Gwen stood where he had left her, watching his back with a sympathetic look on her face. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he was feeling at the moment. Ianto was an enigma to her. Often he hid his true emotions behind a protective façade. It was the antithesis of how she was herself, and she had a hard time cracking that shell he wore. She reflected that she knew nothing about him. Nothing about his background, nor where he lived or anything, other than she knew how he felt about Jack. She had looked in the personnel database and found that most of the information was blank in regards to his records other than the fact that he had worked for Torchwood London prior to coming to Cardiff. Even his address was fake, as there wasn't a Heol-y-Gwent Rd in Cathays. She smiled as she realized that she knew less about Ianto than she did about Jack at this point.
She watched as he threw himself into his work, searching some sort of records. Windows popped up and she could see he was going through old records. Faces flashed by as he sifted through the information, looking for something. She rested her hand on his shoulder and leaned over to kiss the top of his head. His hands faltered on the keys for a moment before continuing, but he didn't respond to her actions. After a moment, she turned away and looked at her husband. He smiled and gestured for her to leave Ianto alone. Nodding, she stepped away and followed Rhys over to the makeshift kitchen area.
"That was a surprise," Rhys muttered as he began putting some bacon butties together for them for breakfast.
"Yeah," she said softly. "And he's right. What else is there in Jack's past that we don't know about?" She wondered. Rhys just shrugged. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I still can't get over what he did."
"Look," Rhys told her. "You've been working with him for years now. You've seen the good that he's done. The good that you've helped create here. He's that man you have always admired. Yes he's done things in the past that he isn't proud of. I think we can all say that about something. It's just that because he is who he is that his mistakes are much bigger and long reaching than ours.
"I saw his face, Gwen. He's not proud of what he did, although honestly, I don't think he had much choice in the matter," Rhys continued. Gwen just looked at him. "If he didn't do it, there were others who would have. He wasn't alone in this you know. And at the time it did seem to be the only solution. We can't judge him for that."
"No, I suppose not," Gwen said. Rhys, as usual made a lot of sense. Jack was still the man whom she would crawl through glass to be with, and would face the end of the world time and again for. And Rhys knew that and let her do it. She stared at her husband. He saw far more than he would admit to, and she knew that she owed him a lot for giving her the freedom she had. She turned him towards her and kissed him soundly. "What would I do without you, Rhys Williams?" She asked fiercely.
"Starve, probably," Rhys said lightly and with a twinkle in his eye. He knew that she wasn't talking about the food he was putting together, but he acknowledged her silent apology without comment. He handed her a plate with the bacon butty on it. "Here, bring this over to Clem for me, will you?" She smiled and nodded. Turning away from him, she made her way over to where Clem was huddled on the sofa, rocking back and forth. Rhys put together another couple of sandwiches and brought one over to Ianto. He stood behind him for a minute and watched the man work. He had gotten to know this man well recently, and he knew that Ianto was burying himself in his work in order to lose himself. After a moment, Rhys placed the plate next to his hand.
Ianto glanced over before returning his attention back to the screen. "Thanks," he said. The MI5 database was open and Rhys could see that Ianto had a window open with a photo of a young girl with an older woman in one window and in the MI5 database, a search was going on. Probably cross referencing the photos. Rhys sat down next to Ianto and ignored the way he stiffened at his proximity.
"That them?" He asked as he pointed with the sandwich in his hand before taking a bite. Ianto nodded. Rhys leaned in and peered closely. "Eat up, you're going to need your strength," he commented. He saw Ianto shrug out of the corner of his eye.
"Not hungry," Ianto murmured. His fingers flew over the keys as he typed something in.
"Still should eat," Rhys said. "The last thing you want is your stomach growling when dealing with an alien menace." Ianto turned to look at him for a moment, startled. Then he started to chuckle.
"That would be embarrassing, wouldn't it?" Ianto asked. The knot in his stomach loosened a bit with the release of the tension he was feeling. He seriously considered what Rhys had said and after a moment, he picked up the sandwich. Taking a bite, he gestured at the screen. "That's his daughter. Her name was Melissa, but from what I can see of our own records, when her mother left in 1975, she went undercover. Maybe she ran and didn't want to get retconned. Not really sure." It helped to be able to talk to someone about what he was finding. "Anyway, I'm searching other databases to see if they were put into a cover of some sort. Maybe if I can find out some information, I'll be able to find out where they have taken her and Jack's grandson and we'll be able to get them out." He heard footsteps behind him and glanced up to see Gwen.
"So her mother worked for Torchwood?" Gwen asked. Ianto nodded and Gwen peered over his shoulder at the record. "1968-1975. That's a long time to work for Torchwood."
