Ianto woke early the next morning as the first rays of sunlight were creeping through the thin curtains. Remembering the events of the previous night, he was surprised he had not been disturbed and he struggled to comprehend what that meant. As much as would have liked to, he didn't believe the Doctor's insistence that Jack meant him no harm – if the Doctor's kindness really was straightforward, then his belief in Jack might have been true. However, Jack had only become apologetic when the Doctor had arrived, and Ianto feared what would happen if the Doctor was not there to protect him. The thought troubled him and he bit his lip against the sudden wave of emotions.

He wasn't surprised by Jack's change of heart – although the idea of a man who suffered nightmares like Jack's ever supporting slavery was a shock – but he was disappointed and slightly hurt. There was lingering fear too, Jack had said he would punish him, and Ianto had no desire to experience the pain he could bring. Scrambling from the bed, he pulled on his clothes, hurrying so that Jack could not find another excuse to discipline him. Once dressed and presentable he slipped from the room.

The Doctor was lying on the sofa, eyes closed and apparently in a deep sleep. Jack, however, was standing in front of one of the windows, gazing into the distance. From his position, Ianto could see the troubled look on Jack's face and flinched. If something was bothering Jack he would most likely take out his frustrations on Ianto, as his last Master had done. Thankfully, Jack hadn't noticed him and so Ianto slid past to the kitchenette. Jack had liked his coffee the previous two mornings; there was no reason to expect any change.

Jack didn't stir at all while Ianto made the coffee, not even seeming to recognise that he wasn't the only one awake until Ianto appeared at his side, offering out the coffee mug. At Ianto's understated cough Jack glanced across, frowned deeper and took the coffee.

"Thank you, Ianto. But it wasn't necessary," he said, cradling the cup in his hands. "Where's yours?"

Ianto stiffened, registering the pain in Jack's light comment. "Master, I..." he started, not sure how to answer. "I wasn't sure..."

Jack's light touch on his arm startled him and he found himself meeting Jack's eyes. "Do you want a coffee?" he asked gently. "Because if you do, you should make yourself one."

It was the final straw for Ianto. How could Jack go back to treating him like this? How could he be so cruel to switch his moods so unexpectedly and expect Ianto to deal with it? Unwanted tears sprung up into his eyes and he took a step back, dropping his gaze to the ground.

"I'm fine, Master. Thank you."

Jack turned away, so he was looking out of the window again. "Ianto, please don't do this," he said, weariness creeping into his tone. "Last night was..." He took another sip of his coffee, seeming to seek courage from the hot liquid before blurting, "Ianto, last night I was only trying to protect you."

Ianto blinked; of everything he had been expecting, this was the last thing he would have imagined. How could Jack protect him by treating him cruelly? It didn't make any sense. Yet Ianto found himself listening closely to Jack's story in an attempt to decipher the truth.

"I should have explained last night," Jack continued. "I knew his race. You must know of the Vavarlin's laws – how seriously they take theft of property?"

He glanced over at Ianto, clearly waiting for some sign that Ianto was following. Ianto obliged, nodding once. He did know; he had witnessed many trials for theft, watching as the thieves were dealt with in the cruellest of ways. Not even the youngest and most starving child had been let off with a reprimand.

"You also know that they don't consider pressing someone into slavery a terrible offence," Jack continued. "If someone won't be missed, they take them - it's that simple." He scowled, looking back at Ianto. "Ianto, you've got to understand, if he'd thought that you were a free man he would have taken you. I had to pretend that you were my property to convince him that he couldn't just do that. I'm so sorry, I never wanted to do that to you, but I had no other choice. You've got to believe me."

Ianto glanced up at Jack, caught his eye and looked away again. What Jack had said about his previous Master's race was true. In fact, when Talomi had appeared in the café, Ianto had been terrified he was going to be kidnapped by him. Glancing shyly back at Jack he caught sight of the almost desperate look in his eye. The more he considered Jack's story the more likely it seemed, but still the doubt remained that this was all some elaborate ruse.

"I wish I could say it won't happen again," Jack continued, "But if we run into him again then it will have to. I'm sorry, but I won't risk him taking you away from me. Are you ok with that?"

There was something in the way he said the last words that surprised Ianto. It was almost as if Jack cared about him - but that would be fool's talk, wouldn't it? Ianto nodded, knowing that it was better to take his chances with Jack than to return to Talomi. Talomi had been worse than his father, and Ianto had to repress a shudder at the thought of being in that man's power.

