Author's Notes:
I don't usually put my author's notes at the beginning, but this story is a bit of a novelty in two ways. One, I tried to flip the trope that Ianto was more serious about their relationship than Jack. And two, as I was writing, I felt like it needed to be a third person omniscient point of view. Which I've never done before. I'm not sure I've succeeded at either, but at least if you start wondering what the hell went wrong, you'll know. More notes at the end!

I. Resistance

"Can I take you to lunch?"

Ianto glanced up at the unexpected offer. Gwen was standing next to his desk, looking oddly nervous. She'd returned from her honeymoon with Rhys only two days ago, looking happy, healthy, and exceptionally tan. Apparently marriage agreed with her, or perhaps it was that she'd finally made her choice and was sticking with it. For now.

Ianto raised an eyebrow, wondering where the invitation was coming from. He and Gwen were not particularly close. He'd been the invisible butler when she'd started, then the lovesick traitor who'd hidden his metal girlfriend in the basement. They'd settled into a casual working relationship once the dust had settled from that nightmare, only to butt heads several times during Jack's time away.

Ianto had known she'd a stubborn streak a mile long, but he'd also assumed it was mostly due to her complicated relationship with Jack. The obvious sexual tension between them drove them to constantly antagonize one another, incessantly pushing for a reaction. Heated looks, frequent disagreements, and highly charged shouting matches were apparently their way of working it out, which was why Ianto hadn't anticipated the same reaction from her when Jack had left. Maybe he'd been Jack's proxy, or Gwen had taken out her frustrations on Ianto instead of Rhys. Either way, it had resulted in many trips to the pub with Owen, who had shown himself to be surprisingly supportive of Ianto. He and Gwen had stepped back into a more distant relationship when Jack had returned, and Jack and Gwen had returned to their usual confrontations.

And then Owen had died and come back, and things changed between all of them as everyone struggled to come to terms with Owen's strange new life. There was less bickering and more tolerance and acceptance, and by the time Gwen had got married, Ianto had been happy to cover for the DJ at the reception. It was sort of what he did, after all, cleaning up work-related messes, and the alien shapeshifter who'd killed the DJ had certainly left behind one hell of a mess. Running a few songs was no big deal. It didn't merit a private lunch date. What would they talk about?

"I'd really like to thank you for all you did at the wedding," said Gwen, sensing his confusion. She couldn't remember a time when she'd asked him to go out to lunch alone, and they'd been working together for over a year. It had been a tumultuous year, to be certain, but for some reason her and Ianto had not developed much of a relationship outside of work. After all he had done for her wedding, she wondered why. "We couldn't have got married without you."

Ianto cocked his head. "I thought it was the groom who saved the day?"

"He did, but you saved the party," Gwen laughed. Ianto had also saved her dress, not to mention all the clean up afterwards. "Come on. I know you like that sushi place. My treat. We'll go early and bring back lunch for the others."

"I suppose I can't turn down a free meal," Ianto replied, still wondering what was really going on. "After you."

Jack was on a call with Torchwood Two and Owen was elbows deep in some alien carcass, so they told Tosh they had an errand and would bring back lunch, then set out along the Quay for the restaurant. They made small talk, or rather, Gwen talked almost constantly about her honeymoon, and Ianto listened patiently, wishing it were over.

It wasn't until they were sitting and waiting for their food that Gwen leaned forward and decided to open the conversation. Yes, she wanted to thank him for all he'd done at the wedding, but she was also curious and concerned, and after turning it over for days, she'd decided the only way to resolve it was to approach him. "When I was dancing with Jack, he said something about you," she started, watching him carefully.

Ianto rolled his eyes; he could imagine any number of things that Jack might have said to Gwen. None of them were serious, and most were probably tactless and crass. "And that's why we're here?" he asked. "To gossip?"

She shook her head. "No, it just…well, I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm not sure why."

"Go ahead, then. I'll do my best to translate the conversational ineptitude of our captain into something that makes sense."

Gwen frowned, but plunged on, determined to know the truth. "When I asked him what he was going to do while I was gone, he said, 'Oh, the usual. Pizza, Ianto, save the world a couple of times.'"

Ianto nodded and took a sip of water. "And?"

"Well," she said, toying with her napkin. "It's a bit…flippant, isn't it? Does it bother you, when he says things like that?"