"Yeah," Ianto replied. "According to the records, she left in '75, probably when she had the baby." He glanced upwards at Gwen who nodded, but said nothing. "Obviously something happened after that since the Torchwood records stop in 1977." The computer beeped and the MI5 search stopped. "Here's the match." He pulled up the record and they all peered closer to look. "Relocation program at the request of Lucia," Ianto typed something in and Melissa's record expanded to fill the screen. It showed a photograph of young woman as well as the false information that had been planted. At the bottom was a listing for one Steven Carter. "His grandson is nine years old," Ianto said.
"And Frobisher has them," Gwen said. Ianto nodded and she ran her fingers through her hair. "So we need to get them out of wherever he has them."
"And how do you do that, love?" Rhys asked reasonably. She looked at him for a moment before turning back to Ianto. He was still staring at the photograph of Jack's daughter, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Can we find out where they've taken her?" Gwen asked. Ianto shrugged.
"Looking now," he said. He looked past the monitor as a flash of something tan moved past his line of sight. It was Second Jack, and he had just come in the door. He looked a bit worse for wear, but then he, like Ianto, hadn't slept all night. He stood just inside the doorway and looked at the group huddled around the computer. Then he slowly made his way over to where they were.
"God, this is difficult," Gwen muttered.
"Tell me about it," Ianto said and she put her hand on his shoulder. He blanked the screen before Jack could see it. He let his gaze wander over the man he had called his lover and wondered what other things were hidden that would come up to haunt them some day.
Jack just looked at them. He had seen his other self and they had spoken before First Jack had gone off to make his phone call. Gwen bit her lip as she watched the anguish pass over his face when he looked at Ianto, who was resolutely not looking in his direction.
"I'm sorry," he finally said hoarsely. He was apologizing. Apologizing for the pain he had caused them, and for the fact that he didn't see an easy resolution to the problem this time. Rhys was the only one who smiled back at him. Gwen just stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face and Jack noted that she had a comforting hand on Ianto's shoulder. His gaze shifted to look at the man in front of him. Ianto looked like hell. It was obvious that he hadn't slept, and he had closed his eyes rather than look at Jack. Jack nodded sadly and began to turn away.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ianto finally asked. "About your daughter?" Jack stopped in act of turning and angled his body back in their direction.
"What good would it have done?" Jack asked. Ianto just looked at him. "What good would it do to tell you that I have a daughter who hates the sight of me, and a grandson who doesn't know the truth about me? My daughter is a woman who wants nothing to do with me, and because of me she's now locked up in a cell somewhere." He bowed his head and stood, his posture clearly one of dejection.
Ianto fought the urge to get up and comfort him. The revelations of the past day alone had created a divide between them that he didn't know was possible to cross at the moment. All his instincts were telling him to toss everything aside and go to Jack. Gwen looked down. She could feel Ianto trembling under her hand, and her heart went out to him.
After a long moment of internal conflict Ianto stood up and walked around the makeshift computer desk. He walked up to Jack who looked up at the sound of his foot scraping on the cement floor. Ianto stood in front of him and looked at him. Who was this man that he loved? His eyes traced familiar features and when he met Jack's gaze he saw a mirror of the pain he himself felt. For all of Jack's flaws, he was still human. He still hurt. And it was that man that Ianto loved unconditionally. He couldn't condone what Jack had done in the past, but he also couldn't condemn him for it. Ianto had seen the look in his eyes when Clem had confronted him. The pain of knowing what he had done. He had seen Jack's reaction to the alien in the tank, and the child that had been grafted to its flesh. The child he himself had given over to them.
The look in Jack's eyes bespoke the private hell within. The pain and the self loathing in his eyes made Ianto ache. He had thought long and hard about how this would affect them, and in the end his emotions overruled his head. He could no sooner turn away from this man than he could stop breathing. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Jack. Jack closed his eyes and tried not to lean into the other man's touch. After a moment, he bowed his head and rested his face against Ianto's shoulder.
Rhys nudged Gwen with his elbow and when she gave him a startled look, nodded with his head back towards his makeshift kitchen. She started to look back in the direction of the two men and he reached out to tug on her hand. Surprised, she looked at him and he shook his head no. Gwen nodded. Together, they turned and walked away from the two men, although she couldn't help the occasional glance over Rhys' shoulder as he cleaned up.
Ianto wasn't sure how long they stood there. He just knew that Jack needed him. After a long time Jack brought his head back off of Ianto's shoulder.
"I don't know what to do to fix this," he finally said in a low voice to Ianto. "I don't have a solution."
"That's what we're here for," Ianto said softly. "We'll figure it out together." Jack gazed at him, looking into Ianto's eyes and searching for something within them. Ianto stared back, projecting all he felt for Jack into his gaze.
The outside door creaked open and they looked in the direction together. First Jack stood in the doorway, his face cast into shadow by the brighter light outside. He stared at the two men in front of him, seeing Ianto's arms wrapped around the other Jack and he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again and stepping inside.