A/N – Apologies for how long this has taken to get up. Working a 58 hour week (and that's a slow week!) is killing me. Huge thanks to all those who reviewed, you guys make my (long, long) day. Big thanks to those who read, alert and favourite too.

TWTW

Chapter 10

Hurt and Loss

TWTW

Sitting in his office, Jack tried to shake off the mood he was in.

He hadn't been so angry in a long time, angry at Gwen for what she said, for threatening to leave. He couldn't lose his team, couldn't lose them after everything that had happened to them in the year that never was. He needed them close, so that he could protect them.

"Well, you've made a right mess of things."

Looking up, he glared at Owen, taking his eyes off the computer screen, where Gwen had been saying goodbye to Rhys. He was glad that she had the man, he was a good man, but he still couldn't help but be hurt by what she had said.

He had someone too, someone that made his life not so cold and lonely, which he hadn't felt in a long time.

"What are you talking about, Owen?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Did you even hear what you said out there?" the doctor asked. "And what you didn't say?"

Glaring at the other man, Jack simply raised an eyebrow, knowing that Owen would say whatever it was that was on his mind without Jack saying a word.

"It's bad enough that you didn't stick up for any of us when she was going on about how she's the only one that has someone, which okay, might be true, but still," Owen said, moving further into the office. "Then you made it sound like you wouldn't be able to go on if she left, like Torchwood would fall apart without her here."

Jack felt his jaw clench, he hadn't meant it like that, hadn't meant that at all.

"But the worse thing, the worse part," Owen continued, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is that Ianto was standing right there, right there, and you didn't stick up for this relationship that you claim you want. Didn't even think twice about looking heartbroken about Gwen leaving, when the man you claim to care about was standing. Right. There."

Freezing, Jack stared at Owen a moment longer before opening his mouth.

"I," he started, shaking his head. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Really?" Owen asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"If any of you left," he continued, standing up. "I would notice the difference."

Snorting, Owen shook his head, disbelief clear in his eyes.

"I mean it, Owen," Jack said, feeling a little bit defensive.

"You might want to tell Ianto that," Owen replied, face carefully blank, Jack sure the man still didn't believe him. "Although he might be a little preoccupied. What with the way Hart followed him down to the archives."

With that parting shot, Owen left, Jack returning to his seat and pulling up the camera that was in the archive. Taking a deep breath, he resisted the urge to punch something, his hands clenching into fists as he saw Ianto and John lying on the ground, John clearly asking Ianto something, his fingers trailing down the Welshman's cheek.

Looking away, as he squashed the urge to go down and punch John again, he pressed the intercom to the archives.

"Ianto, Hart, get up here," he said, not quiet able to keep the anger or pain out of his voice.

He glared at John when the two men appeared, Hart smirking back at him like the cat that had gotten the canary, and Ianto looking at him with that blank mask he wore so well. Gwen had come back in in the time it had taken the two men to make their way up from the Archives. Jack would've been more jealous if he hadn't been watching them the entire time.

"You wanted us, Jack?" Hart asked, leaning against the wall, still too close to Ianto for Jack's comfort.

Taking a deep breath, he managed to quell his anger, reminding himself that they had a job to do, even if all he wanted to do at the moment was finish what he'd started the other day when he'd punched John.

"We managed to track the agents from the truck they used," Jack said, switching into his leader mode. "It's an old storage facility."

"That's not all," Tosh interrupted, a worried look on her face as she looked up from her computer. "I had to dig a bit, but it looks like it used to be an old Torchwood One holding facility."

Jack felt a shiver run down his spine, eyes moving to Ianto, not surprised to still see the blank mask on his face, before looking back at Tosh.

"I can't find what they were housing there," she continued. "Whatever it is, they buried it deep."

"We've got to assume that they want something from there," Gwen added, leaning back in her chair and frowning.

"The question is what?" Owen asked, rubbing his head. "Got any ideas, Tea Boy?"

"None," Ianto replied, shaking his head.

"Well, one way to find out is to go and have a look for ourselves," Hart said, Jack not missing the way he shifted closer to Ianto, the Welshman not moving away.

"Yes," he replied, his tone harsh, as he glared at the space that had disappeared between the two men. "We should."

Grabbing his coat, he quickly moved towards the exit.

"We'll take two cars," he said over his shoulder. "Ianto you're with me."

He didn't stop long enough to hear if there were any arguments, moving quickly to the garage and getting into the car, letting out a little sigh of relief as he saw Ianto move towards the car he was in, getting in without a word.

Nodding at the others, he pulled out onto the street, trying to work out what he wanted to say to the young Welshman.

"Ianto," he started, relaxing his fingers when he realized they were clutching the steering wheel, a feeling of nervousness running through him that he hadn't felt in a long time, feeling like he would only get one chance at this, and he had to get it right.

"Sir," Ianto replied, nothing but polite respect in his tone and on his face when Jack glanced at him.

"What you heard," he said, looking at the other man again. "It isn't what you think."

"Oh?" Ianto asked, one eyebrow raised when he turned to look at him.

"If any of you left," he continued. "Any of you, I would know the difference, I would feel it. When I was away … away with the Doctor …"

Shaking his head, he felt his hands clench again, noticed Ianto glancing at them, before looking back up at him.

"I can't lose any of you," he said quietly, jaw clenching, before he forced himself to relax. "I just … just can't."

He wasn't used to talking to someone like this, to 'bearing his soul' as some would say, but he knew that the only way he was going to keep Ianto was to show him that he was changing, that he was willing to change, for him.

"I won't deny that I'm attracted to her," he continued. "But then, I'm attracted to a lot of people, Ianto. That doesn't mean that I want to be with them, want anything more than having them in my life. I want to be with you, Ianto, I meant it when I said I came back for you."

Keeping his eyes forward, Jack tried to figure out how to put into words what Ianto meant to him, to make the Welshman understand what he felt. He'd never been good at this, at showing the people he truly cared about what they meant to him, at being in a serious relationship where these things were needed.

"And I'll try to explain everything to you," he said, glancing at Ianto from the corner of his eye, glad to see the other man staring at him. "Once this case is over, I'll take you out on the date I had planned for tonight, and I'll try to explain everything."

Pulling to a stop in front of the warehouse, he turned and looked at Ianto properly, wondering what was going on behind the mask, if Ianto was believing anything he was saying.

"Jack," he said, shaking his head and looking out the windscreen, a pained look on his face as he looked back at him.

"What is it, Ianto?" he murmured, wanting to reach over and place his hand on the nape of Ianto's neck, but knowing he didn't have the right at the moment.

"I appreciate you trying to be honest with me," Ianto said, giving a small smile. "And in the fairness of honesty, I … I need to tell you that, John, he asked me out on a date."

Nodding, Jack's hands clenched, trying to calm the jealousy and possessiveness he was feeling, knowing he should've expected Hart to go after his Welshman.

"I said yes," Ianto continued, giving him an unreadable look, before getting out of the car.

TWTW

A/N – As always let me know what you thought . Apologies if it takes me awhile to respond, I'm hoping this week will be easier then the last.