Ianto laughed. This was why she had brought him to lunch? To make sure his feelings weren't hurt by one of Jack's off-the-cuff comments? Sometimes Gwen was so blessedly naïve he wished he could bottle and sell it for the bitter and disgruntled of the world.

"Of course it doesn't," he said. "They're just words, and that's how Jack uses them. He jokes about things like that all the time."

"But it seems rather …" Ianto's words caught her off guard. He didn't seem bothered at all by Jack's casual remark about their relationship. She hadn't thought they were seriously involved, but she'd thought it was a bit more than Jack's words and Ianto's reaction implied, especially after watching them dance together. As soon as she'd seen the look on their faces, she'd felt terrible for laughing with Jack. "Insensitive. I mean, most people don't joke about their relationship with someone like that."

"What relationship?" asked Ianto, looking genuinely curious. "And he probably wasn't joking when he said it. That's exactly what we did while you were gone. We saved the world, ate a lot of pizza, and shagged even more. I'm not sure what you're so worried about."

"I'm not worried," she said quickly, but Ianto gave her a look that made it clear he'd sussed out the truth, and she sighed. "Okay, I am. I wouldn't want someone referring to me like that. If Rhys said something like that to one of his mates it would bother me."

"So you're checking up on me to make sure I'm not crying in my cups, is that it?" he asked. He wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended and shook his head. "First of all, Rhys doesn't talk like Jack," Ianto pointed out. Their food arrived, and he was quiet for several bites before continuing, Gwen watching him closely, as if trying to figure him out. "And second of all, I'm not like you. It doesn't bother me, Gwen. I don't know why you'd think it would."

"Aren't you…you know…" She trailed off, unsure what she was trying to say. Weren't they dating? She knew they went out to dinner or a movie whenever they could, and she was pretty sure they frequently spent the night together, both at the Hub and at Ianto's flat. And they'd really looked quite happy dancing at her wedding.

"Aren't we what? Sleeping together? Yes. Planning a future together? No. I'm not bothered by casual remarks like that, because that's exactly what it is, casual."

"It didn't look casual when you cut in on us," she blurted out, unable to resist.

"Yes, well," Ianto replied, spearing his food harder than normal. He was still sore over that dance for reasons completely different from what Gwen might assume, though he still wasn't sure of them himself. His ire loosened his tongue. "Let's just say we didn't think Rhys would appreciate the cow eyes you two were making at each other. Owen sent me over, seemed to think it fell under the purview of general administrator to break up unrequited mooning when one of the mooners had just got married."

Gwen stared at him in shock, her mouth hanging open. He rolled his eyes at her. She'd always loved that look, but it took on a completely different meaning when it was directed at her. It hurt, in a cutting, dismissive way.

"Gwen, you can't be surprised. I mean, it was pretty damn obvious to the three of us. I shudder to think what others were assuming."

"What was obvious?" she asked, apparently still dumbfounded at his words. Or perhaps she was more surprised that Ianto was actually saying them. People tended to tiptoe around the truth with Gwen, and she seemed to have already made up her mind about the situation in general.

"The thing between you and Jack," Ianto replied calmly. "You know, the thing that makes you both shout and yell and stare moodily at each other all the time."

"What thing?" she asked, still sounding clueless.

"Gwen." Ianto put down his fork and took a drink since he might have to do a lot of explaining. "I don't think I need to spell it out for you, and frankly, this is getting awkward. I cut in on your dance so neither one of you would embarrass yourselves, or worse, Rhys. He saved your life that day; the least he deserved was one night—his wedding night—without you making bedroom eyes at Jack."

"Oh my god," she whispered, glancing down at her plate. She was mortified. What had started out as a conversation about Ianto had been deftly turned back on her in the worst way. "It's not like that, Ianto. I swear, it's not."

"Not anymore, perhaps. Because you are married now," he pointed out. Which was exactly what Owen had said that night, as the three of them had watched Jack and Gwen on the dance floor. Tosh had been too angry to cut in, and Owen had pushed Ianto toward the doe-eyed couple before Ianto could refuse out of annoyance with them all.

