Chapter Nine

Ianto Harkness-Jones was in deep, this shouldn't have happened, he knew that someone was pulling the strings behind everything, and he knew, he didn't know how, but he knew that it wasn't Saxon. John had been convinced that he was going to die, he just hadn't thought it would be so soon, and he certainly hadn't thought that he would be the main suspect. He knew that all the evidence pointed to him, or all the logical common sense evidence, he had no idea about the physical evidence. His guilt was being based on the fact that he had seen a few pictures that appeared to show that his husband and John were having an affair. It was obvious to the masses that he couldn't handle the betrayal so he had killed his love rival, and he knew that with all the scandal that that was the version of events everyone would believe unless he could prove otherwise, which without an alibi would be impossible.

He knew that his actions in Saxon's office the previous night would be held against him and the fact that he had ran out on them could be seen as him running off to murder John. He almost screamed in frustration, but he knew that that would draw attention to his position so he kept silent, instead screaming mentally, hoping that if he closed his eyes that when he opened them again it would all just be a dream. He knew it was wishful thinking, John was gone and he wouldn't be back and he knew that if she had her way that Judge Cooper would make sure he couldn't come back either. He would either be executed for John's murder or imprisoned for life, neither of which options really appealed to him. There was nothing that he could do about it at the moment though, what he really needed was a miracle, something that he was sure would never happen. He would just have to bide his time until Owen got back, and then he could find out what had actually happened, he had seen the man being taken away by a police officer earlier when he had been sneaking into the building.

Although they had caused him so many problems, he hoped that Owen wasn't implicated because of the photographs; it was bad enough that he was wanted for murder, he didn't need Owen getting in trouble because of it. He knew whoever it was that had killed John was playing a long game, the man himself had told him as much, he had been feeling the change for a while, that little shift that had told him that something was coming, it hadn't appeared overnight. There was nothing that he could say that would prove that though, even if anyone believed him that John had known that someone was just waiting for the right time to kill him, that wouldn't stop them from looking at him as the murderer.

He could almost cry if he didn't have to worry about giving away his position, hiding in Owen's kitchen wasn't the best of hiding places, even if the place was empty. He didn't know after all if the man would come back alone or if the police would think of his connection with Ianto through his brother and send a guard with him. He really hoped that the other man was alone when he came back, he couldn't risk getting caught, but he knew he needed help.

He had no idea who to turn to, he knew that Saxon would be no help to him, regardless of the fact that he knew the man had set it up for those pictures to be taken, he knew that beneath all the schemes that he would never really do anything to hurt John. The relationship between them may have been incomprehensible to some, even to themselves at some times, but Ianto just knew that they fit together. Regardless of the fact that they were always fighting about stupid things and at times spent more time apart than together that they were meant for one another. Even though they hid their relationship and not many people knew about them, those that did could see that they fitted each other perfectly, even Jack although the other man was loathe to admit it. His husband really hated the idea of the two of them together, his protectiveness of John rising up too often; he had never thought that Harold was good enough for him. No, Saxon would be no help, he was sure that if he went to him the other man would turn him over to the judge straight away.

Thoughts of John and his relationship with Harold made his mind turn towards his own partner, did his husband believe in his innocence, or did he think that he had murdered their friend. He knew that he could deal with Saxon's accusations, while he had worked for the man for years the man didn't know him. If Jack thought he had done it however he didn't know what he would do, his husband was everything to him, he couldn't lose him, not on top of losing a friend like John.

He heard the door open and he listened at the door, hoping he could catch any noise in the next room, he needed to know if Owen was alone or not. The next thing he heard was the sound of flesh hitting flesh before he heard his husbands voice, "I love my husband Harper, do you know what you've done, everything you've ruined. He's innocent, and you better hope everything works out Harper, or paying your next bill will be the least of your worries."

He couldn't help but smile at the thought of Jack punching Owen, even though none of this was really his fault, he wanted to go out and speak to him, but he knew it was too risky. If anyone saw Jack at Owen's longer than it was necessary to give him a piece of his mind they might get suspicious and suspicion was the last thing he needed at the moment. He heard Jack leave and a soft feminine voice talking to Owen, he sat on the kitchen floor before his legs gave out as he realised that Jack believed him, he wasn't alone, his husband knew he was innocent. He waited until the soft voice retreated and he heard the main door close before making his presence known, hoping that Owen would help him prove his innocence.