Once Gifford and Stewart were placed in their cells, Jack turned to Owen and said, "Ianto is going to need a standard check-up for any injuries."

"I'm fine," Ianto insisted.

"You're getting it," Jack said. "That's why it's called a standard check-up."

"What the hell happened?" Owen asked.

Jack gestured to Torchwood's latest visitors, "Stewart rammed Ianto in a wall. And Gifford -"

"Jesus!" Gwen cried. "Are you all right, love? Jack, I told you that he didn't have enough field training."

"Like you had a whole lot of training when I threw you out there," Jack retorted.

"Well, I am a trained police woman."

"Yeah, you know what we all think of Cardiff's finest around here," Owen scoffed.

"I'm fine, by the way," Ianto muttered.

"So what did Gifford do to the tea-boy?" Owen asked.

"Gifford jumped on top of him and tried to gouge out his eyes," Jack answered.

"Him?" Owen asked, reveling in the shadenfreuden of the story. "He's a fucking stick figure, and he pinned down Ianto?"

The young man replied, "He was a raving, bloodthirsty lunatic at the time."

"Besides," Jack added with a pat on Ianto's shoulder. "Ianto held him in position so I could sedate him." His hand began to drift lower.

The tea-boy nonchalantly removed Jack's hand from his arse and replied, "That's our Captain. He's always got my back."

xxxx

Owen found some bruises on Ianto's back but nothing else, and then they all went back to work, seamlessly stepping into their regular roles. Ianto made coffee while Jack went into the boardroom for his video conference with the Prime Minister.

All in all it wasn't a bad meeting until she suggested that they round up all the Weevils and place them in a "sanctuary" that sounded more like the detention center the Americans ran at Guantanamo Bay. It got worse when Jack mentioned the Doctor. Tempers flared. Voices were raised. Words that shouldn't be uttered in polite company were spoken. A cage match with psycho Max would have been preferable to that nonsense.

Jack finally logged off and lamented that the action didn't have the same melodramatic effect that hanging up on someone did. While he often hated the backward nature of 21st Century technology, there was something so visceral and pleasurable about being able to slam the mouthpiece into the receiver.

Jack got up from his chair and stretched. He walked over to the window and looked down on the main floor where Ianto appeared to be the center of attention. He read something out loud to the rest of team, which resulted in a vote. Owen was the single member of the opposition, and Gwen playfully kicked his rear while Tosh giggled.

Jack delighted in seeing Ianto taking his place in the team, just like he wanted, but he also understood that while the young man may have had a good day, he may feel differently the next. Another tragedy could push him further into shell; sometimes, a simple act could cause a shift in his perspective.

Jack thought about how Ianto had left things the previous night.

xxxx

Ianto sat in Jack's chair with his feet on the desk and his arm tucked behind his head, wearing nothing but his tie around his neck. After rounds of sex, he was exhausted.

"I should go before I fall asleep right here," Ianto said.

"Are you going to make it home okay?" Jack asked. "I can drive you home if you need it."

"That won't be necessary." was his polite reply.

They both got dressed in silence, passing each other articles of clothing as if they were dreaded pieces of paperwork, fumbling over buttons and zippers in the sudden awareness of what just happened. The spell was broken. That feeling of camaraderie that fueled the evening's hi-jinks dissipated in the air. The scene resembled closing time in a bar when the manager turned on the lights to chase away the customers, forcing everyone to become their regular selves instead of the fun-loving revelers they wanted to be.

"I'll take care of the CCTV footage," Jack offered.

"Thank you," Ianto replied. "Well, that's it, then."

"I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

Ianto faced Jack awkwardly and extended his hand. He wore the expression of a man who, after revealing some vulnerability, was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Slightly bemused and more that a little perplexed, Jack shook Ianto's hand before sitting in his desk and checking up on the rift monitor. He kept his eyes on the screen like it was the most interesting thing in the world, even though there was barely a blip, until the young man left. He listened to the cog door as it shut, and only then did he exhale.

xxxx

"Jack?"

"Yes, Gwen?" he replied as he broke out of his daydream.

"I can tell by the look on your face that your conference thingie with the Prime Minister didn't go so well."

"It's always fun until someone mentions alien itinerant camps."

"Do you need anything?"

"No," Jack said as he spied a bottle of aspirin on the table. Once again, the young man had anticipated his needs. He picked it up and shook it like a rattle. "Ianto's got it covered."

xxxx

At the end of the day, after Gwen, Tosh and Owen had gone home, Jack went down into the cells where Max, Simon Stewart, and Michael Gifford were being held.

