Whoaaa. Twenty eight story alerts, six favorites, and one favorite author?! *Feels the love*
And since I feel kind of late in doing this, I'm going to reply to the reviews I got, considering I think that's a polite thing to do when someone reviews your story. Thank you to all of you who reviewed my story, by the way. It makes me want to write more of it, and is also giving me an inflated ego (kidding, kidding). SO. REPLIES TO REVIEWS:
1) Rosieposy: I know, three chapters after you reviewed, sorry! But thank you for reviewing, and I really hope this kept your attention so far!
2) mama rocks: Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you're still reading and liking the story!
3) Aviv b: Thanks! I'm glad that I seem to be improving on the whole 'angsty' thing, considering I've been told before that I'm not very good at it.
4) the darkness revealed: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!
5) doctor-who-fangirl: Thank you! I'm glad I captured Ianto's character well, considering how worried I was that I was going to completely botch up the characters.
6) captain-ally: Ahh! Thank you! And, by the way, I've been reading one of your Torchwood stories (The Crullest Choice) and absolutely adore it! I keep meaning to add it to my favorites list...
7) katwinchester: Glad you're enjoying it! Hope you like this chapter!
8) mitziplz: Your review made me giggle xD. Thank you very much, and I hope you like this chapter!
9) Viva Para Amar: Give you more? Well, here you go! And thank you very much for the review!!
Anyway, enjoy chapter four!!
Chapter Four
Ianto liked to think that he could believe in a great deal of things. After all, the unexpected was always the expected in his line of work. Yet he found it rather hard to believe the words that came out of Jack's mouth as the entire team stood gathered in the room. Fairies? He didn't think - believe, for that matter - that there was such a thing. It was the fantasy of children. It was utterly and completely stupid to believe in such a thing.
With this thought still in mind, he couldn't help a sarcastic comment as he set down Jack's coffee. "I blame it on magic mushrooms."
Ianto didn't miss the look Jack gave him, the man's blue eyes narrowed slightly. "What you do in your own time is none of our business." He blinked, but didn't dwell too much on the comment. For a moment Ianto had thought that their conversation from earlier had been forgotten, but apparently not if Jack was still sore about it. He leaned back against the wall of the room, listening with a blank face as the rest of the Torchwood team continued on with getting up-to-date on what Jack had found.
Once it was all finished and most of the team had disappeared to their stations, Ianto moved around to collect the empty coffee mugs, feeling a small bit of annoyance that they couldn't seem to do it for themselves. The Welshman stopped, however, when he felt a hold on his upper arm and turned slightly. A second later, he took a startled step back when Jack's face appeared an inch or so from his.
Bloody hell.
"We still need to talk, Ianto." Jack muttered, moving slightly back. "And I'd like if we could after this case. I want to clear things up, just so we're on the same page. It'll make things easier for everyone."
Before Ianto had a chance to respond, Tosh's voice floated up to them, announcing some sort of emergency. Funny weather patterns again.
Out of all the cases Torchwood 3 had been on since his time of joining them, Ianto could never recall a time when he'd been more happy to not be directly involved. The entire case wasn't going over too well, and two deaths had been the result thus far. Apparently, one of them had been a close friend of Jack's, as the man had stormed through the Hub and then disappeared into his office a few moments later.
Ianto frowned, watching Jack disappear, then turned as Gwen walked in. She looked upset, biting her lower lip and settling down at her station. The Welshman paused for an instant, then started toward the dark haired woman. "Gwen?" He started softly, watching as she turned towards him, a small frown on her lips. "What's going on?"
"Did Jack ever mention an Estelle to you?"
A pause as he considered, a small crease between Ianto's eyes as he looked off into the distance for a moment. Estelle. After a moment, he gave a small nod. "Yes. Very briefly, though. It seemed like a rather sore topic, so I didn't push it." And, judging from Jack's expression at the time, it had been a slip up. After that entire thing, Jack didn't drink when they were alone together. "Why?"
"She's dead."
Ianto blinked, watching as Gwen's eyes filled with tears. He saw Owen shake his head, and had to stop himself from doing the same. They all knew Gwen wouldn't last long in Torchwood if she kept getting too emotionally attached to every case. The Welshman didn't say anything, however, merely gave a faint nod. "Ah." Then there was little wonder that Jack was so upset. From what Ianto had been able to read from the other man's tone at the time he'd said Estelle's name, the woman had been a very important person in his life. Frowning, Ianto quickly decided what he was going to do. "Excuse me." He muttered to Gwen, then turned and headed up towards Jack's office.
He wasn't quite sure why he was doing this - going to comfort the one man that he didn't want that sort of contact with. However, Ianto figured Jack would have done the same for him. He had, for a little, after Lisa had died. Not in the best manner, but at least the captain had tried to be there.
Steeling himself. Ianto slowly pushed the office door open and found Jack sitting at his chair behind the desk. There were tear tracks down the man's face, and he glanced up sharply when the door opened. A slight bit of tension left Jack's shoulders at the sight of Ianto, and he lifted his head a bit more, obviously trying to look completely relaxed and at peace despite the tears.
Ianto moved forward slowly, unsure of how Jack would take it. "Jack." He sat down at the edge of the desk, his eyes falling to stare with concern at his boss' slowly crumbling expression. The Welshman paused, then placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. A second later, he felt himself engulfed in something like a bear hug, shifting uncomfortably and then wrapping his arms slowly around Jack's waist as wetness seeped through his suit jacket. Pausing a second, Ianto rubbed a hand slowly up and down the older man's back, closing his eyes and fighting back the weird feeling that came with seeing the usual stoic Jack cry.
Opting for silence, Ianto offered what little comfort he could for Jack's grief, merely sitting there and holding the captain in a loose grip. After a minute or two, he felt Jack stiffen then withdraw from the grasp, straightening. His face was blank, the slightly familiar arrogant mask sliding back into place. Still, Jack tilted his head slightly in thanks. Ianto gave him a faint smile, then headed out of the office, more confused than he cared to admit.
He really needed to figure out if he liked Jack or not. All of the back and forth stuff was giving him a bloody headache.
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