A/N: So sorry this took a while to go up. Well, Rabid Plot Bunnies are happy when stories gets read – thanks for hopping to it (pun was intended). Now, I know I said this chapter was going to start the day after 'Cyberwoman' – BUT – there are going to be flashbacks to that day. And once again, this is an AU Ianto only because I really didn't like the way he was written for that episode. Way too wimpy for my tastes…so, this Ianto is going to have a pair.

Rihanna's Russian Roulette was the inspiration for this chapter. Enjoy, read – and seriously, folks, REVIEW! It's really great for keeping Plot Bunnies happy and away from defenseless Mi-meows (another name for my cats).

Once again, the Meanie RTD & BBC own everything TW & DW related. I am not making a red cent off of this. I give you…

Torchwood: The Archivist's Archives

Chapter Two: Russian Roulette

The clock on the kitchen wall clacked noisily in the silence of the flat. After Owen had looked him over and pronounced him stable for transport, Jack saw to driving Ianto to his flat. He made sure he drove Ianto's car very carefully. Had Ianto been aware, he would have been very impressed. Once he got him into the flat, Jack sat Ianto on a chair at the small kitchen table and then scrounged around looking to fix him some sweet tea.

Owen had said shock had set in fully after making Ianto presentable to the outside world. His suit was ruined, but it was too cold outside to take all his clothes off – so between he and Jack, they removed his jacket and shirt and put him in a clean T-shirt and overshirt of Jack's. Owen cleaned him up as best he could and wrapped a blanket around him. He told Jack he needed a bath, a good meal and to be put to bed – and he'd be around in the morning to check up on him. Jack and he both agreed the boy had gone to incredibly stupid lengths to save Lisa, but it didn't warrant execution as per the original Torchwood Charter – Article Five, Sub-section 14. He hadn't done it to take over the world; the idiot had done it for love.

Between them they figured four weeks off so that Ianto could heal properly would suffice; an official suspension with half pay. The complete details of the incident sealed for fifty years after his death. No one need know…

Ianto laughed hysterically when that was mentioned – they three were seated in the conference room as Jack told him of their decision. The ladies were trying to clean up the mess the fight between the Cyberwoman and Myfanwy created.

'You're putting me in the same caliber as The Kennedy Assassination?!' he asked incredulously. 'You could always send me to UNIT…they've wanted to get their hands on me for ages now. I…I'd always thought they killed Mam because she wouldn't let them near me. Yvonne had her suspicions as well, but it turned out it was just a good ole fashioned car collision.' He started to laugh then, but it slowly turned into sobbing. 'I've…thought like a normal person for far too long now. I've…I've forgotten what I did at Canary Wharf…what I did to get here…what I did now. That…thing that was in Annie…it wasn't Lisa. Not…not anymore. She was never my Lisa anyway…not really. Even at her worst, she wouldn't have tried to kill me. I…it's time I remember…really remember.'

He put his head down then, he was fighting desperately to keep himself under control. His emotions were all over the place – and his mental barriers were gone! Christ! All of their minds were just bleeding out…even Jack's! His thoughts…they sounded like they were at the bottom of a well. They echoed from far away...

Throughout time, Yannie, his mam's voice said tenderly.

Then his Instructor's voice broke through: Do NOT lose control, Jones! Lose control – and you kill people!

Oh…didn't he know that…

They had been so CLOSE! Whatever Tanazaki did, it was wrong. When Ianto saw her again, even as he spoke to her as he stared in horror at Tanazaki's body, he knew she was gone. And then…when he found Annie…and it spoke Lisa's memories… It thought it had him, the Cyber programme within Annie…he could really hear its thoughts then.

When Jack and the others arrived ten minutes later, they were afraid because the base's power grid went offline again. But by the time they made it to the room, the power was back on. They didn't expect to find Ianto standing in…the only way to describe it was red gore. It covered the ceiling, the walls, the conversion unit and floor. The unit itself was…melted and crushed. The Cyberwoman was on the floor, her dead eyes staring up at the ceiling. And the pizza girl – Annie?