Jack saw and smiled gently, reaching out to touch Ianto only to pull back quickly when Ianto cowered away. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't let him take you. He won't harm so much as a hair on your head. I'll do what I can to keep you safe."

Ianto didn't respond, Jack's words repeating over and over in his head. He believed that Jack would protect him; after all he belonged to Jack. Jack held the deed that said as much, and wouldn't anyone protect their property from damage or harm? Words meant nothing; it was actions that were real and Jack had shown him last night that he could be as cruel as any other Master. If it were only an act to protect him, it wouldn't have continued once they were out of the café, and yet Jack had remained angry until the Doctor had returned home.

As if reading his mind, Jack's voice interrupted his thoughts. "And one more thing, I am so sorry for how I treated you when we got back here. I was angry at him – I would have gladly ripped him limb from limb for how he ... treated you."

Jack had changed tack at the last moment, knowing Ianto would be suspicious if Jack professed to know too much about what he had been like before his enslavement. There would be questions, and Jack wasn't sure Ianto was ready for the answers. For one thing, telling Ianto that they were ex-lovers, though the truth, would sound highly coincidental and likely be viewed as a ploy to get Ianto into bed with him. Secondly, to tell Ianto about his life would be to tell him about Canary Wharf and Lisa, and Jack didn't want to burden Ianto with more darkness. There was enough of that in his life right now before Jack reminded him of the more unpleasant highlights of his Torchwood career.

"I'm sorry," he repeated lamely, draining the rest of his coffee and setting it on the windowsill. Then he glanced back to Ianto. "I know I can't expect you to trust me straight away, but will you at least give me another chance?"

Ianto's only response was a small nod. Jack hadn't expected much else. He knew he had hurt Ianto the previous night, knew that he had destroyed the progress he had made but he was determined that it wouldn't be a major setback. Smiling across at Ianto, who still lingered at his side, head bowed and silent.

"And next time I shout, feel free to tell me I'm being an idiot," Jack said gently, in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence. "In fact, feel free to tell me that whenever you like," he smiled, shaking his head.

"He certainly needs it." The Doctor took this opportunity to sit up on the couch and grin over at them. "He needs someone to keep him in line and I'm not always around to do it." He shot Jack a soft smile, making his way across the room to stand beside them. Lowering his voice he patted Jack's shoulder before transferring his smile across to Ianto. "How're you feeling this morning?"

"Better, sir," Ianto replied, prompting a frown from the Doctor.

"Didn't we have this conversation?" he chided gently. "I'm the Doctor, just Doctor. And Jack wants none of this Master business, understood? We don't have any need of a slave, but we can always use more friends.

"Now," he said brightening up, "I say we go and get some breakfast and then we can decide what we're going to do with ourselves. They have some magnificent caves out to the west that they run a daily trip to - I was wondering if we could go and explore them, certainly better than sitting around here all day."

Jack could tell the Doctor was after more information on the monster – maybe even a sighting. Although the monster promised sure adventure, something Jack rarely passed up, he was concerned about Ianto. Ianto was not the fighter he had been; he wouldn't know what to do in a dangerous situation and Jack was loath to place him in danger. He was about to turn the Doctor's suggestion down when he caught sight of Ianto's face. The young man was barely concealing his interest beneath a mask of nonchalance.

"What do you think, Ianto? We can go with the Doctor or we can stay here and relax? You're choice," Jack said, trying to keep his tone neutral so he wouldn't influence Ianto's decision.

Ianto fidgeted slightly under his gaze before answering. "I'd like to go with the Doctor, please."

"That's settled then," the Doctor announced. "We'll go and explore. Ianto you might want to go and put something warmer on, it'll be cold outside."

Jack waited until Ianto had disappeared into the bedroom before rounding on the Doctor. "I told you before that I didn't want him mixed up in this," he hissed, "And you go and pull us into it anyway. I don't want him getting hurt, Doctor."

The Doctor met Jack's gaze levelly. "He's not going to get hurt. Despite what you may think, Ianto can look after himself. He's been doing just that for the past two years without any help from anyone. We should be safe in a group, this creature won't attack us. If you're so against him going, then tell him that."

"No," Jack replied. "We're going. I gave him the choice, and I won't go back on that. I just wish you'd listened when I said I didn't want him anywhere near this; if anything happens I can't keep an eye on him while trying to help you."

Ianto could hear the hissed argument from the bedroom and instinctively knew he was the topic of conversation. He wondered if he had done the wrong thing in wanting to go with the Doctor. Had he been right in his assumption that it was only the Doctor's presence that ensured Jack's kindness? Ianto would have thought that to be the case if it weren't for the memory of Jack's dream. Ianto knew pain and suffering, and balked at the idea of causing it to any living being; surely Jack would feel the same?

