Chapter Two

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Know Thine Enemy

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Showered, shaved, and all those other very important things he did of a morning that began with the letter S, Ianto was almost ready for another day's hard graft - and it would've been business as usual had it not been for the stupidly handsome individual once again commandeering his kitchen. Appearing to be on the closing straight of constructing a neat parcel out of some ham sandwiches and a square of foil, Jack glanced back with a wink then danced his way over to the fridge, where he re-sited a tub of spread and what was left of a pack of ham.

"Okay, what's going on?" feeling the first signs of a Jack related frown starting to form, Ianto could've sworn he'd left the man himself sleeping, albeit restlessly, when he'd snuck out to use the bathroom.

Entertaining a moment's hindsight with an irritated mental tut, he decided that he shouldn't really be so surprised to see his boyfriend up and about; he had, after all, just spent the entire night big-spooning the agitated man and could just imagine that, on waking to find himself all alone, Jack's first thought had been to go find something distracting to do.

Crossing his living room and adjusting his tie in an unsettled manner, "This is all feeling weirdly domestic," he grumbled in Jack's direction, despite being secretly entertained by the show of over-exuberant cuisine related moves, "And what's with the happy Larry routine all of a sudden?" he demanded, acting on a sudden impulse to play along and tease his skivvy, "Come on, out with it - what've you done wrong this time?"

Jack took the required amount of steps to bring them face to face, then proudly thrust his neatly prepared piece of handy work in Ianto's direction.

Pale blue eyes performed the expected, and whilst Ianto accepted the proffered gift of lunch with one hand Jack made his next move in taking Ianto's suit jacket from his other. Ianto hummed suspiciously; setting his lunch down on the counter-top for safe keeping, and narrowing his eyes for optimum effect turned in readiness for the next of Jack's butlering tricks.

Without a word his jacket was held aloft at the appropriate height, and slipping a hand into each sleeve, harrumphing as grumpily as he could, Ianto checked his watch. "I really should be going; there'll be a delivery to check as soon as I get in, plus I've got a meeting with the auditors at eleven."

"Don't go anywhere just yet," he was instructed with something of a begging tone, "I need the bathroom; I'm busting for a pee and I'll just be two shakes …. literally!"

With Jack making his way out into the hallway, Ianto couldn't help but grin after him. "I s'pose I should be just grateful you didn't do it in the kitchen sink!"

"What?!" Already out of sight, Jack's exclamation floated back with a chuckle, "Me? Never! Bathroom sink maybe … But kitchen sink? No fricken way!"

Shaking his head in despair Ianto had failed to hold on to his smile. His sudden show of solemnity, though, was sponsored not by Jack's bathroom misdemeanours, but by the unsettling feeling that all was still not right with the daft fool, and making his way through to the kitchen area; hoping to distract himself from any more worrying thoughts, he quickly studied the area for signs of chaos. Aside from a covering of crumbs on the breadboard there didn't appear to be anything untoward going on, but a flash of inspiration saw him reach into the sink to remove one buttery knife from the bottom of the bowl. Smiling as he wiped it clean with some paper towel, he then replaced it, to be washed properly later on.

"Hot hine who hink hewl hee in ater?"

Ianto turned back with a, "Gah!" his horrified expression becoming only more so as he rushed over to where Jack was lounging in the doorway, toothbrush back to work at full scrub. "Get back to that bloody bathroom, you messy bugger!" Unimpressed he pointed a finger in the appropriate direction.

"Hohhwy" the gleam in Jack's eyes faded, then like a scolded child he scurried off. Seconds later the sounds of rinsing, then gurgling, told Ianto that the job had been completed in the proper place.

Waiting for Jack to return, he took himself over to the kitchen surround. Leaning back against it he began to absently run one finger around the outside edge of his pack of sandwiches and sensing movement across the room, "Right, I should get moving," he sighed, his thoughts still consumed by Jack's ever-changing mood.

Finally looking up he found the subject of his thoughts standing there with a pout on his face. "Okaaaay, I'm sorry for shouting at you like that …." he was prompted to say, "But, well, fuck it - You should really know what I'm like by now, and this is just me being me first thing in the morning, Jack, so don't take my over-reaction too much to heart, yeah?"

It took Jack just one heartbeat to move in as close as he could possibly get, and guessing what was about to happen next, Ianto decided that he really didn't mind in the slightest; there was something special about Jack's goodbye kisses, they never failed to make him feel wanted; like the man was going to miss him like mad, and sure enough this time Jack's lips on his felt soft, with just a hint of sadness coming through in their caress.

Happily drifting off for the two minutes he'd conveniently decided he must still have left on the clock, returning the gesture just as gently, Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack, pulling him in even closer, though, this, he soon realised, had been mistake number one, because already the urge to turn this into something more meaningful was there, trying to take control, and naturally he felt duty bound to follow its command.

Jack, in response, gave a small moan of appreciation and parting his lips a little wider willingly allowed the tip of Ianto's inquisitive tongue instant 'access all areas'. As it began to trace a slow, seductive path, another grateful sound escaped the back of Jack's throat and within seconds the kiss had become desperate, noisy and wet; hands lower down had begun to grip tightly onto sculpted cheeks; each man eager to pull the other in as close as he possibly could.