All that remained of her was a mangled torso, arms and legs strewn across the floor. Her head was gone. Ianto turned to his colleagues then, a small smile on his lips and a detached look in his eyes. 'I…I took care of it,' he said, before falling to his knees next to Lisa's corpse. 'You…wanted me to, Sir. You threatened to kill us. So…I finally took care of everything,' he whispered as he cuddled close to the metal encased body covered in blood and muck.

Ianto grabbed onto his head then, moaning softly. IT WAS TOO MUCH! He couldn't deal…it was ALL TOO MUCH! He WAS A FREAK! AND FREAKS ALWAYS FAILED! He stood from his chair then, still grabbing at his head, pulling at his hair now as his father's rant ran over and over in his head. The bastard... Jack and Owen rose from their chairs, Owen towards a med kit for a tranquilizer and Jack towards Ianto to try and...help?

'Too much!' Ianto cried out then. 'I can hear EVERYTHING! It's TOO MUCH! I can hear the girls…you two. My Tad! I…God damn it! I…TRIED! I…I can't stop it! Get…GET OUT!' he screamed as he curled himself into a ball on the floor, his arms over his face and head. 'Please! I…I can't…,'he began hitting his head with both hands.

The power in the base went offline again and the conference room was in total darkness before the red emergency lights turned on. Then, a low rumble ran though the entire base – like an earthquake. Ianto then rose to his knees and opened his mouth, letting out a scream that was anything but human.

Suddenly a crack appeared in the floor from the door of the conference room, running towards the large glass table. It cracked down the middle, splintering into dangerous shards that crashed onto the industrial floor. The crack then continued up the concrete wall to the plasma screen monitor mounted there, cracking it open and making sparks fly as it fell to the floor in jagged pieces. Jack and Owen stared on in horror as the metal rolling chairs they were seated in began to melt; the fabric and cushioning of the seats smoldering and catching fire. By then Tosh and Gwen had come up the chairs to find out what was going on and stood in shock along with the men, staring at the destruction happening within the room. Ianto then stood, his hands outstretched, his eyes an almost unearthly blue as he lifted his head to the ceiling and let out another almost unearthly scream.

But before anything else could happen, Jack walked over to Ianto and landed a hard punch to his jaw that mercifully knocked him out.

Jack shook his head. Yes…Ianto needed rest. Especially now that they had an inkling of what he could really do when pushed to his limits. Jack found the kettle and moved to the sink to fill it with water when Ianto finally started talking. Only…whoever it was he was talking to, it wasn't Jack. He was looking over at the empty chair on the other side of the kitchen table and was speaking to it in Welsh. Jack sighed then. He wasn't sure if Ianto would come back to them. He was still angry with the young man. He thought…after everything they had done together.

The boy lasted about four months before he ended up in Jack's bed. It was a chance encounter in the middle of the night – Ianto was coming out of the archives as Jack had come in from a night of standing on the roof of the Millennium Centre. Now he wondered if the boy ever slept. One moment they were speaking quietly, the next, Jack was kissing Ianto; the lost look on his face just needed to be kissed. The next, Ianto was practically attacking him, stripping off Jack's braces and shirt as Jack was ripping off his jacket, waistcoat, tie and shirt, desperate to touch the boy's skin. Briefly, he saw a burn mark on his chest in the form of a hand, but filed it away when Ianto began licking his neck. They landed in an untidy mess of undone clothing and limbs on the sofa under the Torchwood sign. It was Ianto's first time with a man…and Jack made sure it wouldn't be his last.

They both enjoyed themselves thoroughly during their nights of passion. But as soon as the sun was up and Ianto Jones donned his suit for the day, play time was over. He thought it was the boy trying to reconcile his feelings of betrayal to his dead girlfriend. He had no idea she was still alive. He surmised that perhaps their nights of passion were nothing more than well orchestrated diversions to keep him from finding out the truth. He just never thought…never in a million years…he was simply floored by the resourcefulness of his Archivist. His poor, broken Ianto. He looked up to the young man hunched over in the kitchen chair, looking across the table and chatting quietly to no one in the other chair in Welsh.

Oh…Ianto.

The kettle began whistling and Jack took it off the heat, and after dropping the teabags into two cups, searched the cupboards for food. He found nothing – no plates, cooking pots or pans, barely any cutlery. The cups he found for the tea were apparently the only dinnerware in use. Even the refrigerator was empty. Scarier still, it had all of the new appliance energy efficiency tags inside of it along with that new plastic smell.

