Tosh looked thoughtfully at the doorway before turning her attention back to her computer. The question for her was whether he set up the loop before or after he passed by each camera. If the former, she wouldn't be able to find out what he was up to. If the latter, she would be able to find some trace of the erased file on the hard drive of the camera system. Now it was up to her to figure out if he was good to cover his tracks before the fact or had gotten distracted by something which necessitated a messier clean up that would leave a trail. She quickly devised a little digger program which would allow her to search the entire grid to see if anything had been modified overnight. Setting that off to run, she went to get a coffee. She had been so excited by her early morning revelation that she had entirely forgotten about eating, so now the smell of the coffee was making her hungry.
Andy said nothing as he allowed Jack to shepherd him down to the lower level to get cleaned up. He was just happy to have Jack there again. All of the panic from the night before had been washed away by the sound of his voice. He didn't care what Jack had been up to, he was just glad that he was there. He obediently let Jack bring him down to the staff showers.
"I think it's ruined," Jack said as he looked down at Andy's stained trousers. "But we can try and get the stains out if you want."
"It doesn't matter," Andy said. And to him at that moment, it didn't. He started stripping; half hoping that Jack would join him. Jack stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as he watched. Andy wasn't at all self conscious about getting naked in front of Jack. In fact, he reveled in it. What he didn't notice was that Jack was staring at him with a slight frown on his face as he assessed each of the scrapes and bruises that Andy had sustained during the chase the night before. And he was angry with himself, since it was supposed to have been a simple job and it obviously hadn't turned out to be the case. And he hadn't been there to help. He knew that the team had been working for months without his other self and could handle anything that came at them, so he had to work on his own anger at himself at having left them… left Andy… to fend by himself in a situation that had been more dangerous than he had anticipated. Intellectually, he knew that Andy was okay and that Owen had no doubt checked him out when they got back, but the guilt he already felt this morning was magnified by his view that he had once again neglected his team while pursuing his own interests.
Andy let the ruined clothing drop to the floor as he turned on a shower head and stood under it. The great thing about the Hub was that the water never took long to get to temperature and they never ran out of hot water. He reached out, grabbed the soap and lathered up his body before turning towards Jack. "Join me?"
Jack smiled. "Tempting, but not during work hours." In truth, now that he had found Ianto, Andy didn't really hold any allure to him. He ached with that knowledge, knowing that there was no good way to let the other man know that. And in fact, it was something he couldn't, since it would mess things up with his other self once he came back. Not that his being here wouldn't do that already. He leaned back against the far wall by the open doorway, feeling his head start to ache. It was a contrast to how he had woken up earlier that morning….
He had been woken up by Ianto making love to him. It wasn't the first time he had been woken that way and he drifted in an amazing haze of feeling, not thinking but just reacting to what the other man was doing. It was only when Ianto collapsed on top of him that he was brought to reality when he opened his eyes to see blond hair instead of the dark brown that he was familiar with. Ianto, for his part been unable to help himself where Jack had been concerned. He hadn't even thought about where he was, or why the bed was so comfortable, but had just gone with how he was feeling
Afterwards, he had pulled Ianto against his chest so they could rest again. The two men lay with their chests moving together as they panted after their exertions. He smiled as he thought back on what had happened between them.
Andy moved and broke Jack's reverie. "What?" He was aware that Andy had asked him something but he had been lost in thought.
"I know you don't want to talk about whatever it was that you did last night, but can you at least tell me whether it's something that's going to be a danger to the team?" Andy asked, his voice muffled as he stuck his head under the shower head.
"No, no danger," Jack said. Except to his heart, and he really couldn't tell this man that. "Let me get you a towel," he said, moving into the other room. He leaned against one of the sinks and bowed his head. He was messing this up big time for Andy. Turning on the faucet, he splashed some water onto his face and let it drip down into the sink again. Raising his head he stared at himself in the mirror. He was in an impossible situation and he wasn't sure what the answer was at the moment. Hearing the water turn off, he shut off the faucet and grabbed a towel. Rubbing it over his face, he took it into the next room and handed it to Andy so he could dry off. "Listen, are you okay? I need to get upstairs and check something."