"I know I am!" she exclaimed. She dropped her fork and leaned closer. "Is that what you all think? That I…that Jack…that we…" She wasn't even sure how to finish the sentence. Did the rest of the team think that she was sleeping with Jack? They all knew Ianto had been shagging Jack since before he'd left; was Torchwood so warped that they saw one big orgy everywhere now?

Ianto rolled his eyes again. "We don't think it, Gwen. We know it. We see it almost every day. Owen used to keep a tally of your eye-fucks."

"What!" she yelled so loudly that other diners turned to look at her, and she blushed. Ianto patted her hand the same way she would reassure someone she was questioning on a case; she made note to try and be less condescending next time she interrogated someone who was upset.

"It was before Jack left. If I can give you a bit of advice, now is probably a good time to get over it once and for all. For Rhys." Ianto thought it would probably be good for Jack as well, but didn't say anything.

"And what about you?" Gwen asked without thinking. She was growing more and more confused about Ianto's reaction and the direction of their conversation. She could admit that he was right, that there was definitely a tension of some sort between her and Jack. There always had been. Yet that dance had been nothing like what Ianto and the others had seen. She'd been so happy, and it'd had less to do with Jack than her new husband. Rhys had saved her life that day. Jack had helped, but that was what Jack did: he blew things up with his big gun, and Gwen loved him for it, in a hero-worship kind of way. But Rhys…Rhys was so normal, so ordinary, so perfect…and he had saved her, destroying the alien in her belly and marrying her anyway, Torchwood be damned. He loved her unconditionally, and she'd never been so humbled and proud as she had been that day.

Ianto gave her one of his skeptical looks, the 'What are you really talking about?' look. She sighed, because he was right: this was getting awkward, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it now. How could Ianto be sleeping with Jack and yet so casual about her supposed relationship with him?

"Doesn't it bother you?" she asked, lowering her voice. "This thing you think exists between me and Jack?"

"I know it exists, and no, it doesn't bother me. Why should it?" He continued on with his meal, his face so free of any emotion…jealously, discomfort, anger…that she wondered if he was that good at wearing a mask, or if he was telling the truth.

"You're with Jack," she said. "I'm with Rhys. But you seem to think that Jack and I…well. For most people that could cause some stress in their relationship. I have to admit, it bothers Rhys, my working with someone like Jack."

"You mean jealousy," Ianto pointed out. He smirked. "Rhys is jealous of Jack. Are you jealous of me?" he asked. He enjoyed how easy it was to throw her off. She'd come into the conversation with a set of expectations that Ianto was clearly destroying with every contradictory reaction to her questions. Never mind that she was skirting dangerously close to all sorts of things he refused to think about when it came to Jack. Distracting her was distracting him as well.

"Ianto!" she exclaimed again, once more caught off guard. She didn't even want to consider the possibility that yes, she was. She was married and it didn't matter anymore. "That's not what I…shit, this is not how I thought this would go…"

"You think I should be jealous of you," he said, nodding sagely. "I'm sleeping with Jack, but you're both still eye fucking every chance you can and that's supposed to bother me."

"Doesn't it?" she demanded. Ianto studied her for so long she wondered if he was screwing himself up to answer honestly. But after he finished his glass of water and set it down, he leaned forward and spoke, so quietly yet so confidently that she believed him completely.

"No." He refused to answer any other way. It was what it was and what he thought about the whole sordid situation wouldn't change it.

"Why not?" she asked before she could stop herself. "If…if some woman were flirting with Rhys all the time and he flirted back, it would drive me mad!"

"How about if I start flirting with Rhys?" Ianto asked coyly around a mouthful of seaweed. Deflection was an art he'd learned from and honed with Jack. "Would that bother you?"

"Of course not," she replied with a wave of her hand. "Rhys isn't gay."

"Neither am I," said Ianto with a shrug. This was really too much fun.

"You're sleeping with Jack," she said.

"And you're not," he tossed back.

"So that's why you're not upset? Because he's in your bed and not mine?" For some reason that didn't make sense to her. Jack didn't strike her as the kind of man who stayed exclusively with one bed partner, after all. She'd always assumed that if she tried, she could have him, regardless of his other partners. Shamefully, she realized that included Ianto, her coworker and friend. She'd long held fast to the belief that Jack would take her up on any offer even if he was sleeping with Ianto, and that the only reason he didn't make a move on her was his sense of honor regarding her relationship with Rhys.