Cursing spectacularly under his breath, he pulled out his mobile and dialed Tosh. Amazingly, Owen answered. Apparently the pair of them decided a piss up together wasn't a bad idea. Smiling, he then asked if either of them were up to doing a quick run at Sainsbury's because Ianto had nothing in his flat to eat. Tosh took the mobile then, and Jack could hear sounds of moving, then the quiet of the street as they left the pub.

The staples would be picked up so they could have tea that evening and a good breakfast the next day – then Jack would have to convince Ianto to go shopping in earnest. Tosh told Jack they should be done within an hour and if he could text her the address, they'd pop it over straight away.

'I didn't mean to take you away from the pub,' Jack said in apology. Owen spoke on the mobile then.

'No worries, Boss,' he said as they rounded the corner to the Sainsbury's at the end of the shopping district. 'The pub will still be open – and it's Fish and Chips Night. Tosh and I'll be fine.'

Once he rung off, he immediately texted directions to Tosh – then turned to look at the Welshman in question. He brought over the tea cups and placed one in front of him. How did I miss all of this? he asked himself. Easy, he answered himself. Too busy checking out his stunning arse, looking at how gorgeous he looked in – and out of his suits, never realizing he was working himself to death…

'Ianto,' he said softly aloud. The young man started, as if realizing for the first time that he wasn't alone. He ran dirty, shaking hands through his blood stained and unruly hair in a vain attempt to calm it. He then lowered his hands to straighten a tie that was no longer there.

'I'm…I'm sorry I lost control at the Hub, Sir,' Ianto said softly. 'I…That never should have happened.'

Jack cleared his throat. 'We'll take of that when you're better. Right now, I want you to drink up the tea. Then I'll help you get cleaned up. Tosh and Owen are doing a bit of shopping for you. You and I will do the serious shopping -.'

'I'm sorry, sir,' Ianto began, cutting Jack off and he realized that Ianto still wasn't quite with him. 'So sorry,' he whispered. 'Mam knew Lisa wasn't right. To be honest, so did I. But I didn't listen…I didn't want to believe. Kept…kept missing the forest for the trees, as one of my Psych Instructors would say.' He sighed at that point – and the tears began anew. 'Missed the forest for the fucking trees,' he murmured brokenly a few minutes later.

Sighing deeply, Jack rose from his chair, giving up on the warm tea ploy. He lifted the pliant Welshman from his seat and walked him to what he hoped was the bedroom. 'Ianto,' he said softly. 'I'm going to take you to your bathroom so you can get clean. By the time you are done, Tosh and Gwen should be around with the groceries. I'll order us some take-out tonight. What would you like?'

But Ianto wasn't speaking anymore. Jack sighed again.

We are in the Winter of Our Discontent, Jack heard a woman's voice say softly. He will come back to you when he is ready; but only when he is ready.

Jack started at that. It had been decades since he had experienced any type of psychic or paranormal activity; two in twenty-four hours was a bit much. Wait…there were actually three…

'Mam,' Ianto mumbled softly.

Jack undressed Ianto in his bedroom's ensuite, then walked him into the shower stall. Once he realized that Ianto still wasn't moving, he undressed as well and, turning the water on, joined him for a long, hot shower.

Ianto could feel the water, knew his was naked in a shower with Jack, but he couldn't have cared less. He felt so worthless…so…dirty. He became a whore to save Lisa…she probably would have laughed at the irony of it if she could. She would have laughed long and loud…because he liked having sex with Jack. Jack…made him feel…so much more. But he had used Jack to help Lis…that Cyber Thing. His Tad in his head muttered loudly that he deserved nothing more than death. He killed and maimed enough to get himself into Torchwood 3 – and for what?

When Jack hit him, he fell to the floor unconscious. He awoke as Jack had him cradled to his chest, carrying him to the disarrayed Autopsy Bay. He was marginally aware of Owen yelling things to Jack, Jack nodding and yelling things back – and Gwen and Tosh trying to make sense of all the equipment, cabinets and furniture tossed about or destroyed by Myfanwy and the Cyberwoman. He could hear them cleaning and commenting about how some things may have to be thrown out because of the damage.

