CHAPTER 10
They made polite conversation about the local scenery, Ianto hearing another version of the Slitheen story and politely laughing and putting in small comments where he knew they belonged.
In a couple of minutes, he was letting them into the Tourist Office, opening the hidden door and leading the Time Lord through to the elevator. Once the door slid shut and the metal box began to move, Ianto glanced over at the Doctor.
He was staring around with a mixture of apprehension and excitement and Ianto couldn't help but find it strangely endearing.
"I must say, I've wanted to see Jack's Torchwood for a long time." He said brightly, looking over and meeting Ianto's eyes with a smile. The Welshman just nodded his head and looked forwards.
"I can assure you, this is as different from London as you can get." For the first time since knocking on the TARDIS door, the Doctor knew the man was being completely sincere.
"That's very good to know. You're one of the survivors, aren't you?" The Doctor's incandescence seemed to have dimmed and Ianto looked over at him, a little alarmed. "I saw the list of you, but I've only just remembered. How many Ianto Joneses are out there who're connected to Torchwood anyway?"
"Well, there was an 'Ian Jones' in one of the departments. It was hell on admin." Ianto smiled at the vague memories of arguments with desk clerks and the Doctor grinned.
He was about to say something else when the lift hit the bottom and the door slid open. Ianto smiled, nodded and lead the way, using his swipe card to open the huge cog door at the end of the short corridor.
He heard the siren wail die down and the cage on the other side open up as he walked through. The Doctor followed, his hands stuffed in his pockets once more, and let out a low whistle, nodding his head with an impressed expression.
"You're right, Jones, this is much different to London." He muttered so that only Ianto could hear him.
Ianto smiled and headed up the stairs to the workstations. Tosh leaned around the side of her computer and stared at the Doctor in a mixture of shock and barely contained excitement.
"Jack?" Ianto called, knowing that he was probably in his office, hiding. He would no doubt have detected the TARDIS' presence the moment it began to materialise. "I found your visitor for you."
Jack appeared in the doorway to his office, looking out apprehensively as he met Ianto eyes, fully prepared for a barrage of cold, calculated anger. He was extremely heartened to find Ianto more or less relaxed, raising his eyebrows slightly and giving him a small nod of encouragement.
Jack sighed and watched as he turned to head to the coffee machine, his gaze flicking from his lover to his visitor as Ianto crossed behind him. As soon as he set eyes on the Doctor, he couldn't help but grin.
"Doctor, it's good to see you again!" He took a few steps from his office to stand amongst the workstations.
Despite Ianto's reassuring gestures, Jack knew he'd crossed a line somewhere and would need to make up for it. For the moment though, he pushed the worries to the back of his mind.
"Same to you, Jack." He replied with a grin, heading up the stairs to where Jack stood. The Captain pulled him into a hug and he laughed in surprise, returning it happily.
"It's been too long." Jack said gently as he released him. The Doctor was just about to reply when something tore across the hub towards the two of them.
"Daddy!" was all he could register before he found a little girl clutching at Jack's legs, indicating strongly that she wanted to be picked up. Without hesitation, Jack wrapped her in his arms and held her protectively, glancing across at a boy of around seven sitting with the Japanese woman.
It was then that the Doctor noticed the slight change in his demeanour that the new entrance had brought.
"I'll say. Seems that you've been productive, for once." The Doctor raised an eyebrow and smiled mischievously.
"Hey, I wasn't that bad."
"Yes, you were." Came a new voice – a woman's. Jack looked around incredulously at Gwen as she headed over to her workstation.
"I wasn't that bad! Owen, tell them."
"No way am I defending your sexploits, Harkness." Came a third new arrival. The man walked from the white room behind them and flicked a pair of latex gloves off into the bin. He raised an eyebrow and sat down at his desk to start typing.
"Whatever happened to respecting your elders?" Jack sighed with a roll of his eyes that was much more characteristic to Ianto than himself.
"Careful, I'm still the oldest in this room." The Doctor said with a smirk. Jack couldn't help but smile at the comment. It was nice not to be the all knowing one for a change. He'd forgotten what that even felt like. "Hang on, can I smell coffee?"
"Yep." Jones, Ianto Jones was back, this time carrying a tray of coffees and two glasses of juice which he handed around to everyone. "I know you prefer tea though, Doctor. It's the yellow mug."
The Doctor gave him a genuine grin of appreciation and took the indicated mug, wondering briefly how he'd know his preference of drinks already. Jack told him to hang onto the blue and white one still there and the glass of apple juice, Ianto just nodding and heading back to sit on the sofa. He took his own mug and sat back, legs crossed and watching Jack and the Doctor with a pointed expression.
The little boy headed over with his glass of orange juice, to the sofa and took the seat next to the Welshman.
"This is very good, Jones, thanks – possibly even better than Jack's." The Doctor smiled again and turned to the captain, who rolled his eyes as Ianto smirked gently at the comment. "So, who's the lucky lady that finally managed to domesticate you?"
He glanced over at Gwen, having remembered a couple of stories about her on the way to the silo at the end of the universe - and the entire team, apart from Ianto and Jack, froze. The tension in the air was suddenly thick enough to be cut with a knife.
The only movement was Jack glancing over to the Welshman, his expression suddenly darkened, worried even. Jones just sat there, blowing gently on his coffee with an eyebrow raised slightly in amusement.
The Doctor's mind observed, calculated and concluded in a nanosecond.
He saw the look between the two men, felt the shock in the air and the expression in Jack's eyes. His memory flickered through all places where the name 'Ianto Jones' had occurred and was hit with a wall of Jack's stories and tales, of his dreams after the Master's death and the thoughts of the young man that had kept him sane during his torture.
He remembered the difference in the captain's countenance on the journey home, like something had solidified and resolved within him.
He looked at the two children and saw the obvious resemblance to Jack. He looked closer and saw that they were equally similar to the man sitting on the sofa. The set of their eyes, their facial expressions, the young boy's reserved observation of the scene, and the little girl's protective hold of Jack.
The final realisation was like a battering ram to him, his sensation of time disorientated and wavering for a moment.
But then he turned and stared at Jack with the fire of a burning supernova.