A/N: For those following the story, I'm planning on covering the first two seasons, then seeing where CoE takes me. The Jantoist in me wants to do a fix-it, but the purist wants to see what happens to Jack when Ianto dies... But as I haven't even seen Miracle Day yet, I don't know which direction I want to go. As of today, I have scenes written through Cyberwoman, so if I get the proper encouragements, I might be tempted to post more often. Meanwhile: Things have been heating up between Ianto and Jack and Ianto realizes that maybe they should talk about it. Enjoy!

Torchwood Files

Chapter 10: Conversations

Jack muttered an absent 'thank you' as Ianto placed a fresh cup of coffee at his elbow. He took a sip, sighed in pleasure, and opened his eyes to look at Ianto, who was still standing next to him.

"Something you wanted, Ianto?"

"Sir, you have a conference call with the Ministry of Defense at three. Would you like me to take minutes?"

"Really?"

"It's only proper for me to take on the duties of your secretary now that I've become familiar with your procedures and policies. I've been with Torchwood Three for a month," he said by way of explanation.

"You're offering to spend time alone with me in the conference room?"

"Yes, sir. The space in this office would be a little tight." Inwardly, Ianto shivered, imagining himself bent over Jack's desk and what might have happened if he'd been just a little bit more comfortable the other night.

Jack frowned, resisting the urge to make Ianto's statement into a sexual innuendo, and set his coffee down. He regarded the young man with curiosity. "Ianto, you've been avoiding me for days. What's with the change of heart?"

"I haven't been avoiding you, sir."

"Aside for a few minutes here and there to deliver coffee or go over reports, I haven't seen you since the other night. We need to have a conversation about it. If you're uncomfortable with what happened —"

"Sir!" Ianto exclaimed in a strangled voice, tilting his head in the direction of the open office door and the glass walls. Jack sighed again, in annoyance this time.

"Close the door."

Ianto hurried to do it. "I'm sorry about the other night, sir," Ianto whispered, sounding worried.

"Sorry? What for?"

"Your, um, your hair. It got a bit— messy."

Jack grinned, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head. "Nothing to be sorry about, Ianto. Hottest thing anyone's done to me in ages."

"Really?"

"Really. You'd be surprised what some of my turn-ons are."

"Perhaps," Ianto paused as if debating what to say next. "Perhaps after the conference call we might be able to discuss matters further."

"I'll hold you to that," Jack said. "And if the Rift intervenes, you're to stay here until I get back."

"Sir?"

"You heard me," Jack snapped, lowering his head to continue going over the budgeting report he'd been trying to work his way through when Ianto brought the coffee. "Dismissed."

Ianto turned on his heel and left the office, struggling to maintain his mask of neutrality at the rude dismissal.

What's wrong with him today? Ianto asked himself as he fled down into the archives. It's like he's angry with me. Did I do something wrong? He accused me of avoiding him. Have I been?

It's been really busy this week. Sixteen Weevil hunts, five debris retrieval outings, three hostile aliens, and one family of space-nomads to send on their way. At least Saxon didn't get involved this time.

Everyone's been gone on missions most of the week. Jack's been out on all of them. I even had to man Tosh's computers while they all were out trying to deal with that Bentaran yesterday. Jack said I did a good job, though. That's a good sign, right?

And now that Lisa's in the Hub, I have to be extra careful about what I do and say. Sometimes getting away to give her her medicine is difficult.

Is he worried that I've changed my mind about sleeping with him? Maybe that's it. But how can I tell him that I'm not comfortable with the others knowing? It's a small place, and there's not many of us, but I want to keep it private, if at all possible.

I wouldn't ask him to stop flirting with me around the others. I know how important a part of him that is. I've certainly heard him flirting when off on missions. Strangely enough, I don't feel jealous about it. If it were Lisa flirting with other blokes, I'd be off the wall, but with Jack, it's fine. Maybe because he was clear that he does it, that it doesn't always (or usually?) go anywhere? And he told me that he's not monogamous. Knowing that, it's easier. Lisa and I never had that talk. It was assumed that we would be, but we never actually said it.

