3

Jack was disappointed in the team's response to the Jasmine drama, his explanations falling on deaf ears and as he stood in the shower with his back against the wall and his head tilted back to enjoy the water he wondered why the hell he bothered sometimes.

Sure, this was the Doctor's favourite planet and most likely to be where they would meet again but was it worth this shit?

He was first aware of his shower companion when lips gently sucked the tip of his penis in and he grunted, looking down as Ianto then devoured his entire length in that way he was deft at. Jack groaned and forced his palms against the tiles, remembering Ianto's dislike of touch and concentrated on breathing as he was treated to a rare and wonderful blow job. The humming was too much and Jack grunted as a finger breached to encourage his stress away and he found himself sitting in the bottom of the shower with those same lips suctioned to his in a kiss that blew his mind as much as they had blown his little Captain.

Ianto stroked Jack's forehead as he crooned, then he washed Jack's hair and kissed him once more, leaning in to whisper, "Get up. Tosh is about to arrive, it's morning Cariad."

By the time Jack exited the bathroom his clothes were laid out and Ianto was gone. A mirage. A dream.

A fucking god.

Jack was both confused by the sudden resuming of their sexlife and heartened that it might hearald his letting go of her.

"Well team, another thrilling day in the life?" Jack asked as he stepped out onto the catwalk to look down at the bowed heads, Owen the first to look up and frown, "You never wear a waistcoat!"

"Do so!" Jack replied, "Just haven't for a long time. Forgot how comforting they are, like a warm hug. So what, you never wear that T-shirt either."

"Do so, just don't see it under my jacket!" Owen replied, then he went back to his game.

OK, that one seemed OK. He looked at Gwen who was laughing at something on her screen as Toshiko leaned forward so her nose was almost touching her own screen. Ianto walked over and calmly spoke, pulling her back into his space as he leaned forward to whisper something and she smiled softly as she looked down at the cup of green tea he was placing down next to her glasses. She slipped them on and continued at a more normal distance, Ianto continued his slow walk.

Jack just could not work him out. It was not often that he met someone that was naturally gifted like him, able to glean and adjust to peoples' needs while at the same time appearing so insignificant that they didn't realise what he was doing for them, to them.

Jack thought back to that night, Ianto on his knees with his hands laced behind his head looking up at Jack accusing him of not loving. Not loving. Jesus. If he could just turn his heart off he might be able to walk away from this shitty bloody life he didn't want. He might have started this to be where he could see the Doctor again but he had fought and clawed his way through decades…fuck. Millennia to be here and now he was he didn't want to go anywhere.

He sometimes imagines the Doctor turning up and him looking the man in the eye as he tells him he is not going with him, he has a job to do. You know. All noble and shit. Then he snorts at the absurdity of it all.

Ianto was ghosting again, this time glancing up and making eye contact before he looked away.

Ianto.

Jack just couldn't get a grip on him, not like the others who his mind had latched onto easily. Owen with his raw pain and self hatred. Toshiko with her regret and desire to please. Gwen …well. She was hungry. He felt himself in her, that raw need to devour and conquer.

Ianto was an enigma. The amount of firewalls and shielding he had around him made Jack's attempts at the mind touch impossible. Almost like he was repelling him on purpose. Of course Jack had read his file and knew that Ianto had no idea of his abilities, like most of Yvonne's pets he was simply there to toy with.

Ianto looked up again and Jack realised he was thinking about her.

She had snuck in under Yvonne's memory and was standing in the back of his mind, her shiny metal casing harsh.

Ianto's eyes seemed to bore into him as he looked down at him, then Jack focused in Ianto's tie. Red today, looked good on him. Classy with a touch of politician.

Ianto's hand moved to his chest and his fingers touched the tie gently as he looked up, then he blushed. His eyes widening for a moment and a flicker of a smile at the corners of his mouth before Owen curded loudly and broke the contact, Ianto looking over at where the little bastard was complaining as more files slid from his desk.

The spell was broken but for that moment Jack had finally felt something from behind the wall of silence.

Amusement?