"No, I'm not jealous because I have nothing to be jealous of. Jealousy implies a level of commitment that we don't have. I have no reason to be jealous of Jack's other lovers, or even his potential lovers, just as he has no reason to be jealous of mine." He waited for her to chew on that, enjoying her confusion. Yet it was all true, wasn't it? He and Jack spent a lot of time together and Ianto enjoyed every minute of it, but he didn't kid himself that it meant anything more than sex and companionship to Jack. He couldn't. It was what Jack had offered from the beginning, even after he'd taken it to another level upon his return and they'd started going out on dates, and Ianto had accepted it unconditionally. He was comfortable with it because he understood and told himself he wanted the same thing. Right now Gwen was doing what she always did, which was impose her own worldview on others. Ianto did not share her need for normality; he'd given that up the day he'd joined Torchwood One. And he'd closed his heart to it the day Canary Wharf had fallen, reinforcing it with iron the day Lisa had died.

Gwen was staring at him. "So…so you're saying you're in an open relationship? You both sleep with other people? I didn't think you… Jack, maybe…" She trailed off, clearly confused and embarrassed by yet more assumptions that were proving to be wrong.

"That's because you assume everyone is like you," Ianto replied smugly. "When you think about it, it's too bad, because monogamy kept you from getting what you really wanted."

"I didn't really want—" she started, and Ianto shook his head.

"A part of you did, and probably still does, but you're too wrapped up in labels and categories…boyfriends, fiancés, marriage…to step out of the box and try things differently."

Gwen stared at him in disbelief. "Try things differently? Categories and labels? You sound like Jack."

Ianto winked at her, knowing it would really wind her up. "I am sleeping with him, you know." Jack's outlook had certainly rubbed off on Ianto, even if he didn't always agree.

"But that's it? It's just sex?" she pressed. "Dinner and dates and spending the night…the entire weekend…at your flat? That's all it is, two blokes fucking each other into the mattress for a bit of fun?"

Ianto shook his head. "If that was it, I could buy that a dozen different ways at the park and get some variety. I like Jack, Gwen, don't get me wrong. We get along well and have a good time together whether we go out, or if we stay in. But we're not like you and Rhys. We're not like most people."

"Well, no," she said, lowering her voice. "You're an alien-hunting Welshman and he's a time-traveling immortal."

"Good reason not to commit," Ianto replied, raising his water glass in a mock toast. "Pesky things, death and time."

Gwen gaped at him, then motioned for the check. "I feel like I don't know you at all right now."

"I'm sorry you've found my morals lacking," he murmured, though he wasn't, not really.

"Oh, it's not that," she said, seeming to regain confidence as she paid. "You're welcome to think and do and say whatever you like. But I think you're putting me on and lying to yourself."

"How so?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. She gestured to him to leave, since they had promised lunch for the others and still needed to pick up something for Jack and Tosh.

"I don't think it's that casual, nothing more than sex," she stated as they walked back toward the Hub. She wasn't sure what it was, but it couldn't be whatever Ianto thought it was; there was too much evidence against his protests. And as she spoke, she gained confidence in her assertion. "If you think me and Jack exchange too many looks, you should go over some CCTV footage and watch yourself. The looks, little touches, finishing each other's bloody sentences, throwing things around and catching them without even looking!" She shook a finger in his face to emphasize her point.

"Romantic dinners at Toujours and tickets to the symphony are not casual." She grinned and kept going before he could ask how she knew about their restaurant and musical choices. "Cooking a romantic dinner at your flat and driving to the beach the next morning for a seaside picnic is not casual. Cleaning Jack's coat while he picks out your ties is not casual!"

"He does not!" Ianto exclaimed, and she patted him on the arm.

"It's all right, we all know he's got his favorites," she said. "Maybe you're right about the…the thing between me and Jack that never happened, but it's nothing compared to the very real thing between you and Jack right now. He chose you a long time ago, Ianto, and there's a good reason for that."

Ianto stuck his hands in his pockets and grumbled. "You were taken," he said, and for the first time, Gwen thought she heard the tiniest hint of doubt in his voice. Hurt, perhaps, or confusion. She linked her arm through his, and even though she felt him tense, she clung to him tightly.