I think that's why I was so upset with her when she suggested it all those months ago, before the Battle. I was assuming we'd only be with each other, and here she was, wanting to have a threesome with someone she just met, and a man, at that. God, would I have done it if I'd met him? Knowing him as I do now, knowing how — attractive — he is, would I have done it?

It just seems like flirting is part of Jack. It's like breathing to him. Necessary. And I've been doing his laundry and dry cleaning since the moment I arrived, and the only times there was a whiff of sex on his clothes was after our firearms instruction or when we'd done stuff together.

Could it be that I'm the only one right now? That he's nervous because I said I wanted to have sex but we haven't done it yet?

Does he even *get* nervous about these kinds of things?

Did I actually tell him I'd do it? If I didn't, I need to. The more he touches me, the more I want…

Ianto shook his head to clear it. Right, three hours until the conference call. I should check on Lisa, then get Jack's notes ready for him. Then figure out what I'm going to say to him.

I want him. I want him all the time.

Lisa wants me to have him. She said it again this morning. "Take what pleasure you can while we do this work." In her normal voice, so I know it's what she really thinks.

But what's going to happen when she's better? If I've been with him, it'll be hard to go back to her. It'll be like I'm giving up on her to shag him. Like my loyalties have changed.

But haven't they already? I wake up thinking of him. I wank in the shower thinking of him. I imagine all the things we could do together. All the things I want to do with him. I wrote a damned list!

A month ago, I didn't even know how two men could have sex, and now I'm dreaming about it every night. Though, to be honest, I've wondered about it before. Lisa was right about that. But I've never been attracted to a man before. No one. Just him. Just Jack.

***TW TW TW***

When Jack entered the conference room for his call, Ianto had set up a place for each of them, across the table from each other. Ianto's place had a notebook and several pens lined up parallel to it, as well as a pair of folders and his laptop. Jack's place had the same notebook and pens, but only one folder and no laptop. He took his seat and flipped through the report Ianto had prepared. Ianto arrived a moment later with coffee for them both.

"Excellent work, Ianto," Jack said, indicating the report.

"I try my best." Ianto took his seat across from Jack and pulled over the speaker phone. "I took the liberty of informing them ahead of time that I would be present. Mr. Saxon is unable to join us, so Mr. Stevens will be leading the meeting. Mr. Stevens expressed quite a bit of surprise that you have an assistant. I got the impression you've never had one before?"

Jack chuckled. "It's never worked out."

"Oh?"

"I took over at the turn of the century. I spent the next few years building my team and getting rid of the goons Yvonne sent over."

"Goons?"

"Military arm."

"Ah. Goons," Ianto agreed. "Never got on well with them."

"So what are you telling Stevens about your title here?"

"Personal Assistant to Captain Harkness."

"I like the sound of that."

"I thought you might, sir," Ianto said dryly.

"Well, enough of that. Let's get this over with."

Jack found that the meeting was much smoother with Ianto present to keep him focused. He enjoyed watching Ianto taking notes, a small frown of concentration on his face as his pen moved on the page. Towards the end, Ianto pulled out his PDA and scheduled the next few meetings for them, with the usual "Rift willing" caveat.

"And that's that," Ianto declared as he hung up the phone and set his PDA down on the table.

"How do you do that?" Jack wondered.

"Do what, sir?"

"You managed to keep me from blowing up at them when they were being stupid and convinced them to give us more money!"

"That's just part of my job, sir. If I'm to update the archives and begin digitizing them, we need another computer system. That costs tens of thousands of pounds. By implying that they might have greater access to Torchwood's information, with absolutely no intention of actually letting them see anything, I made it seem like a brilliant idea of theirs to give us the funding for the project."

"You're a brilliant man, Ianto Jones," Jack declared. "And gorgeous, to boot."

Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes. "Really, sir? 'To boot?' Couldn't you find a better colloquialism than that?" Jack shrugged.

"It's time for that talk," Jack said, his mood shifting. "Do you want to do it here, or in my office?"

Ianto eyed the other team members through the glass walls and the closed door of the conference room. "Let's stay here, if you don't mind," he said.