Jack sat on the floor like the rest of them and asked, "So Max, did Simon do that tattoo on your arm?"

No answer.

Jack tried again, "Is Citizen Kane truly the greatest film ever made? Discuss."

None of them had said a word for hours. They sat listlessly with vacant gazes, but Owen and Tosh had hope that they would gradually regain their own personalities in two week's time.

"Greatest?" Ianto asked as he stepped into the room. "That really depends on your criteria, but with its use of flashbacks, inventive camera shots and clever montage to advance the plot, surely, Citizen Kane has made a great impact on the art of film-making. What do you think, Mr. Gifford?"

When Gifford burped, Ianto whispered to Jack, "Maybe they've never seen Citizen Kane."

Jack gasped in mock disbelief, "Those poor, deprived souls."

"Maybe they're not film buffs," Ianto reasoned.

"Maybe I should have said Shawshank Redemption."

"You don't want to give them any ideas," Ianto replied as he sat down on the floor next to Jack, crossing his legs in front of him.

"What about your suit? You don't want to get it dirty."

"After all the abuse it's taken today, it doesn't matter," Ianto said.

Jack nodded in their guests' direction, "They do look peaceful."

"I'd say catatonic is a more accurate description."

"I'm trying to be optimistic here."

"Fine. You do that," Ianto said with a shrug. "You know, I didn't realize that your were so hard up for someone to talk to."

"Seems like a running theme around here," Jack replied. After a beat, he added, "We didn't get a chance to talk last night."

"We did talk. No, I take that back. You talked; you rambled on and on about your adventures," Ianto teased with more affection than malice. "You even tried to feed me some bullshit story about how Alfred Kinsey tried to take your sexual history."

"Hey, that was true. He had to stop when his hand cramped from filling in all those little boxes."

"And, then you massaged it," Ianto continued. "One thing led to another, and somewhere in the sex library that bears Dr. Kinsey's name is a home-made porno starring the pair of you."

"With special appearances from his wife and a couple of his fellows. You know that I am willing to make any contribution to the advancement of science," Jack bragged.

"Your generosity is blinding."

"And I swear on Myfanwy's life that story is true."

"You leave her out of it," Ianto snapped back.

"Fine. I'll swear on Janet's," Jack replied. Then, he took a deep breath and said, "But when I said we didn't talk, I meant about something else."

"I know," Ianto murmured.

"So last night…"

"Last night was…" Ianto's eyebrow lifted as he searched for the right word. "Pleasant."

Jack scoffed. "Pleasant?"

"I'm sorry, but were you fishing for compliments?" Ianto teased with a wicked smile. "Because that is so beneath you."

Jack considered wrestling Ianto to the floor and sitting on his face until the young man called out 'uncle.' Instead, he chose to brush the comment aside and try to have a real conversation. "Today. The field work. It was your reward for last night."

"I knew it," Ianto muttered cynically.

"I did mean it when I said that I am appreciative of your talent, and I do believe that you have potential."

"Look, I didn't offer myself to you thinking that I could get ahead."

"I didn't say that, nor did I mean to imply it," Jack said, but Ianto wasn't buying it. So, he found himself ranting, "Okay, I'll admit to being slightly shallow about wanting you by my side so that I could lust after you. There's nothing like the sight of a gorgeous man to raise the old testosterone levels. Sue me.

"However, last night... after weeks of the two of us fluctuating between all that tension and some empty form of auto-pilot, I felt like I was beginning to see the real you, like I was finally getting through some of those boundaries that you use to shut people out. Last night, when we were together, you seemed receptive and open. You trusted me, and that made me think that you might be ready to become a stronger part of the team."

"I would like that," Ianto replied softly. "I would like to do more for you and the team."

"If you think the sex would get in the way of that, then last night was fun, but we'll leave it at that, okay?" Jack offered. He moved over so that he was facing Ianto, placed a hand on the young man's cheek, and said with a huge grin, "I have so much to teach you."

Ianto took Jack's hand and held it in his lap, caressing it with his thumb. Both men gazed fixedly at their hands, neither one of them saying a word for what seemed like an eternity. Jack's heart seemed to beat in his throat, but he didn't want to be the first to say anything. He didn't want to look up either because if he did, he knew that his sexual urges would catch up to him.

Ianto dropped Jack's hand. "Sir," he whispered. He leaned forward and kissed Jack gently.

Jack slipped his tongue inside the young man's mouth. He could feel Ianto's smile against his lips, which filled him with relief. If the young man had rejected him sexually, he didn't know how he would handle two relationships fraught with sexual tension.

