Chapter Three - Ianto Jones:

It was quite in the hub now. Jack had sent Gwen home an hour ago. It was now 7:30pm and they hadn't gone back down to the cells since Jack returned. He tried to keep his mind busy, shuffling through paper work, thinking about doing it but convincing himself it wasn't important and that it could wait. He tidied up his office a little, sipped the coffee Gwen made him before she left, only now did he notice that - although Gwen had gotten good at making coffee - now that there was no one else to make it - that it still didn't taste the way Ianto used to make it. It was drinkable and tasted like a coffee shop coffee but it wasn't a Ianto coffee. There was something Ianto did that made his coffee the best coffee in the universe, no matter where you went, you would never find anything that tasted better. He looked over the rebuilt Hub as he stood in his office doorway. It was similar to the old one, it took a year to get it rebuilt and working the way it used to. It looked mostly the same but there were a few differences. The cells now covered the whole bottom level, the target shooting room was on the other side, one level below. The offices had been relocated to different sides of the main area, little things like that. He was surprised that Rhys allowed Gwen to return to Torchwood, after everything. He was grateful because he wouldn't have been able to handle everything alone. This place felt empty now, one year in this place and it still didn't feel like home. Something was missing, there were still a few things he had to put in the Hub, there wasn't a conference room anymore, he also wanted to put in a panic room, for break ins and emergencies. There were a lot of things he wanted to add, an actual bedroom for himself because he was currently sleeping on the sofa in his office. He felt like none of the things he wanted to add, would make the difference and he couldn't figure out why.

Sighing loudly he walked back into his office, sat at his desk and pulled up the cells that Ianto and Efa were staying in on the CCTV and he watched them... Well, he watched Ianto. The girl seemed to be a little on edge but trying not to show it, she acted cool and calm, laying down as if trying to sleep. Ianto was asleep. Jack, intentionally, smiled at the sight. Ianto, whether that was the real Ianto or not, looked so cute while he slept and Jack had missed watching him sleep and hearing his small light breaths. He let out another deep sigh and went down to the cells, he lent against an empty one and looked over at 'Ianto'. He could tell that Efa was still awake, she laid perfectly still, not looking at him, not in anyway draw attention to herself. She wasn't trying to hard to appear asleep but she wasn't exactly not trying to pretend she was asleep. She was quiet and still, waiting to see what he was going to do. Her eyes were closed but she could hear the silence, the only sound was breathing. She wanted to talk to Jack, she wanted to ask him why he was doing this, where she was, who he was. What happened. Even in a situation like this she couldn't hide her curiosity. Eventually she sat up and pressed her back against the cell door, staring at Jack through the glass, his eyes never left the sleeping Ianto, who layed curled up and the ledge attached the left hand wall, that had a pillow no more comfortable that concrete.
"You're Jack, aren't you?" she asked, hating how shaking her voice sounded.
"Yes" Jack replied simply. His blue eyes still fix on Ianto who stirred a little in his sleep, turning over to face the other way. Jack smiled slightly again, it really is a sight to behold.

"Who are you?" Efa questioned, she wasn't about to let him keep her here without knowing what was really going on. She wasn't going to be a quite prisoner, who wallowed in self pity while sitting in their cell doing as they were told.

"Captain Jack Harkness" he told her, finally taking his eyes off Ianto and looking at her. He saw her red eyes, blotchy face and tear stained cheeks.

"He's been searching for you... You two were a couple, right?" she asked, stretching her legs out in front of her.
Jacks eyes darted away from her, falling to his lap and then gazing back at Ianto. It was difficult question to answer. They had been in a relationship (he chose to use 'had' because it was unclear that even if this was his Ianto, would the relationship still be going on?) but they never talked about they were exactly. Neither of them liked the word couple. They never said that they loved each other either, Ianto said it when he was dying but that's what people do when they're dying. He knew that he loved Ianto and he knew that Ianto loved him. Ianto never said it because Jack never said it and Jack never said it because he was afraid to say it. Saying it made it real and when it was real, it got scary because as soon as you say the word love, you commit to it and whatever he loved and committed to was taken from him just as quickly as it came.

"He did love you and I'm sure he still does" her voice was soft .

Jack didn't understand why she was being so nice to him when he had locked her up in a cell and made no promises about ever letting her out.
"I know he did... But that can't actually be my Ianto" Jack told her after a pause.

"It seems impossible doesn't it" she put in. "It seems like something out of a horror movie, the dead come back to life and they're not the same as they were when they left, people die and it turns out it was them all along and then they have to be killed again before they wipe out the entire human race... He doesn't look like a homicidal maniac to me."
"They never do" Jack told her, crossing his arms across his chest. "I guess we were a couple, or like one. I never meant for a relationship to form. My intentions were just to get closer to him. I wanted to be close but I didn't want to fall in love with him, I couldn't afford to and I still can't afford to. It was, at first, just sex. Then, something happened and I asked him on a date... Things got serious and then, I lost him."
"Now, you've got him back."
"How do you know Ianto?"
"I don't know him, personally. I just gave him a lift here"
"Why?"
"He asked me too."
"That's it?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly?"

She was about to contuie when Ianto stirred a little more and then Jack got up and rushed out, fearing that he'd woken Ianto up. He went back into his office and looked at CCTV. Efa hadn't moved an inch, Ianto stirred again and then rubbed his eyes, sitting up, stretching and looking around, as if remembering where he was, then it settled in and lent against the wall, head back, arms crossed.

Efa was wrong, it wasn't like a horror movie at all. It was like a dream and that's what scared Jack the most, it either was a dream and it would soon be ending, he'd wake up on the sofa, Ianto still dead and having to carry on as normal or it was real but soon about to take such a horrible turn that he wished it was a dream. And since in dreams you don't know it's all a dream, it had to be real. Jack turned the CCTV off and once again set about shuffling through his paper work.

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