"I'm fine, Jack," Andy said, turning as he toweled off. He flashed a smile at his boss. "Don't worry about me." Jack stared at him for a moment, remembering the last several nights together with this man and he couldn't help doing a mental contrast to the night before with Ianto. The experiences were like night and day for him and he closed his eyes for a moment. "Really, Jack. I'm okay," Andy said, misinterpreting his reaction.
"Okay then," Jack said as he turned away. He was feeling awful at the moment and couldn't face the other man. "I'll see you upstairs."
Jack took the stairs two at a time until he came back up into the main Hub area. Suzie was busy working in her shop, Toshiko was at her computer, typing away furiously and Owen was nowhere to be found. He stopped in the doorway and watched each of them for a moment. He desperately wanted them to all be safe, and watching them like this gave him a sense of pride as he saw them at their every day routines. All three of them were dead in his universe and he knew he was clutching at the past and that he couldn't continue here for very long. He ached with that knowledge. Shaking his head he tried to clear the thoughts. This wasn't conducive to getting anything done, so he took a deep breath and headed over to his office, only stopping briefly to pick up a cup of coffee and a doughnut before heading up the stairs. Toshiko glanced up as he passed her. He had a preoccupied look on his face and it wasn't the first time that she wondered what went on inside his head. She stared after him as he bit into the doughnut as he climbed the stairs. Looking down, she peered back upwards through her hair as he turned to close the door before sitting down at his desk. Jack was like one of those puzzles that she often itched to solve. But with him it was like trying to follow a mobius strip, since she often found herself turning in circles when she tried.
Jack sat down at his desk and sighed. It was only eight am and already the day had started off poorly. He leaned back and took a sip of his coffee, making a slight grimace at the acidic taste. Definitely not up to Ianto's standards he mused as he put it back down on the desk. Ianto. He stared across his office for a long moment. He wasn't sure what he was going to do next. Their encounter had been everything he had hoped for and more. A slow smile crept across his face as he remembered. No, the day had started out perfect; it was the aftermath that had gone downhill…
Jack laughed out loud as Ianto's stomach rumbled so loudly he felt the vibration against his own stomach. Ianto grinned down at the older man, looking a bit unrepentant. He felt amazingly relaxed with this man. It didn't make sense, but he wasn't going to question it.
"Hungry?" Jack asked. Ianto shrugged. Hunger was a constant companion, but if Jack was willing to offer another meal, he wasn't going to turn it down. He stretched on top of Jack, feeling rather sated for anything else at the moment. He enjoyed the way Jack ran his hands up and down his back and he leaned into the caress like a cat would. Jack smiled at him. "I think they have room service in this place, if you're interested."
"Sounds good to me," Ianto said. He rubbed himself against Jack, enjoying the rasping of their skin against one another. "I suppose that means getting up to check the menu?"
"Yeah, it would," Jack chuckled. He moved his hands so he could leverage Ianto off of him, much as he regretted the action. "How about you go find it for us?" Ianto slipped off the bed and padded barefoot over to the desk. As he picked up the hotel booklet, his eyes strayed to where he had dropped Jack's wallet the night before. It was still there, and he could see where some of the bills had spilled out after he had tossed it onto the desk. His stomach growled again and he looked down in amazement. Apparently it wanted regular food. He shook his head and sternly told himself that this wasn't going to be a regular occurrence so, he should get used to the lack of food. As he turned back to the bed he flipped through the book and found the room service menu.
Jack had his head pillowed by his hands and he was watching Ianto as he came back towards the bed. Ianto had an odd expression on his face and Jack was trying to place what he was feeling. When his stomach growled again and Ianto glared downwards, Jack stifled a chuckle.