Allowing Jack's weight to send him back onto the kitchen units, Ianto grunted with frustration as a hardening bulge was rubbed forcefully over his own, and lifting one hand he framed the back of Jack's head, bringing their lips more firmly together. With Jack still grinding onto him, this time with more purpose; the man's hips moving with a steady rotating motion, Ianto quite distinctly heard and felt Jack groaning throatily along in unison with him.

As seconds became minutes, those minutes began to pass without notice, and being driven to distraction by the increase in friction further down, with one loud, reality-check gasp, Ianto dragged his lips from Jack's.

"Okay, we gotta stop."

"Fuck," still eager for more, his forehead rocking against one tempting nape as a consolation prize, Jack's breathing remained laboured, "Oh boy …. see, now's I'm starting ta think that might've been a really bad move." he admitted with a breathy laugh.

"S'alright for you …." Ianto puffed, his own rate of breaths refusing to return to normal, "You can take a long shower; what am I supposed to do, hmmm? I can hardly get me knob out walking down the bloody street, can I?"

Bringing them face to face again, and starting at one corner, Jack gave his lips a slow, tell-tale lick, "I'll make it quick." he promised with a teasing flick of his brows, already dropping to his knees eager to please.

"Fuuuuuuck." The thought of what sinful things those lips could be doing in an instant, sent even more blood coursing into Ianto's already aching cock. "Jack! Up!" he instructed with a hiss and hearing a disappointed whine from further south lowered his gaze to find Jack once more licking his lips, "Oh, you teasing bastard, don't do that."

Another pout appeared, but Ianto remained determined not to let it influence his decision. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know you mean well but to be honest you're only making matters worse. Seriously, I'm not joking, I haven't got time for anything like this right now - not even a quick gobble; I should've left ages ago as it is." was grumbled regretfully.

Straightening on the spot, patently doing his very best to rein back his ill-timed show of lust, Jack rested their foreheads together, nodded; defeated, then smiled.

"Thanks for the sandwiches, by the way," Ianto finally thought to tell him; his voice still breathless yet sincere. He lifted his lids to find Jack looking genuinely pleased with his remark.

"Anything for you." he was told with a happy creasing around the bluest of eyes, "I thought you might appreciate not having to go out to get somethin' to eat, that's all."

Ianto couldn't help but return the dopey grin, then came to the conclusion that this new boyfriend of his was turning him into a carbon copy of himself, in fact, without too much effort at all, Jack had managed to transform him into this grinning, sappy fool, and he seemed to have no power of his own to stop the process. "I thought you didn't do domesticated?" he felt obliged to point out, adopting a half surly expression in the hope of saving as much tough-guy face as possible, "And, actually, I suspect that having you do this for me in the first place might be just a little too much on the couple-y side of things for my liking, if you get what I mean."

From his posture and forced expression, it was clear that Jack was feeling both affronted and amused by Ianto's remark.

"Hey, listen, don't for one minute think I'm gonna be makin' a habit of doin' this kinda thing, Mr Jones. And, yeah, you're right, I do avoid anything and everything remotely domesticated. Besides, why would I feel the need to do this on a regular basis anyway? I mean, you are only my agent after all, yeah?"

Unsure whether to take the offensive comment seriously or not, Ianto opened his mouth to protest just in case, but was quickly cut off by a much more solemn admission.

"Being honest, here,Yan," a subdued Jack gave a small shrug; his growing sense of embarrassment palpable, "Earlier, y'know, when you climbed outta bed to go to the bathroom? I just lay there … and lay there, and suddenly I was panicking and, y'know, over-thinking things again. So what I'm tryin'a say, here, is that this little display of domesticity was just me takin' my mind off a things for a while, that's all, so please don't go gettin' all paranoid on me about it, okay?"

Reaching behind to retrieve his sandwiches then pulling his body free from beneath Jack's with a sigh, Ianto made his way further out into the living area. "Actually, and you're gonna hate me for saying this, I know, but I am becoming genuinely worried about you, Jack."

It hadn't skipped his attention that, up until this admission, Jack had been making an extra special effort to seem all bright and breezy for his benefit, but it hadn't been all that difficult to see through that smiling façade of his; past the show of animated gestures which, looking back, could only have been a knock on effect from the fitful night's sleep he'd just experienced. "And to be honest, I'm really not happy at all about leaving you here on your own all day." he shared with a sigh.

"Hey, no wild parties; cross my heart!"

With Jack's grin firmly back in place, Ianto forced a smile of his own; of course the man was going to brush aside his show of concern with a joke. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he sighed, aware that this was never going to have been an easy pitch for him.

"Yan, I'm fine now; head's a good'n, so please stop worrying about me."

Ianto had to admit; bold gestures abound, Jack really was trying his best on the body language front, and trying to outstare him he rolled his eyes as his boyfriend began to swagger a little closer in.