"He never asked," she said softly. "Not once, and looking back…I made plenty of offers. Since the day I joined Torchwood he's been adamant that I hold onto my normal, to Rhys."

Ianto sighed. "He really believes that, you know. That your little bit of normal is important, an asset."

"Sometimes," she replied. "It's hard, but it's worth it. So worth it. Sometimes I wonder…" She trailed off as another thought occurred to her, something she'd not really considered before and yet it made so much sense at that moment that she was certain she was right. "I wonder if that's what Jack really wants, deep down. Something normal. Maybe that's why he tells me to keep it close."

Ianto snorted. "Jack's never been normal. I suspect even his birth was portentous."

"But he's so old, Ianto," she said. "He must be lonely!"

"Yes, he is," Ianto nodded in complete agreement and understanding. He knew Jack was desperately lonely at times. "But that doesn't mean he wants to settle down, get married, have kids."

"Maybe not, but…" She glanced sideways at him and decided to talk to Jack first before she said anything to Ianto. She was right about this, she knew it. Jack had been telling her to keep hold of her normal life since the beginning. She'd thought it was because it was so easy to get caught up in the surreal life that was Torchwood—aliens, monsters, time travel—and that he was too honorable to interfere in her established relationship. Yet maybe it was because normal was something he longed for himself, something he could never have given both his life with Torchwood and his immortality. Maybe he lived vicariously through others.

The rest of the team may have had their assumptions about her and Jack, but they also had their assumptions about Jack and Ianto. That Ianto was Jack's convenient, part-time shag was something Owen had grumbled about for months, though he'd backed off since his own near death experience. They all thought it was just sex, probably because at one point or another they'd all caught the pair snogging, or in poor Tosh's case, shagging in the archives. Yet it was clearly more when she looked back on it: on their interactions at work, on that dance at her wedding. Dinner dates, movies, holidays. Cooking, laughing, spending the night together. It was everything normal couples did. Not once had any of them thought that the dinners and the dates and the looks and the touches were anything more than a means to shag, but now Gwen thought it might, in fact, be something much more.

Jack and Ianto were in a real relationship. Maybe Ianto hadn't realized it, or maybe he hadn't accepted it, and that had really thrown her, because she'd assumed if one of them was emotionally involved, it was Ianto. Yet it must mean something to Jack. She was convinced that Jack was always telling her to hold on to her normal because he craved it himself. And it seemed obvious now that Ianto was that normal for Jack. The thought that Jack, even with his laughing and flirting and joking, might be more serious about their relationship than Ianto was surprising, not to mention heartbreaking.

When Gwen had asked Ianto to lunch, she had assumed that Ianto was more serious about the relationship and the one hurt by Jack's flippant comments and attitude. Yet he had denied they even had a real relationship, brushing off Jack's remarks as nothing more than par for the course. For Ianto, he and Jack were casual and there was nothing to be bothered by or jealous about. Now that she knew that they'd all been wrong about Ianto, Gwen wondered if they were wrong about Jack as well, if Jack's glib remarks hid deeper feelings. It wouldn't be the first time Jack had joked about something that was important to him, or something he was uncomfortable talking about. In this case, perhaps it was feelings that Ianto did not return in spite of everything they'd all assumed about both men.

Gwen was determined to change that. If Jack had deeper feelings for Ianto than they all suspected, and if Ianto was unable to see and return them, then she was going to make them both understand what was really going on between them. There was no way Ianto could resist a man like Jack, not if Jack had overcome his natural reluctance to let Ianto into his heart. In that way, they were perfect for each other, and with a smile, Gwen nodded to herself, determined to make everything right.

Author's Note:
So this is a few things: it's another one of those 'what if?' scenarios Taamar and I throw back and forth at one another all the time. I think this conversation had to do with flipping the Ianto-was-more-serious-than-Jack-about-their-relationship trope. There was also something about Gwen being concerned about Jack's line in 'Something Borrowed', and Ianto's interpretation of it. I think that's how it started, anyway. This is also my first time writing a head-hopping fic. I have always stuck to one point of view, but this seemed to be one that might work with both characters in the scene, especially since I wanted to tell both sides without rewriting the entire story. I hope it worked. Part Two is between Jack and Ianto. I really had no interest in writing Gwen's conversation with Jack, sorry! Thank you for reading!