That isn't their job, he thought, his mind locking onto what they were doing. It's MINE!

Tosh and Gwen yelped suddenly as a dented fifty kilo metal lock box they were trying to move lifted itself out of the tidal pool and slid quietly back into its place, its dents popping out and looking like new. Cleaning cloths, broom, mop and cleaning solutions then flew out from a cupboard in the kitchenette to the main area, and, in a scene reminiscent of The Sorcerer's Apprentice in Fantasia, the items began flying about the main area of the Hub, cleaning and straightening while damaged items began repairing themselves.

Gwen yelled for Jack at that point, and after a quick look at what was going on, he came back and held Ianto's head tenderly in his hands. 'Ianto,' he whispered as he looked into empty blue eyes staring straight through him that the night before were looking at him in adoration as he brought him to orgasm. 'Let us help you, Ianto. You are pushing yourself too hard. You are going to hurt yourself. Please Ianto. Please…stop.' He then took the young man into his arms and kissed him passionately, tenderly on his lips. After a few moments, he let Ianto go and stepped back. Ianto's almost dead open eyes showed no change, but everything stopped as suddenly as it had started. All the cleaning items clattered to the floor, startling everyone except for Ianto. Owen then cleared his throat.

'Let me do my job, Harkness,' he said softly. 'And you have to try and get me a complete medical file on him,' he finished nodding towards Ianto. 'Because his files say NOTHING of,' he flayed his arms over his head then. 'THIS!' he spat out.

~~TWTW~~

'Winter of our discontent,' Ianto muttered in the shower as Jack finished washing out the shampoo from Ianto's hair and the soap off of his body. He then cut the water and stepped out of the shower, found two fluffy bathsheets and, after securing one around his waist, wrapped Ianto in another and then began drying Ianto in earnest with a bath towel. In passing, Jack couldn't help but notice the good quality of the towels or how nice the sheets and duvet on Ianto's bed were as he headed into the ensuite. Ianto had very good taste.

'Thank you,' Ianto mumbled as Jack was moving them towards the bedroom. Jack sat him on the edge as he joined him on the bed.

'For what?' Jack asked as he continued to dry Ianto off.

'Complimenting my tastes,' Ianto answered. Jack stopped what he was doing and turned Ianto's face so he could look into his eyes. He smiled as tears came to his eyes.

'There you are,' Jack said softly. 'Thank you for coming back…to me,' Jack said softly.

'Mam said to take my time…but not too long because you were worried. I…I almost stayed. I…all I wanted was a loaded gun and little privacy. But Mam wouldn't let me be – said killing myself wouldn't end the pain…the shame of what I'm feeling. I'm…not all here yet,' Ianto answered. He then frowned. 'I'm not explaining myself well, am I?'

Jack chuckled then. 'As well as can be expected. I…I think I can live with that.'

Ianto hauled in a deep breath, then looked Jack in the face. 'I…was…am…ashamed of myself. I…never meant to hurt you, Jack. I…thought…I thought Doctor Tanazaki could help her…but all he did was reactivate the dormant programming hardwired into her new consciousness. She was gone! Whatever was left of her…it was… I…Oh, God! Tad was right! I am such a FREAK!' Ianto cried as he covered his face with his hands.

The last sentence was said with such vehement self-loathing that Jack took hold of the young man in a bone crushing hug. He could almost hear Alice Guppy calling him such things….

'You are NOT a freak, Ianto Jones,' Jack answered just as vehemently. 'You are just different – no more, no less. And that isn't a bad thing.'

'And yet…isn't that enough? Lisa and I rowed that day; the day of Canary Wharf,' Ianto said softly, his head resting against Jack's bare chest and shoulder. 'She was having an affair with someone from the Accounting Department.' Ianto snorted and pulled away from Jack, tears mixing in with his sobbing laughter. 'I…never realized how funny that sounds. It's…It's the first time I've ever said it aloud. I…I was a favorite of Yvonne's – because of my gifts. Lisa didn't know about them at first…and it wasn't like I advertised. She…thought I was sleeping with Yvonne. I guess it made it easier for her to cheat on me with Jeremy.' He scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed deeply. 'She…she was my first, you see. I…I was just so floored that she'd want to be seen with me…But Mam never liked her…and when I finally started to listen…to use what the Torchwood Instructors were teaching me, it was two years later and she was using me to see if she could get a better position within Torchwood. Jeremy was using her because he thought his dick was God's gift to women and hoped that he could also get a better position within Torchwood.' He sighed again. 'The day before the Canary Wharf Battle I found out about everything. Yvonne had an inkling something was going on, but had me meet Jeremy to confirm it. She didn't want internal conflict to affect my abilities. I know she thought she was doing me a favor… But there have been times since that I wondered if it would have been better to just let aliens take the damn planet.'