"Look, what happened with me yesterday; the falling to pieces 'n' everything …." the American lilt had become noticeably dismissive, "Hey, don't worry, that was just a minor blip, nothin' to worry about at all, and, trust me, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible."

Despite sporting several misgivings over the whole affair, Ianto managed to laugh softly at the remark but then quickly got back into character. "Look, you can joke all you like about this, but it's not going to stop me from feeling concerned about you. I mean, you hardly touched your lunch yesterday, and your uneaten half of last night's chilli is already rock hard in the freezer …."

"I'm fine ….."

"Fine? Okay, look me in the eye and tell me you're not gonna got to pieces again, the second I walk out the door."

"I'm fine!"

"No you're not! You're putting on a brave face for my benefit! And to be honest I'm really not comfortable with leaving you here on your own full stop!"

"Well, that's just a stoopid thing to say."

"No …. it's not." Ianto took a deep breath. One of them had to remain calm. "Jack, I'm not blind, I can see that first night nerves are getting the better of you, and that they're also making you ill; I've never seen you pick at your food the way you have over the last two days."

"I'm fiiiiiiiiine ….." came floating out with a half-hearted sigh.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Just stop insisting that you're fine, will you? You're actually a long fucking way from being fine, Jack. You've obviously lost your appetite and ….."

"So?"

"So? How can you stand there throwing fucking 'so's at me?" Ianto gasped, looking away with a shake of his head, "Okay, so what's gonna happen on Friday night, when you get up on stage?" he threw back, locking eyes once more, "I've got visions of you, you bloody fool, passing out in front of an entire fucking audience! Oh, yeah ….." he allowed Jack a sarky round of applause, "Way to impress the critics, Jack. What a class act that'll be!"

As he paused for breath he couldn't help but notice that silence was reigning. "Look," he conceded, deciding he was getting nowhere fast and making a point of softening his tone. "How about we meet outside the station this evening; I want to take you out for a meal." his eyes brightened as the ideal place occurred to him, "Hey, I know, how about that wings and ribs place we went to on our first date? That'll get you salivating. Christ, I've never seen anybody put so much away in one night!"

Despite his premeditated show of light-heartedness, Ianto noticed that Jack was still frowning and quickly found himself wearing something similar in response.

Clearly not happy at all, Jack lowered his face to huff down at the floor then suddenly peering up was looking more peeved than anything. "Yan, why is how I eat, and how much I eat, always such a big fuckin' deal for you? It's like you're obsessed with my friggin' eatin' habits! I can't win, can I?" he sulked accusingly before becoming only more defensive, "If you're not commenting on how much I've 'put away'," he paused to wave speech marks, "You're harassing me for not eating enough! Well how's about from now on you just let me worry about how much, where and when, huh?"

Having neither the inclination, nor the time now, to become embroiled in another confrontation with him, ignoring Jack to step out into the hallway, Ianto began to make his way along to the front door. "Look, I'm not prepared to argue with you on this one, " he sighed, talking as he walked, "I could stay here all fucking day discussing this shit with you, but I know I'd just be wasting my breath."

Sandwiches still held lightly between his right thumb and two straightened fingers, turning back, Ianto's hands found his hips.

"Okay, you obviously don't give a fuck how concerned I'm currently feeling about you, so try giving this some thought instead. Just over a week ago; that afternoon Jerry called the villa to give you the good news about the show, you, yourself, offered me a 'get out while you can' clause and, well, I'm assuming you haven't already forgotten that I sat there and convinced myself that I could do this for you; that 'you' were worth changing my life for - so how's about you start making an effort to meet me in the middle, hmmm? You're gonna have to start trusting my judgement sometime, Jack; after all, I'm only trying to help the best way I …."

"Jesus, Yan, of course I trust you!" Jack was looking mortified and his admission had been abrupt as it interrupted Ianto's heartfelt flow.

Ianto, himself, still wasn't looking overly impressed. His mouth seemed to pitch downward at the corners as he demanded, "Okay, so prove it. And y'know what else you need to get into that thick skull of yours, Jack? Regardless of how many bullshit excuses you choose to throw at me, the outcome will always be the same – I, will always see straight through you … and, in turn, you, will end up taking my advice, because deep down you'll know that I've been right all along."

Taking a step backward to bring himself just that little bit closer to his escape route, Ianto emphasised his final point by stabbing out at the air with one angry finger, "Now, stop fucking arguing with me you self-pitying wanker, and for once in your life just do as you're fucking told! You're gonna meet me after work, right? Then we're going out for a meal and you are gonna sit there fucking eating until I say you can fucking stop! Okay?! Now buck your fucking ideas up, stop fretting over things that're never gonna happen and kiss me the fuck goodbye; 'cause I'm now late for work and I'm outta here!"

"Wow …..," obviously taken aback by his telling off, a subdued Jack began to make his way forward, "Y'know, I'm really not used to people standing up to me like that, and I think I might actually have just gone a little weak at the knees." He blew out a noisy breath before starting to laugh quietly. "Oh my god, Yan, that was ….. that was ….. that was ….God! That was so damn hot! Wow ….you should talk to me like that more often! What a turn on!"

