MAGIC AND MYSTERY

TWTWTW

It had been a less than exciting day at Torchwood when the creature appeared. Ianto was delivering yet another round of drinks, Gwen was filing her nails, Jack was brooding in his office and Owen was playing video games. Only Toshiko was busy, she was trying to fine tune her rift prediction programme and was running data through the computer whilst working calculations on her notepad.

The sudden appearance of a small and very old man in the middle of the hub left them all befuddled momentarily before the hub alarms screeched and four guns were trained at the intruder. Ianto merely looked on at the scene before him.

He looks like the dwarf from the Lord of the Rings trilogy thought Ianto smiling to himself at the absurdity of it all. Jack shouted from the stairwell.

'Stand down' he yelled to the team.

They looked at him in confusion. There was a small humanoid male who had suddenly appeared without warning in the middle of the hub and Jack did not seem to think him a threat.

'A wise move' smiled the male as the team lowered their guns.

The creature turned towards Ianto.

'Although this one did not threaten me, why was that?' he enquired.

Ianto answered him in his usual polite manner.

'I assumed if the first four bullets did not kill you then my fifth would be unlikely to do any permanent damage…I object to over dramatisation of situations' Ianto said with a roll of his eyes.

'You are interesting' announced the small man 'and you' he turned towards Jack 'obviously know more than the others'

'Yeah' admitted Jack 'I know what you are'

The team looked at Jack for clarification whilst the small man who had appeared in their midst smiled enigmatically.

'He is a wish giver' said Jack.

'What like a genie of the lamp?' scoffed Owen.

'Sort of' said Jack.

'So do we all get three wishes?' asked Gwen excitedly.

'Oh you are full of greed and selfishness' smiled the dwarf with glee 'I could feed on you for a long time'

'What?' asked Gwen in confusion 'Jack, what is he talking about?' she demanded.

'He feeds on the negative emotions that the desire for the wishes makes people feel…greed, hate, selfishness, lust and so on…faced with the possibility of fulfilling their innermost desires most people become extremely self centred' Jack shrugged.

'But why?' asked Toshiko 'we could wish for world peace or an end to hunger…those would be positive surely?'

The small creature laughed maliciously.

'If humans could genuinely wish for such things then yes they would be positive…but I see right inside your minds…I see what you would hide from those you love, what you would hide from the world…what you even try to hide from yourselves…few can fool me' he said.

Owen pointed his gun at him again.

'Can you see what's in my mind right now?' he snarled.

'Oh yes' said the dwarf with positive glee.

'Stand down Owen' demanded Jack 'our weapons won't harm him and can't you see how much he is enjoying your annoyance?'

Owen grunted as he tried to suppress his anger and placed his gun back in his desk.

'What does it want?' Gwen asked Jack.

'I am here young lady, you could direct your questions at me' sniffed the dwarf 'and I prefer you not to refer to me as 'it'!'

Gwen just looked at him and turned back again to Jack still expecting him to answer her question. Jack just shrugged at her.

The whole team looked at the dwarf and the dwarf looked right back at them. A stand-off. Ianto ended it.

'Would you care for a drink sir?' he questioned the dwarf.

'Oh I like you more and more' observed the dwarf 'you may call me by my given name…Rohann' he told Ianto.

'Well thank you Rohann and which beverage shall I bring for you?' said Ianto politely.

'Are you seriously going to offer sustenance to this freak?' shouted Owen.

Rohann looked aggrieved and angry and Ianto immediately went into damage limitation mode.

'Owen!' he said sternly 'Rohann is our guest and he obviously has something he wants from us…our weapons cannot hurt him and he entered the hub without any of us noticing…I really think we should listen to him and try to resolve this in an amicable manner…sitting and taking refreshment together may help that process along, whereas shouting and making pointless threats will almost certainly not' he continued.

'Feeding on negative emotions Owen!' reminded Jack angrily.

'Indeed I am….positively feasting' grinned Rohann glancing between Jack and Owen.

Both men tried to prevent their anger from escalating and succeeded only in feeling helpless. Rohann twirled around to face Toshiko.

'It is of no use to keep searching your technology for answers' he told the Japanese woman as she continued to tap keys on her computer.

'Toshiko looked over to him and tried a friendly smile.

'I will however keep trying' she said almost apologetically.

Rohann turned towards Jack again.

'Well you at least have two team members with a little intelligence and the ability to adjust their thinking in new situations' he said indicating Toshiko and Ianto 'I would seriously consider losing the other two'

Rohann felt the renewed surge of annoyance swing through Gwen and Owen and shivered in joy.