Tugging his coat and boots on, Ianto lingered in the bedroom until the argument seemed to have died down. It was clearly not something Jack and the Doctor would want him to intrude upon. Only when the hissed comments seemed to have faded away did Ianto edge nervously back into the main room.

"I'm ready," he said, glancing between Jack and the Doctor and noting the large and clearly fake smiles they were sporting. His initial suspicion had been right, then; they had been arguing over him.

"Alright, then," the Doctor said, bounding over to the door. "Lets go. They serve up a fantastic Gerali Pudding, or so I've heard."

Ianto's expression must have shown his bemusement for Jack laughed gently, stepping up beside him to whisper, "They also do a Full English for those of us with less adventurous tastes." He gave Ianto a wink, holding the door open for him. "Although if you want to try something a little more exotic, you can – only I'd advise you to ignore anything the Doctor says."

Jack chatted about nothing in particular as they strolled down to the cafe, entertaining Ianto with one of his wilder stories from the time before he had met the Doctor. Ianto was smiling slightly in response, clearly trying very hard not to let slip a laugh or an undignified giggle. Once again, Jack cursed the people who had made Ianto afraid to laugh. He longed for a moment alone with Talomi; one moment would be all he needed to teach the bastard a lesson.

Smiling bitterly, he shot a covert glance around the room, pleased that there was no sign of the Vavarlin. Jack assumed he was probably still sleeping after a night of drunken revelry. He smiled in relief, joining the Doctor at a table and tugging out a chair for Ianto.

"Remember, get what you want," he urged, peering intently at the menu, his smile widened when he spotted one of the entries under the heading 'Earth Delicacies' and leaning around he pointed it out to Ianto. "I expect you'll want some of that."

He knew that Ianto was especially partial to laverbread – something he didn't entirely understand – and wasn't about to let him pass up on the chance to eat it. He grinned when Ianto's face lit up in a smile. "I'll take that as a yes, then?"

"Yes, please," Ianto replied. "And could I have a small full English too." He added after a moment's pause, "If that isn't too much."

"Nothing is too much for you," Jack replied, signalling a waiter over and repeating their order. That done, he leant back in his chair and grinned across at Ianto. "So how about you tell us something about yourself, Ianto?"

"There's nothing to tell," Ianto replied quietly. "I'm really nothing special, I've not had any adventures that are with telling."

Yes, you have, Jack thought, wanting to tell Ianto how he had helped save the world repeatedly, how he had negotiated with aliens, once preventing an alien invasion on the strength of his coffee alone. He wanted to tell Ianto exactly how special he was, but the words stuck in his throat.

"I'm sure that's not true," Jack said. "I'm sure you've got a lot of fascinating stories." He smiled at the look of utter disbelief on Ianto's face. "Well, at least after this you can tell the people back home about how you travelled through time and space and helped save a planet from an alien yeti."

He grinned. The effect the comment had on Ianto, however, was quite different to what he had expected. The young man's face crumpled and he stared down into his plate of food. "They'll think I'm dead..." he whispered. "My mum, my sister. They'll all think I'm dead."

Jack sucked in a breath, remembering all too clearly the way Ianto's mother's face fell when she had been told of her son's 'death'. The tears had turned to sobs when he revealed that there was no body for her to bury. She had shouted and screamed at him, blaming him entirely and never suspecting his own love for Ianto, never knowing that every damning word levelled at him had been one he had already thought.

"I'm sorry," Jack began, reaching out and covering Ianto's hand with his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

He was prevented from answering further by the arrival of their food. The atmosphere was somewhat heavier as they ate, it was clear to Jack that Ianto was trying hard not to cry. Shifting his chair slightly, he reached round, placing a tender hand on Ianto's shoulder.

"It'll be a nice surprise when you turn up on their doorstep," he said, delighted at the speed with which Ianto's head snapped upwards, gaze focussing on him. Immediately he changed the subject, leaving his comment for Ianto to puzzle over. "When does this trip start, Doctor? We want to be early so we can sit together."

His grin widened as he realised Ianto was still staring at him and looking completely gobsmacked.

"We've got an hour yet, no rush," the Doctor replied, tucking into his food. "Still, we'd better get a move on. I don't want to miss this!"

"Great," Jack said, glancing across at Ianto and winking, before adding teasingly, "Might want to close your mouth, flies will get in."