Chapter 6

Jack had habilitated one of the Torchwood houses for the younger man where he could stay until he could find a more suitable place to live. It was not that the Captain was in a hurry, he wasn't about to rush the poor man after he, literally, dragged him out of his previous home.

He looked around as he waited sit on the black leather sofa, the place wasn't necessarily large but it was decorated with great taste. A few art pieces on the walls mostly of modern art and landscapes, a bookshelf with a great variety of books from history to science fiction to romance, some DVDs and a flat screen. The mahogany coffee table that was in the center of the room had some photo frames on top. Jack took the closest and examined the photograph with interest: It was a picture of Jack next to a dark-skinned woman with short hair and a little puppy between them, both embracing and looking at the camera. The American had the odd feeling of having seen this woman before. The sound of Ianto´s steps made him placed the photo back in its place.

He looked around as he waited sat on a black leather sofa, the place wasn't necessarily large, but it was decorated with great taste. Some art pieces hanged on the walls, they were mostly of modern art and landscapes. There was a bookshelf with a great variety of books from history to science fiction and romance, some DVDs and a flat screen. The mahogany coffee table that was in the center of the room had some photo frames. Jack took the closest and examined it with interest: It was a picture of Ianto next to a dark-skinned woman with short hair and a little puppy was between them, they were embraced and looking at the camera. The American had the odd feeling of having seen this woman before. The sound of Ianto's steps made him returned the photo to its place.

"Here" said the Welshman offering him a cup of coffee

"Thanks" Jack said and took it "I see you've grown accustomed to the place already"

Ianto sat next to him taking a sip of his own coffee "I'm not very demanding, sir"

They were silent. Ianto couldn´t help feeling uncomfortable with the presence of the captain. It was true that he had asked him to come but now what, why had he done it? It had been a spur of the moment, after his encounter with the man he had been looking for more than five years and the apparent revelation that he knew Jack, his brain had simply decided to act on its own too tired to actually think.

They were silent. Ianto couldn´t help feeling uncomfortable with the presence of the captain. It was true that he had asked him to come but now... what, why had he done it? It had been a spur of the moment, after his encounter with the man he had been looking for more than five years and the revelation that he had known Jack from the past, it seemed that his brain had simply decided to act on its own and he was too tired to actually think.

Ianto sank into the couch as much as he could until the pain in his ribs made him wince again "Damn" he said holding his sore side

"What is it?" asked Jack leaving his cup over the table before facing the Welshman "And don't say it is nothing"

Ianto wanted to ignore the pain and Jack, but the serious look in the older man eyes made it impossible "I just… I bumped against the side of one of the shelves down in the archives."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jack demanded with a serious voice

"Because it was a stupid accident, Jack." Ianto was trying to make his voice sounded as if nothing matter "It was not a big deal, nothing to worry about."

"It is making you wince every time you move" the man pointed out "I noticed it back at the Hub, so stop it" Jack moved closer to Ianto "Take off your shirt so I can see the damage"

Ianto blushed and moved as far as he could from Jack "There's no need" his voice laced with desperation "Just let it go, please."

"Like hell I will." There was one thing Jack Harkness couldn't tolerate and it was having one his team members injured, regardless of the injury "Take it off or I will do it by myself."

That made Ianto turned completely red, with trembling hands he unbuttoned the shirt exposing his torso. A bruise had begun to form at the bottom of his left ribs and thanks to the fact his skin was paler than normal the bruise was extremely visible.

"Did you bump into the shelf or did it fell over you?" Jack asked gently moving his hand over the wound to make sure that there was nothing broken. He could felt Ianto shudder, he was not sure if it was because of his touch or because he was hurting him. When the captain looked up and saw the young man with his eyes closed, a light blush on his cheeks, he couldn´t stop the memory of their night in that hotel back at London

He had tried to suppress the urge of jumping over the Welshman for a while now and have had to muster all his willpower just to act normal when the younger asked him to come along into his home but now, having him like that was too much for a normal man to take.

He had tried to suppress the urge of jumping over the Welshman for a while, and now, he had to muster all his willpower just to act normal when the younger man asked him to come along into his home. But now, for Jack, having him like that, it was too much for a normal man to bear.

Ianto froze the moment he felt Jack's lips on his, he snapped his eyes open to see the older man's closed. How in heavens name had that happened?

What had possessed Jack to think that harassing him sexually was a good idea?

But above all… Why in the name of everything that was sacred was he getting aroused over a kiss?

Oh yeah, he invited him over so this was not the time to start blushing like a virgin, the Welshman kissed him back a little unsure but with the same passion.

Jack smiled into the kiss and leaned forward a bit more causing their bodies to touch. Everything was just perfect or it was until he heard the painful growl that escaped from Ianto's throat as he leaned over his injury. The captain broke the kiss, both men panting heavily.

"I think I should go" he said looking into the other man eyes

The Welshman simply nodded embarrassed. Jack smiled again before kissing him this time more gently "Get some rest and I´ll see you tomorrow" said this, the American got up and storm out of the apartment. One outside, he leaned against a wall taking deep breaths and banged his head against it a couple of times trying to restore his calm, he stood there for a couple of minutes until the nagging pain in his groin started to annoy him. "Ok" he said at loud moving back to the SUV "And now a cold shower"

ooOoo

"Something wrong with Ianto?" asked Gwen to Jack. The Welshwoman had been able to get a hold on the original file of the murders the night before, it had only cost her a bit of flirting and a few beers, after all she knew Andy still fancy her even if she was engaged with her boyfriend Rhys, a part of her feel sorry for using him but this was Torchwood "the end justifies the means" most of the time.