Ianto wasn't looking quite so impressed. "You know if I didn't know any better, I'd say you've been putting on this show of incapability just to get me to lose my rag and then yell at you."

His eyes still telling the true story, but cheeky grin making a return regardless, Jack advanced until he was within touching distance, "Are you sure you gotta go to work right now, Yan? 'Cause …."

"Kiss! …. I'm going! …. And that's final!"

Put in his place yet again, but noting the accompanying genuine laugh, Jack instantly obeyed and kissed Ianto as if he were about to sail off around the world for a year.

Naturally, Ianto was totally appreciative of the gesture, but was also quick to decide that he didn't want a repeat of those arousing moments from just minutes ago, "Right," he panted, separating them again, "I think that one might've set me up for the rest of the day. Now, don't forget to put some clothes on before you leave the building, plus don't burn it down whilst I'm gone and, oh yeah, with regards to the dishwasher? The next time you find there's no sign of life - try flicking the mains switch, you Muppet. You'll find the socket on the back wall inside the cupboard to the right of it."

"Huh?"

Laughing, a spark of naughty amusement shining in his eyes, Ianto shook his head, "It was switched off at the mains, you fucking numpty. The morning we left for the airport, you stood in that living room just there and watched me disconnect everything electrical apart from the fridge; the dishwasher just happens to be the only thing I didn't get around to when I got back Monday morning."

"So you knew this fact last night." Jack realised, his face dropping.

"Yep."

"And you let me do all those pans and dishes by hand because ….?"

"Because I thought they might be a distraction for you. Plus you can be very agreeable when you're feeling guilty about something."

"You know what, Jones? Sometimes you can be such a bastard."

"So they say!" With a teasing wink Ianto pulled his front door inward. "Oh, and don't you dare forget – we're meeting outside the station after work. I'll call you later to confirm the time. Oh, and Jack? Make sure you show up …. I'm gonna get some food into you by Friday if it sodding kills me."

And with that … he was gone.

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For a few dreamy moments, Jack stood there; just smiling at an empty doorway.

Then it hit him,

"He cares ….." Slowly, his little-used smile became impossibly wide.

"Holy shit! He really cares!"

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Outside the stage door, and trying his very best to behave patiently whilst waiting for it to be opened, Jack leaned sideways into Ianto, offering him a look of gratitude as their eyes met. "Thanks for agreeing to meet me here instead." he smiled, his hand briefly grasping at Ianto's before immediately releasing it again, "Jerry was really insistent, but this shouldn't take too long; I just need to grab the running order for Friday so's I can brush up on the when's, where's and protocols for the big night, then we can go find someplace round here to eat. Will that be okay?"

"S'no big deal." Ianto shrugged, obviously hoping to come across as unconcerned, though his frown and agitated mannerisms were going a long way in contradicting his words of reassurance.

With a 'blinded by anxiety' Jack happily accepting his reply, Ianto was becoming only more and more distracted. Looking all around him, as if checking the immediate area for any sign of approaching unwanted company, he sounded vague as he admitted, "As long as we get some food into you tonight, I don't care where we eat."

Looking back at Jack, thinking to return the wide smile being sent his way, it finally occurred to Ianto that the daft sod didn't have the faintest clue that just the simple act of standing outside a theatre door was leaving the great Ianto Jones feeling embarrassingly unnerved, and, worse, that this fact was also threatening to have him throw up at any moment. Generally it took a lot to instil even the smallest amount of fear into him, but the just the mere thought of having to meet these swarms of theatrical sorts again, the same ones that were so quick to pre-judge him last time, was successfully filling Ianto with an uneasiness he could barely control. He wasn't used to feeling this way full stop. Usually it was the other way around; it was everybody else that was afraid of meeting him. Mind you, if he were back on home turf, making their acquaintance, there, he'd soon quick tell the lot of them where to poke their pompous opinions of him. But in this environment he felt ….. ….. felt so out of his depth; felt young and insecure and stupid … and he was so glad that Jack wasn't like the rest of them.

With Jack looking away to ring the buzzer again, another home truth began to niggle away at Ianto; this inexplicable fear of his wasn't the only complication holding him back, but along with everything else, he decided to push it to one side for now then tried to appear confident for Jack's sake - He had the bollocks to stand outside and wait for a just few minutes for the man, surely?

"Promise me you won't hang around in there for too long," he tried with another, more easier to admit, excuse coming to mind, "I don't like the way you just pander to Jerry's every whim every time … especially when that wanker Tom's about."

Unsurprisingly, Jack was left looking puzzled. "You're not comin' in?" he realised with a querying brow lift, "I thought from now on it was supposed to be the pair of us taking the war to those two? I seem to remember you promising something like that on holiday." Noticing he was suddenly unable to hold eye-contact, Jack took hold of Ianto's hand and shook it to assure he had his full attention. "Yan? You're comin' inside, right?"

There was fidgeting, huffing, and several other traits one would normally associate more with a stubborn teenager, and silently studying his shoes Ianto refused to acknowledge the comment.