'Although they are feeding me some spectacular negative spikes so I am grateful' he laughed.

'Owen! Gwen!' shouted Jack in exasperation.

Both looked contrite and made obvious efforts to calm themselves.

Ianto had returned from the kitchenette with a tray loaded with drinks and some small snacks.

'Would you care to follow me Rohann?' he asked politely and the dwarf and all the team traipsed after Ianto into the conference room.

Rohann watched with obvious glee as the team settled into their chairs and Gwen and Owen desperately tried to calm their anger and frustration.

'What do you want?' asked Jack looking at Rohann pointedly.

'To give you wishes' answered Rohann innocently 'there are things you wish for…I can feel it…the desire in this place is heady…the greed..the lusts' he added dreamily.

'Although there are some things I cannot do' he added 'I am sorry but I cannot make him fall in love' he told Toshiko as he looked from her to Owen.

Toshiko blushed violently, she knew that Owen was well aware of her crush on him but she did not appreciate having it mulled over by all the team.

Rohann looked at Gwen.

'I cannot even make him want you if his lust is turned elsewhere' he stated and indicated Jack.

'That's not…I don't want..' Gwen spluttered but stopped quickly realising denial would just make it look worse.

Rohann tipped his head to one side and gazed at Jack in consideration.

'I cannot kill anybody…not even if the person desires it' he said in obvious confusion.

Jack just stared at him grimly whilst the team looked at him in consternation.

Rohann grinned and looked around at Owen.

'I cannot bring her back from the dead' he announced to the obvious confusion of some of the team.

Owen looked outraged.

'Get the fuck out of my head!' he snarled.

'Owen!' shouted Jack.

Owen looked over at Jack with a mixture of despair and anger.

'I want him gone Jack' he declared.

'Yeah' agreed Jack 'I think we all do'

'I will go when I get what I came for' announced Rohann.

'And that is?' asked Ianto.

'Still nothing' mused Rohann as he looked at Ianto thoughtfully 'why is it that you desire nothing?' he asked the young man.

Ianto laughed.

'I desire lots of things, but I prefer to know the price I will have to pay first' he answered.

'Very wise young man…the wish never works out well' said Rohann.

Ianto raised his eyebrows in question, but it was Jack who answered.

'Wishes often have repercussions that the person wishing did not foresee' he said.

'The breakdown of a relationship that came after being made rich…loneliness that came with fame..the inability to cope with a whole different life after being cured of disease or disfigurement…whatever it is, it always turns out bad in the end' he added sadly.

'But for a short while you will be happy' promised Rohann 'and maybe for you it will be different' he wheedled.'

'It won't be' countered Jack 'many were the stories in my time of the wish givers and the untold misery they left in their wake…do not be tempted!' he warned his co-workers.

'Maybe we should try to get you on your way as soon as possible sir' said Ianto.

Rohann humphed but shifted in his seat and began to talk.

'I need someone to repair my shaft' he said.

'You what!' snorted Owen laughing.

Rohann looked at him indignantly.

'My shaft…it is my travel device…it is misreading the locations I programme in and it would seem that you people are the ones to ask in this century'

Toshiko, trying not to smile asked.

'May I see?'

Rohann unbuckled the device from around his waist and handed it carefully to Toshiko.

'It just needs some fine tuning, I can show you how but I need help with the calculations' he said.

'Ok' decided Jack 'we help you with this and send you on your way and you don't come back to this century again…agreed?'

Rohann looked at him in dismay.

'But this century is so full of negatives' he exclaimed 'so full of greed and selfishness'

'And you must agree to leave or Toshiko cannot help you' demanded Jack.

'Very well' the dwarf agreed in annoyance and helped himself to a handful of biscuits.

'We'll go to my workstation I might need my computer…what does this do?' asked Toshiko already analysing the device in her hands.

Rohann went with her and the two were quickly immersed in calculations and explanations.

Gwen rounded on Jack.

'Jack we have to use a wish before he leaves…just think of the good we can do' she demanded.

Jack looked at her derisively.

'He won't give you the wish you ask for Gwen he will give you your heart's desire and I think we all already know that is not a good idea…please believe me when I tell that it will backfire and you will regret it…there has never been a single instance where a wish giver did not bring misery' he answered sadly.

'But maybe this time…we know more than most people would…we cannot let this opportunity go Jack' Gwen tried to insist.

'No!' shouted Jack 'leave it alone Gwen or I will make you go home and I would rather not do that…you have to learn to listen to those who know better than you' he said angrily.

Gwen pouted in annoyance still half convinced that she could outwit the dwarf and do some good with a wish. But before she even realised it she was beginning to calculate what she could achieve for herself and snapped into guilt as soon as she became aware of her mental wanderings.

