse to break eye contact and leave.
Jack enjoyed their little dance, but he would have even more fun ending it.
...XoXoXo...
Lisa happened.
The whole Cyberwoman incident was a horror, and a shock to them all. Jack knew that Ianto was not okay. They'd shared a kiss, but Ianto was hardly in a position to enjoy it, or savor it. But somewhere in his panic-blown mind he knew that Jack was conveying his deep care and concern.
And Jack did care; more than he wanted to admit. He cared for Ianto more than anyone else on the team. And they hadn't even slept together yet…
...XoXoXo...
Three weeks later, the immortal noticed Ianto's pain come to a peak; his emotional turmoil over losing Lisa in the most garish and horrifying way imaginable was crushing his spirit. He no longer gave Jack those flirtatious looks, or innuendo. He stayed to himself, uptight and alone.
Jack wanted so badly to make it better. He wished he could just kiss Ianto and make his sadness and guilt and shame melt away like ice under a scorching sun.
But Ianto wasn't about to let Jack so close. He was three seconds away from ending his own life. He didn't. He was too frightened of the nothingness that would surely meet him; the uncertainty of consciousness, or existence after death was too much to comprehend; too much to willingly enter into.
Instead Ianto called his friend Mandy, the bar maid who seemed to care so much for him, even though he had been nothing but a withering, whining whelp.
Then Mandy turned out to be an employee to an alien slave trader. There was that….
What a very Torchwood way to end a friendship, no?
...XoXoXo...
"I've… I've been in so much pain… Everything hurts." Ianto confessed aloud for the first time.
"I know, I know…. And I would do anything in the world to take that pain away." Jack replied sincerely.
"Kiss me…"
"What?"
"Kiss me."