Irrefutably having turned the tables from earlier, as the door began to open it was Jack who was now feeling the need to be in control. "Hey, you're comin' in … end of. Now, come on." he barked, dragging Ianto forward with him.

A theatre bod appeared, poking her head out to see who was there, and smiling at Jack said a brief 'hi' before legging it back up the stairs.

Still holding on fast, Jack took a step over the threshold.

"Jack, wait, please …. there's something I should tell you; something you really need to know."

Noticing that, sounding more anxious than angry, Ianto had begun to chew away at his bottom lip, Jack began to lose patience, "Yan? What the hell has gotten into you? You wanna tell me what the hell is goin' on, here?"

With him once more checking out his feet and sniffing in a deep breath, it seemed to Jack that Ianto was stalling, but instinctively he sensed that there might be something other than just stubbornness going on with his young boyfriend.

Losing his impatient tone he began to rub comfortingly up and down one arm. "Hey, c'mon buddy, whatever it is it can't be that bad." After a second or two with no reply he squeezed the arm a little harder.

Ianto slowly lifted his head. "You do know I how much appreciate you wanting to include me in everything you do, don't you?" he asked before adding urgently, "Only, it's just that …."

"Just what?"

Inhaling deeply, Ianto looked to one side.

"Oh, Yan, c'mon - what is it, what's wrong?"

Jack angled himself sideways, leaning around the edge of the door to look up the stairs behind; his boss was still waiting for him, and the sooner they got this over and done with the better.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this." separating their hands, Ianto took a step back.

"Whad'ya mean you can't do this? Yan? Can't do what? What the hell is wrong with you all of a sudden?" As Ianto began to waver on the spot, looking for all the world as if he were about to bolt, Jack snatched out to reclaim his hand.

Having expected the move, Ianto took himself out of reach. "I've realised that I can't do this to you." came the admission at last, "I don't want to be the reason for you missing out on such a massive opportunity."

Jack's features pinched with annoyance. "Okay, I won't pretend to have a clue what you're on about, and I'm pretty damn sure I'm gonna disagree with whatever it is you've gotta say," Ianto was told sternly, "But go on, I'm listnin'."

Ianto's lids fell in defeat, a deep breath was drawn inward and as his cheeks ballooned a desperate blast of air was forced out through his lips, "Okay, fuck it, you might as well know the truth, and actually, thinking about it, it's probably best that you do know what's been said … that's if you're still serious about us making a definite go of things, of course."

With a despairing whine Jack cradled his forehead with one hand, "Yan, you're not makin' any sense. What the fuck's goin' on? What's been said?"

"I'm so sorry," came the apology, "I never thought we'd get this far – us being together, as a couple, I mean - so I never bothered rehearsing how to tell you."

"You rehearse what you wanna say to people? Wow." Jack shook his head, astonished at the admission, "So come on, you can rehearse right now."

Finally it was time to come clean.

"You remember that little get together, that night we went back to Tom's?" Ianto watched Jack nod warily then steeled himself for the rest. "Well, just about everybody there that I spoke to warned me off of you; told me I was out of my depth, was gonna drown, was gonna get my fingers burned, that sort of thing, but the most poignant message came from Tom himself."

"Tom?" Jack's eyes widened.

Ianto failed to hold back his chuckle, "Yeah, he kind of told me that if I didn't stay away from you, Jerry would pull the rug from under your feet … and that you'd be back on a plane to the States before you could whistle …"

"Dixie?"

"Yeah."

"He actually told you to back off …. to keep away from me?"

Nodding hesitantly, as if still afraid of Jack's reaction, "Yeah, he told me to go home and forget all about you." Ianto confirmed. "Though, I didn't take any of the bastard's shit, of course." he bristled, keen for Jack to know that he'd stood his ground against the dancer – in other words, that even back then he'd defended their right to be together. "I told him what a sad fucker he was, that I didn't care what he threatened to do to either of us and that I was sticking around whether he liked it or not."

As a look of contentment appeared on Jack's face, a guilty memory began to pull unremorsefully on Ianto's heart-strings. He knew only too well that, despite those words of wisdom aimed at the choreographer, his real intention all along that night had been to finish with Jack.

"Trouble is, Jack," he started quietly, "Despite how strong my anger might've made me feel at the time, I can't deny that the things Tom said has influenced how I've been dealing with things ever since. Yeah, okay," he shrugged, "I'll admit that the wanker threw a lot of shit into the mix as well, just to wind me up, but he also confirmed some of the negative things I'd already been assuming anyway."

"Like what?" Jack was no longer smiling.

"That I was out of your league. That I was wasting my time if I thought you were genuinely serious about me, that sort of thing."

Eyes closed, Jack swallowed noisily but said nothing.

Seizing the moment to get everything off his chest, Ianto's first instinct was to jump straight back in, "Oh, and while I'm at it, I guess it might also be a good idea to mention that we had a little bit of an altercation."

Blazing blue eyes snapped open and Jack's voice was just as abrupt. "You two had a fight? For fuck's sake, Yan! … Why didn't you tell me this when it happened?"