Ianto broke the kiss and leaned back into the wall, "About last night… what I wanted was to make you feel good. What I needed was to feel something other than pain… well, the bad kind of pain. And don't forget that I came on to you. I knew what I wanted. It took me a while to ask for it because… you know."

"Yeah," Jack said somberly.

"But I knew what I wanted. I know what I want. Perhaps it's the best decision that I've made; perhaps it's the worst. But I know what I want."

"So maybe we lay down some ground rules," Jack suggested.

"Seems reasonable."

Jack sat next to Ianto and leaned against him. "You start."

"I'll repeat what I said earlier. I do not want to be treated any differently at work because we are shagging."

"Trust me," Jack replied. "You are not getting out of your regular duties. You are still cleaning up after Myfanwy and fetching my coffee and feeding us all. Although, maybe when we're alone, if you want to serve me my food whilst dressed like Ganymede, I wouldn't object."

"Oh, look who has a Zeus complex," Ianto sighed.

"I'll even throw in a blow job as a tip."

"Ha!" Ianto laughed. "Well, I do think we should keep things to ourselves. I don't need Owen's commentary about our arrangement, nor could I deal with Gwen's reaction if she knew. And Tosh…"

"You can tell Tosh if your swear her to secrecy."

"I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that. For some reason, I kind of like the idea of keeping this a secret."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jack teased. "But I do get to flirt with you in front of them. They might catch on to us if I don't."

"As long as I get to put you in your place, agreed. I am not a sex object."

"I know my next request is work-related, but since we're laying the rules, let's try to keep the dangerous field assignments to a minimum until you've had some proper training."

"I thank you. My back thanks you," Ianto said graciously.

"Of course, that will mean working longer hours so that I can work with you on some basic skills. You know, interrogation techniques, hand-to-hand combat…"

"Learning how to take down very bad men?" Ianto asked as he traced a finger along Jack's thigh.

Jack stopped Ianto's hand. He straightened himself up to show his employee that he was serious again. "Now, there's one thing I need to be perfectly clear about. We're not a couple. We're not exclusive. I shag whomever I want, whenever I want."

"But I was going to introduce you to my family," Ianto said, his voice laden with sarcasm. "We were going to go on a mini-break in Paris. Then, a June wedding. Our children would be named -"

"That's enough of that, Mr. Smart Ass."

"And I thought that we weren't going to treat each other any differently. If you want my ass for whatever reason you see fit, you're going to have to accept the snark that comes along with it."

"You'd dish out the sarcasm even if we weren't having sex," Jack complained.

Ianto considered this and deadpanned, "Yes. That is true."

"Oh, the crap that I have to deal with from my employees," Jack moaned.

"Sucks to be you."

"You suck."

"That's your best comeback?" Ianto scoffed. "God. Perhaps I have a few things to teach you."

"Yeah?" Jack asked as he nipped Ianto's chin. "Because you know I've seen it all."

"So says your Kinsey survey."

"Hey. Shut up," Jack said before kissing Ianto again.

"Hello?" Max groaned in his cell. "Where the hell am I?"

Both men jumped to their feet. Jack typed a few things into his wrist strap and confirmed a change in the victim's brainwaves, suggesting that he was indeed lucid.

"Don't worry," Jack assured him. "You are perfectly safe. You're at Tor-"

"Shh," Ianto hissed. "You don't want to say the magic word."

"There's something wrong with you, and we're here to treat you," Jack said, but by the time he finished his sentence, Max spaced out again.

"You don't think he heard our conversation?" Ianto asked.

"No. I'm pretty sure he didn't," Jack replied.

"But he did see us kiss. He might tell the others."

"So we'll retcon him."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Ianto asked. "That's how he got into this mess in the first place."

"Then, we'll tell him he was having a very hot hallucination."

Ianto mulled over the idea, before raising an eyebrow in tentative approval. "Right, but let's get out of here."

Jack snickered, "You know, if you hadn't stopped me, I might have said 'Torchwood.'"

Suddenly, all three guests flew into a flying rage and pounded the Plexiglas. Ianto screamed in fright, and Jack was a bit spooked. The guests returned to their zoned out state after ten seconds, and Ianto relaxed a little. However, he had a death grip on Jack's arm.

Trying to recover his wits, Ianto commented, "I didn't expect to hear that in surround sound."

"Do you want something to take the edge off?" Jack murmured.

"What do you have in mind?"

Jack traced Ianto's bottom lip with his thumb and replied, "Step into my office."