"What do you mean?" asked Jack without tearing his eyes from the report of the crime scene. He had noticed that that morning. Since the moment Ianto had come to work that morning the captain could said he wasn't been himself: he had dark circles under his eyes and a tired expression on his face.

"That's not important now" said Suzie her voice laced with exasperation "Can we focus on the matter in hand" Jack gave her an apologetic look, she was right; he will deal with whatever was happening to the younger man later

"Fine. According to this file there is nothing we don't know" he let the file over the table "But by the look on you face I can tell you discovered something on the crime scene"

Suzie smiled proudly "What do you take me for?" she handed a torn flyer "I found it stuck between the floorboards"

It was a part of what seemed to be an advertising flyer of a rehab clinic; Jack studied for a few seconds "NewHope Rehab Center" he read.

"Yeah, I did a little research and apparently it's one of the newest rehab centers in town; it was built by the state three years ago thanks to an anonymous donation. The administration of the place was taken over by a private entity as soon as the center was open and it has been run by them since then"

"And apparently no one thought that was strange" said Jack sarcastically "And your point with this is…"

"Toshiko said our murderer had been in and out of rehabs centers in the last years and guess which center was the one he visits?"

Jack smile "That's why I love you, Suzie"

"Keep it in your pants, Harkness" she said rolling her eyes "This is all circumstantial evidence. The fact that the pamphlet was at the club means nothing, any weirdo could have left it there or it may have been there a long time"

"Maybe but is the only lead we had and is better than nothing" the captain answered "We need to find a tangible connection" he tapped at the com in his ear "Tosh, I need you to use your beautiful hacker skills and find me the record of James Porter and any other information about him and his activities in the NewHope Rehab Center"

"Got it"

"So what do we do now?" Asked Gwen

"You will stay here to help Tosh. Suzie you go to the clinic and try to find something there, Ianto and I will go pay a visit to James apartment and see what we can find"

ooOoo

The apartment building where James was living was located in Splott. It was a dilapidated building and by the looks of it the only ones who lived there were James, rats and stray dogs.

"Cozy" said Jack as he got off the vehicle, Ianto just behind him "According to Gwen, our man lived on the 2nd floor. We will start our search there"

"What are we exactly looking for, sir?" asked Ianto drawing his gun out and removing the safety

"Drugs. I need a sample so Owen can analyze it" Jack noticed the Welshman cringed at the mention of his friend "Sorry, I forgot."

"Is not your fault, sir"

Jack said no more as both men entered the building. The place was not better off inside, the floor was cracked, there were holes in the walls and roof seemed about to collapse at any time.

"This place is bigger than I thought" commented the captain "I'll go upstairs, you stay here and see what you can find. If anything comes, get me on the radio"

"Are you trusting in me for this?" said Ianto truly amazed "I´m just an archivist."

"That's what you do, not what you are. I read your file, Jones, you were trained to be an operative and passed the entire field test with high scores, and I´m sure you will manage it."

The grateful look on the Welshman´s face wasn't lost to the captain and he stored the knowledge to take full advantage of it later.

As Jack up the stairs, Ianto started searching for anything that could help them with the investigation. He walked down the hall and entered into one of the rooms. There wasn't much to see: an old mattress on the floor, boxes of takeaway scattered all over the place and the unpleasant smell of mildew and rotten food filled the air. Ianto had to make an effort to withstand the urge to run, he didn't understand how anyone could live in such conditions.

While looking around he noticed something that caught his eye: a censer in the corner of the room. He knelt in front of it and immediately a gentle aroma of what could be described as melons invaded his nose. He didn't knew why but the thing seemed very out of place

"Jones" said Jack voice behind him, Ianto turned around to see the captain standing in front of him, his face hide by the shadows in the room.

Wasn't he supposed to be upstairs?

"Let me show you" Jack said putting his hand over his eyes, suddenly he started to feel weak and dizzy "I will ended you suffering"

And for the second time in less than 2 days Ianto heard the CLICK of a gun. He instinctively hit the man's arm, causing the weapon hit the floor before throwing a punch that hit him full in the jaw. As the man stumbled back Ianto forced his eyes to focus and tried to get a hold of the gun.

"Jack" Ianto tried to contacted the captain but there was no answered "Jack"

"I'm here" said the man recovering from the blow

"You are not him" growled the Welshman pointing the gun at the man. His eyes finally were able to focus on him, to his surprise he did look like the captain but Ianto trusted his instincts to not be fooled "Who are you? What did you do with Jack?"

"Are you going to shoot me?" Ianto tried to keep focused but it was difficult yet his sense of hearing seemed to be intact and was able to realize that the voice of the fake Jack sound like the one of a woman "Would you be able to bear the death of another partner" The person in front of him morphed and this time and Ianto's heart stopped "Who are you?" It was Lisa, she was getting dangerously close to him.

"Get away" Ianto said, his hands trembling "Get the fuck away from me"

The last thing he remembered was the sound of a gunshot and a woman´s scream.