"Not a fight exactly, but we did at one point nearly came to full on blows." Ianto corrected, "The cunt was winding me up …. and I admit, I sort of went for him first; just grabbed him a bit, like, but then he took a full on swing at me. Fortunately the only thing he connected with was the wall."

Still keeping the door ajar with one foot, ready to go inside, Jack blew out a disappointed breath. "So where the fuck was I while all this was going on?"

"You were downstairs … ….. and we were up in his bedroom."

"What the hell were the pair of you doin' in there in the first place?"

Ianto shuddered as he vividly recalled the occasion. There was one element to their coming together that he wasn't going to reveal to Jack; the moment when Tom had pinned him up tight against his bedroom wall then tried it on, and that, until he'd come to his senses, the man had actually managed to turn him on. "You remember that little guided tour he kindly offered to take me on … promising you that in the process he'd make me see things your way?"

Jack's mouth dropped open in a mixture of anger and astonishment, "He told me, afterward, that he thought he'd helped matters!"

"Who's matters?" Ianto laughed hollowly. "I'm sure his main plan was to seduce me then use the incident as ammo to come between us, but, look, I'm sorry, maybe I'm being selfish in telling you all of this - maybe I really shouldn't be stirring things now you've finally made it this far …. But, you know, to be honest, the more I look back on what I heard from the wanker that night, the more I realise how much better off you'll be by knowing who it is you're really dealing with."

There was a brief moment of silence where both men became caught up in their own thoughts, then lifting his own a few seconds later Ianto noticed that Jack's head remained bowed.

"This is why you insisted on calling him a cunt on the ride back, isn't it?" Jack realised with a sigh, slowly raising his gaze to lock on, "It wasn't just because you were rollin' drunk, at all." he added quietly. "And he set us up too, didn't he?" Now it was all coming back to Jack, "He worked it so that you'd look through the window at the right moment, see him springing that kiss on me, take it the wrong way, then get your own back by doing what you did in the garden with that kid in the hat."

"Perry," Ianto nodded, "The same kid that was in the video we discovered at Jerry's villa."

"Shit."

The word was said in a subdued fashion, as if Jack was having trouble believing it all.

Finding it, Ianto gave Jack's hand a sincere squeeze. "I hope you can forgive me for being so fucking gutless and not telling you sooner. Like I said, I never expected us to get to a point where the incident would actually be relevant. But now I'm really worried; I'm scared that if Jerry realises we're now serious about seeing each other, he might follow up on those threats, and I don't want you to hate me when they take this chance away from you."

"But Tom hasn't said anything bitchy about you in weeks … and …"

Ianto began to laugh self-gratifyingly, acknowledging, "So he did actually try to put you off me, then. Doesn't that tell you something?"

Jack shook his head, "No, well, yeah ... but he's fine about us now, I'm sure of it … and Jerry just paid for your flight to Ibiza, didn't he? Why would he do that if …"

"I don't know," Ianto admitted, interrupting, "I must admit, that part threw me as well. Maybe he was hoping that after ten days we'd come away from the place sick of each other?" he suggested, "But whatever his reasoning, I'm sorry, Jack; I still don't trust either of them. I guess the big test now would be to see what they say if I'm ever left on my own with them." he decided before concluding, "Not that this makes me feel any differently about coming in there with you right now – I don't want to see either of them full stop."

Jack's face said it all. "Yan – look, I can work on Jerry, you won't have to worry about him." he assured, looking only more and more desperate over their situation, "And as for fuckin' Tom," a sigh was heaved as a final decision was made, "Nope, I've made up my mind, come on, you're comin' inside with me. We'll show the slime-ball what he can do with his threats."

There was a flurry of limbs as Ianto tried to hold Jack back – a hand found a collar and tugged, an arm shot around a waist and pulled, a leg hooked around one in front in an effort to stop any further steps from being taken. "Jack, hold up; don't ….. ….. shit!" was huffed as Jack pulled even harder, "Just wait a sec will ya?"

Succumbing to his boyfriend's undeniably desperate attempts to keep him at bay, Jack conceded defeat with a sigh, then managing to stop the door from closing fully with an outstretched hand he turned in Ianto's grasp. "What's wrong this time?"

"Look, I know it's tempting to go bowling in there all guns blazing," Ianto told him, a hand tightening around one bicep as he refused to relax, "But, think about it, you have the upper hand now; those two don't know that you're aware of any of this. So keep schtum ….. keep the advantage, yeah? I have a feeling it might come in handy in the future. Play the pair of them at their own game, so to speak." Having played his last card, and now just about all struggled-out, Ianto could do no more than hope that Jack might take his reasoning on board. "You deserve this," he suddenly thought to add as extra leverage, though Jack was still looking unconvinced, "Don't let anyone, especially those two, fuck everything up for you - not now you've made it his far. Get up on that stage and get noticed. Once all the people that matter have seen how good you are ….. then you can tell Jerry where to poke it."

"Yeah, okay, you're right, as usual." Calming somewhat, and laughing softly at how he should've known to listen to Ianto in the first place, Jack shook his head at his guardian angel. "What would I do without you, huh?"