'We need to get his device repaired and send him on his way and in the meantime try not to think too hard about what you would wish for' insisted Jack.

Gwen and Owen both left the conference room dissatisfied. Ianto and Jack looked at each other.

'Well that was unpleasant' said Ianto.

'Yeah it's never great having your innermost desires paraded before other people' said Jack 'although I am rather impressed that he could not sense anything from you…makes me think you have hidden depths' he grinned.

'I doubt that sir' replied Ianto smiling 'as I told our visitor there are plenty of things I desire but I have spent many years paying dearly when I asked for anything' he said grimly 'kind of stops you from asking eventually' he finished.

Jack watched his young teammate with some sorrow for what his life must have been like growing up in a deprived area of Cardiff with parents who were struggling daily just to put food on the table. He admired Ianto for clawing his way out of poverty and forging a better life for himself that had sadly just bought him to Torchwood and more sorrow.

Jack also knew that there must be a deeper reason why Rohann could not read Ianto but he would need to leave wondering about that until this mess was sorted and the dwarf had been sent on his way.

TWTWTW

Two hours later and Toshiko had fixed Rohann's travel device and the team were gathering to ensure that he left the hub as soon as possible.

'Time for you to leave' demanded Jack.

Rohann looked at Toshiko.

'I am grateful to you' he smiled.

Toshiko returned the smile.

'Yeah, yeah lets get all the loving over with and send this creep on his way' snarled Owen still aggrieved at having his emotions exposed.

'There is no need for rudeness' insisted the dwarf, then he looked over at Gwen 'I can still feel your desires flowing' he told her.

Gwen attempted to clear her mind. She almost accepted what Jack had told her about the wish givers but a part of her would not let go of the pull of having a wish granted almost within her grasp.

'I can still offer a wish' wheedled Rohann determined not to leave before causing some chaos.

'No!' shouted Jack.

Jack was beginning to panic, that much was obvious. He could sense Gwen's desires becoming ever more evident and Owen's growing animosity. These were both feeding the dwarf's need for negatives. Toshiko looked helplessly between them all.

Ianto stepped forward and spoke up.

'Do we only get one wish?' he asked casually.

Rohann looked over to him excitedly. He still could not sense anything from the young Welshman but he desperately wanted him to speak his desires.

'That is the generally accepted terms' he agreed oily.

'Then I have a wish' said Ianto.

Toshiko gasped and Jack almost sobbed.

'No Ianto' he cried.

'Yes!' shouted Rohann in triumph.

'I would like a bowl of green jelly with dream topping' announced Ianto.

'What?' snapped Owen unable to believe his ears.

'He won't give what you ask for Ianto…but what you most desire' sobbed Jack knowing this could not end well for his young teammate no matter how well meaning the younger man had been when he made his request.

'Interesting' announced Rohann and Jack's head snapped around to look at him.

'This cannot be all that you desire and yet I cannot read anything else' mused the dwarf.

Hope began to shine in Jack's eyes whilst disbelief swept through the rest of Ianto's teammates.

'Goodbye!' screeched Rohann and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived but not before a bowl of jelly had appeared on Ianto's desk.

Jack wandered over and picked it up.

'It's a bowl of jelly' he said in utter disbelief 'with dream topping….what the hell is dream topping?'

'It's a milk based substitute for cream made from a powder' said Gwen.

'It was the one luxury we had as children' said Ianto sadly.

Jack looked over at him wondering not for the first time just how Ianto had found the strength to climb out of the poverty and neglect of his childhood.

Gwen looked at the young man in amazement that a cream substitute could ever be thought of as a luxury. Ianto felt her disdain.

'I like it!' he insisted.

'How could you waste a wish like that?' snarled Gwen in sudden realisation that the dwarf had gone and a wish had been given.

'That's teaboy…no imagination' sneered Owen.

'How could he not read your thoughts and desires' wondered Jack.

Jack was seriously puzzled by Ianto's apparent ability to shield his thoughts from the alien. However well intentioned Ianto had been Jack had no doubt that his real desires did not end with a bowl of jelly and he had never known anyone who had shielded their thoughts from a wish giver before.

He had not thought to try it himself despite his time agency training as it was generally considered impossible for normal humans. Where had Ianto's ability come from? What else was the young man hiding from them? He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

'Ok team…let's start writing this up so we can go home some- time today…complete your paperwork and leave' Jack ordered.

Owen and Gwen immediately turned to leave. They would be relieved to see the back of this day with all its embarrassing revelations.