Jack nodded.

"I have some questions," Ianto blurted, opening the folder he hadn't touched all meeting. Jack motioned for him to continue. "Do we wear condoms?"

"Do you want to?" Jack asked. Ianto looked at him without speaking for a moment, clearly unsure of his answer. "Let me rephrase that. I can't catch anything and I'm not a carrier. A long time ago, I had my shots to prevent it. I'd advise using condoms with other people, but you don't need them with me, unless it makes you more comfortable."

Ianto nodded and wrote a few things down. He glanced briefly at Jack. "No condoms, then," he offered. Jack nodded. "From what I've read, it seems like one person's the top and one's the bottom. That seems rather limiting."

Jack grinned hugely. "That's not a question."

Ianto blushed and turned away.

"Where I come from," Jack continued, "there's no top or bottom. It's about the moment and who wants what to happen at that particular time."

"I didn't want to have to choose before I knew anything. I'm glad there's no need to."

"You know enough to talk about it," Jack pointed out. "Did it turn you on to read about it?"

Ianto's blush deepened. "When I thought about you doing it with me," he admitted.

"Good," Jack said, his grin growing even more. "I can work with that. Did you watch videos?"

"I preferred reading."

"Why?"

"Books don't tell me what things look like. I can use my imagination."

"But were the videos enjoyable? Would you watch them again?"

"I might. I think I'm ready for practical applications, though."

"Hmm. What's next on your list?" Jack asked.

"I'd like to keep it private, if you don't mind. And — casual?"

"Fine with me."

"It's just that Owen and Suzie —"

"It's fine, Ianto. I'm good at casual. After hours only." Jack paused. "Except for the flirting. We can't exactly stop doing that. They'd get suspicious."

"I already assumed that, sir." Ianto looked at his notes for a moment. Without looking up, he asked, "Do you think people can have feelings for more than one person at the same time?"

"Of course," Jack responded instantly. "I was with a couple once. Well, several times. Well, several different couples. Well, more than several, actually, but that's a whole series of stories, and I doubt you're interested in hearing it at the moment.

"Sexuality aside, you have many different relationships with many different people, don't you, between family, friends, others? You might love them, you might hate them, you might have something in between, but that's all feelings. I hate to keep saying stuff like this, but where I come from, monogamy isn't valued the way it is here. There are a lot of people who form families based on three or four adults. Loving two people at once is normal. Look at the Navaree. They always have three adults in a mating circle."

"It's a bit difficult to think about, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I was always taught that you'd find your one true love and that would be that. I might have other relationships, sex, lovers, whatever, but that there's one person out there for me, and that's that. I found her."

"Ah." Jack paused. "Her name was Lisa, wasn't it? Your girlfriend? If she were alive, and you could ask her right now what she thought, would she want you to move on? Would she be upset you're thinking about someone else, even if it's just for sex?"

Ianto felt tears burning at the corners of his eyes. "She'd want me to be happy," he finally answered. "I just don't know if I'm ready. I'm still in love with her."

"There's no need to rush things, Ianto," Jack murmured, and Ianto could hear the compassion in his voice. "I've put the offer on the table. That's all. It's up to you to do something about it, when you're ready." Jack reached across the table to touch Ianto's hand, but pulled back, remembering that their teammates were nearby.

Ianto raised his head. "It feels like a betrayal of her to want to be with you," he admitted.

"I can't help you with that feeling," Jack said with a sigh. "I wish I could, but that's on your conscious."

"I know, sir. I need time to think about things." Ianto paused and looked at Jack.

"Take your time," Jack answered. His mood shifting yet again, Jack rose to his feet and gathered his folder. "Thank you for your help with this meeting."

Ianto nodded in acknowledgment as Jack disappeared out the door, already shouting to Tosh to find out if anything interesting happened while they were unavailable.

Well, that went better than I expected, Ianto thought, gathering his laptop and folders. He's even willing to wait a while. I can't push it too far, though. I have to keep him interested. I have to keep him so focused on me that he won't think to look for Lisa, won't think to go down to the archives.