"Here," Ianto said, as he climbed onto the bed and handed the book to Jack. He also reached for the bottle of water he had abandoned the night before and took a sip to quell his recalcitrant stomach. Jack suggested something and he nodded absently as he fiddled with the cap of his bottle. He was beginning to feel a bit awkward about the money portion of their transaction. Jack stretched across him and grabbed the phone, then put their order in. Kissing Ianto on the shoulder as he hung up, he slipped off the bed and went into the bathroom to use the toilet. Ianto watched him closely. Jack didn't bother to close the door and Ianto could see his reflection in the mirror on the wall. Against his gaze strayed towards the desk and he bit his lip. This was a business transaction, he reminded himself. Jack had agreed. It was his money, he told himself. Earned the night before. He felt a little hollow telling himself that.
Jack came out of the bathroom with a towel over his shoulder. He saw that Ianto was hunched on the bed, obviously deep in thought about something. He had a frown on his face and Jack wondered if he was having any regrets. He sighed. He hadn't thought about how this was going to work out in the morning. In fact, he hadn't been thinking since that moment when Ianto pressed against his leg in the pub. He had only reacted. He didn't regret any of it for a moment, but could see that it might lead to some awkward moments now. He sat down on the chair by the desk, not wanting to crowd Ianto.
Ianto looked up as the chair was dragged back over the carpet. Jack smiled at him reassuringly. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Good," Ianto said, looking back down at the water bottle. He had finished it earlier and was only playing with the empty plastic now.
"Want another one of those, or do you want to wait for the coffee?" Jack asked. Ianto glanced up and then towards the door. He shrugged and Jack felt like he was at a loss for words. If he was feeling awkward, he knew Ianto had to be feeling even more so. So he began to talk again. He talked about little things – the décor of the room, the weather outside, anything to fill the silence up until there was a knock on the door. Picking up the towel he had slung over the back, he stood up and wrapped it around his waist as he headed towards the door. Ianto stayed where he was, not looking when Jack answered the door and took the proffered tray. When the door closed and the lock was turned Ianto looked up to watch Jack carry the tray back into the room.
"Smells good," Jack said. Ianto nodded and Jack gestured for him to come over. He had Ianto take the armchair near the window and he had him pull it up to the edge of the desk. Pushing his wallet out of the way, he put the tray down and uncovered their plates. Ianto inhaled deeply as Jack poured some coffee into one of the cups.
"Love good coffee," Ianto said with a nod. He took it the way Jack expected, black. Jack hid a smile as he sat back down in the chair, remembering the times that Ianto complained about people who really didn't like coffee when they adulterated it with other substances. Although, Jack mused as he dug into his English breakfast, he hadn't complained about the occasional adulteration in the form of alcohol in his coffee. He glanced up at this new Ianto, still wondering what had made him so uncomfortable. He wracked his brain trying to think about what had happened when Ianto got up. He was fine until he came back to the bed. Jack looked around as Ianto began to eat and his eyes came to rest on his wallet. He looked up at Ianto who was concentrating on his meal and then back down again. Jack looked out the window, going over what he knew about the younger man.
"Looks like it's going to be a sunny day today," he commented. Ianto glanced up and looked over his shoulder and then nodded. Weather normally didn't mean much to him, other than whether it was going to shut down business for the night or mean he had to find a place to flop. During the day there was always the library. Already he was making plans in his head for books to check out that Jack had mentioned the evening before during dinner. He had a thirst for the written word and had been fascinated by some of the things that Jack had described.
"Ianto?" Jack asked, making the other man look up, the fork halfway to his mouth. "Are you happy?"
Ianto looked around the room and then back at Jack, though he avoided his eyes. "Yeah," he said with a shrug. He studiously looked down at his breakfast, wondering if now that they were in the light of day whether Jack was now going to show his true colors and try to evangelize him or something. He thought that would be very hypocritical after what they had done last night and this morning. "I guess."
Jack could see him shift uncomfortably and he reached out to touch the younger man's hand. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable. If I have, I'm sorry. I like you, Ianto. I like you a lot, and I just want to make sure you're happy."
Ianto looked up at him and met his glance. Jack could see the self depreciating smile and almost cynical look in his eyes. "I guess."