"Starve." was the decisive answer as it was delivered with a relieved grin.

Somehow Jack managed to laugh and frown at the same time. "Don't think you've gotten out of this Ianto Jones, you're still comin' in with me," he warned obstinately, deciding, "Fuck 'em!"

Ianto took an exaggerated step to the rear. Once again the dreaded luvvies and bitches were proving to be his biggest issue, and peering sideways at Jack he voiced his concerns with an element of scepticism, "You sure? I'm still not convinced that's such ….."

"Follow me!" he was instructed firmly, and ready for a scene if he found one, Jack led the way inside.

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Giving a couple of light taps beforehand, Jack took them both into Jerry's office.

Dressed in his usual showy, cravat wearing way, the man was there on his own; perched on the edge of his desk reading through some paperwork.

On hearing the door click open, removing his glasses, he looked up, smiling, "Jack …. darling! I take it you're here for Friday's itinerary."

As Jack stepped further into the room, the director caught sight of who his favourite boy just happened to have in tow. "Oh, hello, Ianto, paying us a little visit too, are you?" he asked, managing to get the name right and not calling Ianto Jonty for a change. Both his smile and show of enthusiasm were unconvincing, and as the sheet of paper was set to one side he pushed himself up onto his feet to extend a hand. "Jack didn't mention he was going to have company with him. How are you, my boy? And how did you find Ibiza?"

Ianto literally shuddered then hoped the fact hadn't been noticed by the man; along with the insincere show of interest, the palm gripping around his own was thin, bony and just as unpleasantly clammy as he remembered.

"Had a great time, thanks," he forced himself to reply with a smile, "And the villa's lovely.

"She is a bit special, isn't she?" Already disinterested and turning to face his protégé, the director made it clear that a reply from Ianto had never actually been a requirement.

"How are the nerves, darling?" Jerry was already gushing; an over the top show of pity forming on his untrustworthy face, "Are we still to expect a stellar performance from you on Friday night?"

The actor in Jack proceeded to give one very necessary performance. "Nerves? Who ….. Me? Pah!" he avoided eye contact with Ianto as he continued to fake his response, "Nohhhhhhh, no nerves whatsoever. I'm not gonna let you down Friday night, boss ….. promise."

His eyes doing a very passable impression of the Welshman's opposite, the director chose to look directly at Ianto himself. "He's no better then?" he deduced with a sigh.

Rather than respond to Jerry, and with a vast amount of amusement evident whether he wanted it to be or not, Ianto addressed his fool of a boyfriend instead. "Might be best if you don't say anything else, Jack;" he smiled, moving closer to pat one arm consolingly, "You're not doing yourself any favours here, I'm afraid."

With the director on the point of adding his three pennies worth of advice too, interrupting the moment perfectly the office door flew open and in bowled the Tweedledum to Jerry's Tweedledee.

"Oh," Tom was totally unconvincing as he feigned surprise, "Shit, sorry, Jerry, didn't realise you had company." he finished, inviting himself into the party anyway. Stepping further forward so that he could close the door behind himself, he finally caught sight of his least favourite Welshman. Steely eyes narrowed to convey some barely concealed underlying thoughts and no greeting whatsoever was afforded in Ianto's direction. "Jack!" he grinned instead, seeking out his star student's gaze. "Recovered from our little attack of the nerves have we?"

Never overly successful at following his own advice, Ianto saw his usual shade of red and going straight on the offensive went for the jugular. "Actually, Tom, I don't think ridiculing Jack right at this very moment is going to help the situation, do you? So how about you let him deal with things in his own way …. and maybe from now on you might wanna keep your pathetic comments to yourself."

Realising his faux pas in an instant, Ianto quickly looked in Jack's direction expecting to see a look of displeasure sat there on his face, but, as it happened, Jack was making an undisguised show of not wanting to look at any of the people in the room with him at all. His gaze drifting from spot to spot, he was blatantly hoping to convey that he hadn't been paying any attention whatsoever, and that a trip with the fairies was currently taking place.

Not wanting to draw any more unwelcome attention for Jack right now, Ianto looked away, and assuming that the poor guy was merely hoping to steer clear of all conversations regarding his own failings and weaknesses, he left him to it.

"The boy has a point, Thomas!"

Making Ianto jump out of his skin, and completely surprising him, Jerry abruptly began to scold his choreographer. "There's never a valid reason to tease anybody about first night nerves; everybody suffers from them at some point," he sharply pointed out, "Even you have my lad."

Experiencing a rare moment of appreciation for the director, Ianto watched on knowingly as Jack also failed to keep a small smile from his lips.

A disgruntled apology was offered. "Okay, yeah, sorry, Jack, that was a bit unfair of me." admitted the dancer swallowing a huge chunk of humble pie, and he continued to smile almost convincingly until the very moment that his boss looked away, at which point he sent Ianto a glowering stare.

Ianto smiled smugly back at him…. then winked, just to irritate him further.

"So, what have you two boys got planned for this evening?" Jerry turned back from his desk and, re-siting them, looked over the top of his glasses.

