A/N Please read and review, and thank you to my wonderful beta Mirage, to those other writers who I talk to regiularly who give me someone to bounce ideas off of and all of you who added this to your alerts. Please continue to read, and as always questions, comments etc. are greatly appreciated.

It hadn't been easy, talking Jack into going out and leaving John with Gwen and Rhys, but it was important. While the others didn't notice, Ianto knew that Jack needed to get away for at least a little while. In the end it had taken several promises and a reminder that alone time and therefore any real intimate contact would be limited by the presence of a certain small child who wasn't to get him to agree. He wasn't sure exactly what arrangements Jack had come to with the child, the conversation had taken place without the translator, but it seemed safe enough when they left. Actually, the boy had been asleep, having complained of a bit of headache. Owen had given him some pain reliever and then they had left him in the charge of Gwen and Rhys.

Dinner had been wonderful. Ianto was pleased that he had been able to distract Jack for a while. They talked about anything and everything but John Hart and Torchwood. It wasn't easy, actually, since both their lives and their relationship centered around work, but for once Ianto succeeded in getting Jack to talk about something else, something happy. He talked about his travels with the Doctor and Rose, who Ianto had only seen the once on the screen. Ianto was able to ask questions that normally he would be uncomfortable asking, but it was better than paying attention to the elephant in the hub.

With dinner finished, he turned Jack's thoughts to dessert, and not the kind that could be found in a restaurant. Ianto still kept his flat, not as if he actually used it for anything but storage and the odd occasions when an old friend would call and needed a place to meet. He tried to convince Jack to come back to his, but in the end, they had settled for a fumble in the front seat of his car. It was actually like being back in Uni again, only with the warmth and creativity he discovered that a lot more was possible in a car than he had ever thought back then.

On the principle of no news is good news, Jack had asked Ianto to join him for a walk along the quay. With his arm around Ianto's waist, the two men walked along the waterfront. Jack was whistling a Glenn Miller tune while Ianto leaned into the collar of the big wool great coat. The wind blew chilly off the water and he leaned into his lover, taking in the unique scent of Jack, combined with something that he realized with a start was himself. They stood quietly watching the night, just two people alone, like any other lovers out for a stroll. Jack leaned in and kissed him softly. "We should go, you're getting cold."

"It's fine," he said dismissively, not wanting to go back to the stress and turmoil.

"You're cold, come on. With any luck, John will be asleep, and once Rhys and Gwen are gone…" he said suggestively, sliding a hand down underneath Ianto's coat. The young man shivered and smiled.

"Yeah."

Jack took his hand, and led him over to the lift, letting themselves in the scenic route to avoid the cog door and the alarm. The plan was brilliant, but as the elevator descended, it became clear that all was not quiet in the hub. First there was the naked John Hart, streaking across the main hub, trailing water and soap suds behind him as he called out behind him a string of…something, including several English epithets he had obviously learned or remembered since they left. The rest, Ianto didn't even hazard a guess. From the hallway he came out of, the sound of Gwen and Rhys, calling for him, before the heavyset Welshman came barreling through the doorway. By this point, the boy was busy climbing the ladder toward Myfanwy's cave high in the wall as Rhys slipped on a puddle and went down to his knees with a swear word of his own.

"What the…"Jack started as he jumped down from the elevator platform. Ianto just shook his head, as the immortal shouted up to the little boy, already past the second level and still climbing. John stopped, but only for a moment, shouting down as he stopped and clung to the ladder. It was at that moment that Myfanwy broke from her nest and flew an agitated circle around the hub, coming to rest on the rail below the nosey little thing.

"Jack," Gwen called out, startled. "We didn't hear… Oh, my God!" Jack ignored her as he began the long climb up the side of the hub trying not to act agitated. The boy had not climbed any higher and, to the contrary, seemed to have lost the energy to go any further, though he didn't seem too agitated by the large reptile eyeing him from below. Ianto on the other hand caught her eye and gave her a glare and a shake of his head. This was the woman who thought she was better capable of caring for a child?

The immortal reached the boy and very carefully edged him around onto his back, waiting till the child had locked his legs round his waist, hands around his neck, before climbing more slowly down to the floor. Myfanwy, sensing that the excitement was over, let out a squawk and flew another couple of laps as Ianto tripped the switch on the roof to release her. John was obviously running out of steam, though he kept up a stream of what sounded like complaints but for all Ianto knew it was a recipe for the 51st Century version of chocolate cookies. Ianto took the forgotten towel out of Rhys' hands and took the child from Jack to dry him off.

"Jack, Ianto, I am so sorry, I don't…" She stopped at a look from Jack. Rhys had pulled himself up off the floor and joined Ianto, deciding that it was best if he didn't get into this discussion.

"What happened?" Jack said, carefully. His tone was cold, enunciation precise in a way that spoke to exactly how upset he was.

"Everything was fine, really. He had a bit of a kip on the couch, then woke up and we watched a bit of a movie and had some Chinese."

"Seemed fine, like any other lad," Rhys offered as he grabbed the jimjams from Gwen, and helped Ianto get the now tired boy into them. "We played a bit of that video game Owen left, eat a bit of food, even ate his vegetables, more or less."

"Ok, I'm still waiting to find out how this ended with him wet, naked and up a ladder. Well wet and up a ladder anyway," he said, after a comment from John.

"We were giving him a bath, or rather Rhys was helping him."

"I minded what you said about him being an adult, figured he wouldn't want to be seen in his…" Rhys tried, but trailed off.

"Thanks, Rhys," Ianto said kindly. At least one of them seemed to be trying to understand, or maybe just succeeding. Or maybe it was a bloke thing.

"Yeah, Cheers. Went fine too, had a bit of fun with the soap bubbles and all, or as well as we could without his translator. We took it off, didn't know if it was waterproof see? So I gets him out, put him down, and the next minute, Gwen came in, and he was gone like a shot."

"Ok," Jack said, closing his eyes briefly. "Go home, we'll take care of it." He looked tired suddenly. Ianto and Rhys had managed to get the boy into his jimjams, and he was already lolling from his burst of energy and leaning heavily in Ianto's arms. Gwen handed him the translator and grabbed Rhys and her coat, not even bothering with a cheery goodnight, she was so anxious to get away. Rhys waved to them as the cog door closed behind them, leaving them alone with a half asleep child.