Jack turned to his young Welshman.

'Why could Rohann not read you Ianto? What are you not telling us now?' he asked almost angrily.

He was already reaching out into the young man's mind with his own and trying to read what was there. Jack had only basic psychic abilities but they far outranked anything humans of this century could achieve.

He had been trained to use his abilities by the time agency in order to search for potential threats in new contacts amongst species that were more advanced.

Jack's ability to read emotions was rusty through long stagnation yet he found it more than a little unsettling when he could not penetrate the Welshman's mind. Yet there were no apparent shields in place, all he could sense from his teammate was serenity. It was disconcerting and yet seemed to back up what Ianto was telling him.

'I had psychic training at One Jack' said Ianto 'we all did'

Ianto sat suddenly on his desk chair as if only now realising the enormity of what he had done. He did not himself understand why he had felt compelled to ask a wish of Rohann. He accepted what Jack had told them, how dangerous it would be. Yet he had known that the dwarf would not leave before he granted a wish and he had been driven to ask. He should have been more in command of himself, he could have created havoc and didn't understand why he hadn't.

Ianto turned to Jack, and tried to convince the other man of something he did not quite believe himself.

'Green jelly with dream topping was really what I wanted Jack' he insisted.

Jack probed for a while longer and could still sense nothing.

'Can you feel me searching you?' he asked the young man.

'Yes' admitted Ianto.

'There are no shields' said Jack.

'I only had basic training Jack…I doubt I could keep you out of my mind and I don't really know how to try…we were taught to distract if we felt probes' Ianto said.

'Distract?' asked Jack.

'Yeah…ask a question…do something unexpected…offer coffee' Ianto smiled apologetically.

'But I have nothing to hide…I want you to believe me Jack and trying to distract would not help that' Ianto pointed out.

'Ok' Jack conceded, but determined to keep this in mind and watch Ianto carefully.

He could appreciate that Ianto had received training but that did not account for his ability to fool a wish giver and apparently the training was only the most basic.

Jack was almost certain Ianto posed no threat and he could certainly not feel anything emanating from him, so he decided further analysis could be safely left for another day.

TWTWTW

Over the next few days Jack probed into Ianto's mind on several occasions earning him a quizzical look from the Welshman who felt, but still made no attempt to block, the invasion. In fact Ianto was doing the mental equivalent of opening his arms and inviting a hug.

There was no protection, no projection and no threat in what Jack managed to see. It made no sense that Ianto had fooled a wish giver and yet appeared to have no elevated psychic powers.

Jack eventually put it to the back of his mind for further investigation at intervals when he had time.

TWTWTW

Jack and Ianto had still not progressed their physical relationship and Ianto was beginning to wonder if it would be left to him to make the first move. He determined that the next time Jack made any sort of suggestive remark he was going to respond.

As it happened he did not have to wait long. A week after Rohann had left when all was settling back down and Jack was starting to think that it was a fluke he could not read Ianto, he heard the younger man muttering to himself at the end of a working day.

The others had just left and Ianto was collecting cups before leaving himself.

'Another week…another week' he was saying under his breath.

Jack crept up on him.

'What?' he asked.

Ianto blushed slightly at having been caught talking to himself.

'Another week' he admitted.

'Another week what?' asked Jack stupefied.

'Another week and I haven't killed Owen…or done him any permanent physical damage' Ianto murmured quietly.

Jack grinned, he knew Owen had been ribbing Ianto this week following the incident with the jelly.

'Have you done him any non permanent damage?' he asked.

'I might have served him decaff…and deleted his favourite porn sites on his computer…and altered his chair so that he got backache sitting in it and trying to retrieve the information' Ianto admitted.

'Oh Ianto Jones you are evil' laughed Jack 'and very devious'

'It's a form of stress relief sir' laughed Ianto relieved that Jack saw the funny side of the situation.

'I know another way to relieve stress' said Jack grinning salaciously.

'Yeah?' questioned Ianto.

'Naked hide and seek' announced Jack with a bright smile.

Ianto looked appalled at the notion but then remembered his determination to accept and respond to any act or statement of Jack's that was in least suggestive.

'Ok' he said eventually.

'Really?' said Jack amazed and delighted that his suggestion had not be rejected out of hand.

'Yeah' said Ianto 'but I am keeping my socks on'

'Cold feet?' asked Jack raising a quizzical eyebrow.

'Nope' said Ianto 'but have you seen the state of the hub floor? No matter how often I clean it, this floor remains disgraceful and my naked feet are not coming into contact with it under any circumstances'

Jack snorted.