"Actually," Ianto started before Jack could come up with some contrived and totally unconvincing story of his own, "As Jack's agent, naturally, I'm taking him out for a meal so that we can discuss his up and coming big night."

Over on the other side of the office, Jack's eyes widened; a mixture of pure surprise and delight sitting there.

Jerry was looking equally as delighted. "Really? That sounds like a splendid idea. Anywhere in particular?" he seemed to wonder as an afterthought, though to Ianto the move also smacked of someone consciously making an effort to keep a conversation going.

"Not sure yet," he admitted cautiously, still not trusting the man's motives one little bit, "Just as long as he eats something before we leave, I really don't mind where we go."

"Appetite gone as well, has it? Poor love." nodded the director understandingly, sighing as Ianto nodded quietly back at him, "It's just as well he has you to look out for him." he concluded with a confusing show of sincerity.

"Hey! Helloh - ohhh! Guy with no appetite standing right over here with a voice of his oh - hown ….. in case you hadn't noticed!"

Three sets of eyes slid over to where Jack was fixing them with a stroppy stare.

"Come on, Diva," crossing the space between them, Ianto began to laugh, deliberately hoping to defuse the situation before somebody, i.e. himself, could say the wrong thing, "Let's go find some carbs." he encouraged.

Secretly loving the show Ianto was putting on for his two bosses, Jack tutted good-humouredly then chuckled as he was turned on the spot and frogmarched over to the door. "Looks like I'm under orders." he said suddenly jovial, "And if you'd seen this guy's right hook you'd know why I'm not disobeying him."

"Very well, off you go ….. and I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully nerve-free." Jerry smiled making his way over to them both. As they took a step closer to freedom he held out a sheet of A4 for Jack to take. "Forgotten something, have we, darling?"

Jack actually blushed. "Oh, yeah, thanks." he muttered, taking the piece of paper and briefly studying it.

They tried once more, and this time leaving Jack to get the door for them Ianto felt compelled to turn back; he had a gut feeling that someone was glaring at him and on catching sight of Tom's face was forced to rein back a burst of laughter. Admittedly it was tempting to commence an all-out eyeballing war with the wanker, but knowing that issuing him with a quick reminder that he was not worth even one second of his time, would leave himself with a far greater sense of satisfaction, he completely ignored the man and his taunts.

Seeking out the director's gaze instead, Ianto sent him a smile. "Bye, Jerry. And don't worry, I'll look after him. Oh, and thanks again for letting us use the villa; we really enjoyed ourselves." he said for appearances sake.

Out of the corner of his eye he could sense that Tom's face was starting to twitch and was sorely tempted to compound the knob's frustration by groping Jack's arse on the way out. But with Jerry jumping in to trill, "My pleasure entirely, young man, and will we be seeing you again soon? I take it you're going to be here Friday night?" Ianto abandoned that idea in favour of another that had just come to mind.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." he announced, looking back over one shoulder to locate Jack's gaze, and finding one huge example being aimed in his direction, he returned the soppy dope's beam.

"Just make sure he shows up." Tom's laugh held no humour to it whatsoever as Jack finally left the room.

With his boyfriend safely on the other side of the door, and Jerry having chosen that instant to look away; eyes already narrowed in readiness, Ianto stared hard at the choreographer then waved him a quick wanker salute. "Oh, don't you worry, Tom, he'll be perfectly safe with me."

Sending the dancer one final, cat-like smile, he followed Jack from the room.

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Satisfied they were alone, Tom turned to find his mentor. "Okay, come on, out with it. What's with the whole being nice to the Welsh kid all of a sudden? I thought he was enemy number one?"

"Oh, he still is, Thomas, most definitely," Jerry looked quickly back from tidying some paperwork, almost as if he'd completely forgotten that his young conspirator was there also in the room.

"Well, for what it's worth I think you might be too late," Tom told him.

"Meaning?" re-taking his seat on the edge of his desk, Jerry folded his arms as he waited.

"There's something different about them, didn't you notice?"

Jerry shook his head. "Explain?"

"They seem …. …. settled; happy with each other. I think they might already be in a relationship - the way they look at each other, that sort of thing. All the little signs are there, and I think you're gonna have a hard time convincing Jack that the kid is no good for …"

Jerry held one hand in the air, stopping him mid-flow.

"Okay, enough! And what I want you to do from now on, my lad, is just look and learn," pausing, he stared over the top of his glasses to make sure that Tom was paying full attention, "Because what you are currently bearing witness to is what's generally known as the calm before the storm. You see, in a couple of weeks, a wake-up call of catastrophic proportions is going to befall our pair of young lovers, and with you and I cleverly remaining amicable throughout and therefore rendering ourselves completely non-complicit, our young Mr Jones is going to find himself with a very, very good reason to not want to see Jack Harkness ever again."

A theatrically frightening smile crept into place, and through the glasses being pushed back into place, the eyes shone sadistically. "Thomas, my friend; hold on to your hat and then make sure you stand well clear ….. because when the shit hits their fan, things are going to get very, very messy indeed."

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tbc.