He turned to Jack, who had remained uncharacteristically silent. 'I don't know what I was expecting when I slept with you. With Lisa…it felt…cold. But with you…you were warm…alive. You were my first as well, as you know. Whatever it was originally meant to be…it became something else entirely didn't it?' He stood up then and, taking the towel from around his waist, stood naked in front of Jack as he dried his face and hair with it.

It took every ounce of control Jack Harkness possessed not to jump Ianto right then and there, the bizarre circumstances surrounding them at the moment be damned. Ianto stopped drying his hair and turned to Jack as if he'd just let out a wolf whistle and covered himself with the towel.

'Sorry,' he mumbled apologetically. 'I'm…still not all here…yet. I…I can hear everything. My…shields, for better explanation, are all down. I'm hearing you…the neighbors in the building. Everything.'

Jack was intrigued. 'Like what?'

'The lady in 3A is hoping her cat will be okay at the vet's surgery. It will make a full recovery. The couple below us – flat 2D? She's pregnant and delighted; he's ready to bolt because he wanted to break off with her anyway. He'll finally leave when the kids are seven, five and four respectively. The neighbor next door – nice gent…he just passed away,' he said, he voice taking on a sad ethereal quality. 'We'll have to call 999.' Ianto sighed then. 'A shame really…he was a nice neighbor.'

'I'll give 999 a call-,' Jack began.

'No need,' Ianto whispered; a small grim smile on his lips. 'They know…I just told their computer system.'

Jack sat a little straighter at that. 'You can do that?'

Ianto simply nodded. 'Courtesy of Torchwood London. My mam may have been friends with Yvonne Hartmann, but she trusted her about as far as she could throw her. She tried to keep everyone that wanted a piece of me away…but in the end it was better to work with the devil that knew you and paid well.' He sighed again. 'I don't know if I ever really loved Lisa, or if it was more of what she represented. She was normal…but she was also cruel. I was used to it; my Tad was an absolute monster at times. He tried to teach me a lesson by breaking my leg on a swing set when I was ten at the local park. He was in a rage over something or other and decided to take it out on me.'

He sighed unhappily then. 'Rhia, my sister, was more like him; down to earth, happy with living in the estates. I was more like Mam; I just saw things differently. I knew and felt that there was just more to life…and I knew that if I stayed in the estates, I'd never see it. He hated that about me, hated how I excelled in any class I took. I could see it in his mind… When I was sixteen I passed all my A levels…and then I was gone.

'I did something to him that day at the park…I remember laying on the rubber mat underneath the swing, him yelling out for help while cursing at me under his breath, telling me not to tell if I knew what was for my own good. He stunk of sweat and drink…and something inside of me snapped. I looked at him…I could see his heart…and I crushed it in my mind's eye. When the ambos came for me, they had to take him in as well. Small stroke, they said. He didn't die then, but he never laid a hand on me again.

Cambridge gave me a full scholarship…and four days after my eighteenth birthday, Tad died…massive heart attack. I had heard from Rhia the day before – she said Mam had taken out a life insurance policy on herself and Tad was ticked because he wasn't the primary beneficiary…I was. I was so angry…I just saw his heart in my head…and I crushed it again…and he died.' He went silent then and looked into Jack's eyes.

'I…killed UNIT members that knew of me…that wanted me. I needed to keep my name off of their radars…so that I could work for you…for Lisa. They've been hot for me since the day I was born. I erased my records from the Torchwood and UNIT databases and put in the one you have now.' He smiled then. 'You have no idea how hard it was to look worried when you rattled off the 'stats' of my fake CV when I showed up on the docks with that cup of coffee for you.' The smile melted off of his face as he moved to a chest and opened a drawer to pull out two pairs of boxers.