'Well keeping the socks on is definitely kinky Jones but I can live with it…I'll hide first' he laughed already running and shedding clothes.

TWTWTW

Jack and Ianto were holding onto each other and laughing uproariously.

'You cheated' said Ianto.

'Of course I did…games are no fun if you don't cheat' stated Jack.

Ianto looked scandalised for a moment but then laughed again.

Their breathing was returning to normal and they were beginning to look at each other in a more lustful fashion now that the fun was over. Jack breathed close to his teammates face and carefully pressed his mouth up against the other man's, gently pushing his tongue out to caress the opposing lips.

Ianto responded in delight.

'Could we perhaps try for that sexual encounter now?' asked Jack breathlessly.

'Well we are already naked so it would seem appropriate' said Ianto with mock consideration.

Jack smiled.

'I remember your rules Ianto' he said quietly 'but I have a request of my own'

'Ok' said Ianto a little worriedly.

'Could we try for a more conventional location than the hub floor?' asked Jack 'maybe my bunker…it at least has a bed'

'Good idea captain' said Ianto and the two men grinned at each other and raced to Jack's office.

As they sat on Jack's bed Ianto pulled the older man downwards and lay half on top of him kissing and nibbling and occasionally making a harder but still gentle bite on all the skin he could find. He pulled himself fully atop of Jack and began to gently thrust his hips against the other man whilst continuing to kiss down across his chest stopping to lick at a nipple on the way.

Jack was slightly surprised by his partner's willingness to take the lead in this situation and was enjoying himself immensely when Ianto stopped as he reached the other man's waist. Ianto looked up at the captain and for a moment they just stared at each other, until Jack raised a quizzical eyebrow at him.

'Ianto, you ok?' he asked.

'No' admitted Ianto.

'We can stop' said Jack trying to hide his disappointment.

'I don't want to stop Jack …but…well could you take the lead because I kind of don't know what to do now'.

'You seemed to be doing just fine…all the right moves as far as I was concerned' said Jack encouragingly.

'Yes but now it's going to be different…you have different bits to what I'm used to' said Ianto indicating their groins.

Jack turned them so that he was on top.

'Yes' Jack grinned 'but they should be much more user friendly bits…after all you must have been playing with your own cock for years…all that practise and experimentation…I'm sure you must know exactly what to do'

Jack watched this notion play across Ianto's features and saw the moment when the younger man decided he liked that idea.

'Ok Harkness lets do this' Ianto grinned and tentatively but determinedly began to stroke Jack's cock

'Help me though…please Jack' begged Ianto, obviously still a little unsure.

Jack began to kiss his partner's neck and gently untangled Ianto's fingers and lined their cocks up together, wrapping his own hand around them.

Ianto looked down and saw the two cocks with Jacks hand stroking them and gasped with delight hurriedly curling his own hand to join with Jack's.

Ianto's face was awash with joy as he felt the pleasure course through him. As Jack watched his expression Ianto's mouth formed a perfect 'O' and his eyes flew wide open, the fingers of his free hand digging almost painfully into Jacks shoulder as he gave himself to the orgasm that washed over him.

Jack watched and the sight fed his own pleasure as his hips whipped frenziedly and he achieved his own climax quickly afterwards.

The two man lay panting until their heart rates subsided and Jack laid himself gently at Ianto's side.

'I'm sorry' said Ianto.

'What? Why?' asked Jack in concern.

'That was miserably quick and probably no- where near as exciting as you are used to' he explained.

'Ianto Jones you are never again to apologise because I bought you to orgasm' insisted Jack 'I take it as a compliment and I wasn't exactly far behind you' he continued.

'But it can't have been what you are used to' said Ianto still apologetically.

'Ianto the only sex I have had for years has been bought and paid for and consequently has been fulfilling because I could order exactly what I wanted…but it was also totally unfulfilling for precisely the same reasons' he tried to explain.

'This' he indicated between them 'was the best sex I have had for years because I had no idea what would happen, how you would respond, what we would do together, it was totally beguiling…and it will only get better' he finished with a smile.

Ianto processed what Jack was telling him and tried to see the truth behind it.

'So there will be a next time then?' he asked eventually.

'I hope so' said Jack 'and a next and a next…and it will only get better…we will learn to forgive each other…learn to become better friends…learn how to bring each other to heights of pleasure' Jack grinned.

Ianto watched the sincerity on the other man's face and decided he was happy to accept what he was being told.

'Ok then' he said and promptly fell asleep.

Jack watched in mild annoyance as his bed partner gave in to sleep but then grinned to himself in the knowledge that he had bedded Ianto Jones and was likely to do so again.

Tbc.