After making sure his were on properly, he dropped his towel and threw the second pair at Jack. 'Tosh and Owen are almost here. Those should fit you…I. I want to stay in here until they leave if you don't mind.'

Jack nodded and put the boxers on quickly underneath the bathsheet before stripping it off and walking into the ensuite to get dressed. He chucked Ianto's discarded clothes into the bin and returned to the bedroom to find Ianto dressed in a dark shirt and dark pajama bottoms that reminded him of his dark button down shirt and tight jeans…just like from the first night that they met in Bute Park…the Weevil attack… Ianto hissed then and turned to Jack, his face contorted in pain. Jack immediately rushed to him, putting one hand on the top of Ianto's head, the other over his right temple.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered softly. 'I didn't mean -.'

'How can you forgive me?' Ianto asked through clenched teeth, cutting off the rest of what Jack was going to say. 'I used you! I whored myself out to keep you occupied – and away from a creature that could have destroyed the world! I was no better than a hustling rent boy! And I did all of that for a creature that when it was human would have sold me out in a heartbeat! That was sleeping with me for a better flat, a raise in pay and maybe a bloody company car!'

'But what we did…it became something else for you, right? Something more?' Jack asked him huskily. Ianto nodded slowly as fat tears rolled down his cheeks and onto Jack's hand. He turned him around, holding Ianto's face in one hand while wrapping the other around his waist to pull him flush against his body. Ianto put one hand to the bruise on Jack's lip from where he had hit him, crying silently and closing his eyes. 'It became something more for me as well,' Jack answered as he took Ianto's lips in nothing short of a soul stealing kiss.

They both pulled apart slowly, Jack kissed both of Ianto's eyelids, the tip of his nose and his lips softly. 'I forgive you, Ianto. I…I know a thing or two about psychics…I may be able to help you control your gifts better…and what UNIT doesn't know won't kill them. Please, Ianto. Let me help you.'

Ianto leaned his head into Jack's and nodded slowly. 'Tosh and Owen are downstairs,' he said softly. 'And – if you're still going to order take-out for dinner, Chinese is fine for me.'

Jack tucked him into the bed just as the front door buzzer went off. Jack went to the telephone to let them in then found the boxes from Ianto's hasty move from London to Cardiff in the 2nd bedroom. As soon as he let Tosh and Owen in, Owen went immediately into Doctor mode and asked about his patient. Jack said he'd be waiting for him tomorrow, then thanked the pair for coming over and ushered them out. Going through the bags, he found cheese, crackers and grapes along with a chocolate gateau and good coffee beans. He hoped Ianto had a grinder and good coffee machine. He also found eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes and a can of beans for a full English Breakfast along with bread and bacon. He called in an order of Chinese food for the pair of them and went back to check on Ianto in the bedroom. He appeared to be sleeping, albeit fitfully.

Watch over him, Captain, a woman's voice said in his ear. Watch over my son.

'I will,' Jack answered softly. 'I will.'

~~TWTWTW~~

Four weeks later, a well rested and impeccably suited Ianto Jones walked through the cog door into the main area of the Hub. The alarm alerted the others to his arrival; Owen rose up from the Med bay, Tosh stood from her terminal – and Jack and Gwen looked down at him from the conference room.

Jack nodded to him as he heard the now familiar well-like echo of Jack's thoughts in his head: Welcome back, Jones Ianto Jones.

He nodded in return as Tosh gathered him in her arms, giving him a heartfelt hug. Owen then dragged him down to the Med Bay, time for another checkup.

'Do you think he will stay?' Gwen asked Jack as they watched Owen take the Welshman away.

'Yes,' Jack answered simply. 'And not because he thinks he has nowhere to go. He'll stay because he wants to. Because…I asked him to.'

A/N: I know I could have pushed this farther – but I figured this was as good a place as any to stop. Next up: Small World and the Fairies – I've called it The Stolen Child which is the poem uttered by the Fairies and is by the famous poet W.B. Yates. We'll see what they make of Ianto…and what he makes of them.

Please R&R…it's Manna from the Web…honestly.