DISCLAIMER: Don't own, highly doubt I ever will – the characters. Except the ones based on the peeps I know. It should be clear who those are – but, just in case, you'll need to know that I don't work for Torchwood. At least not Torchwood Three. I can't think of anything witty at the moment...LOL

"She seems nice," Erin remarked as she threaded her arm through Ianto's. He smiled back at Jack, who was stalking along beside Susan.

"Look, Jack, if this is bad timing," Susan began to say, but noticed that he was ignoring her. "JACK!" Susan put herself in his way and, not seeing, he tripped into her.

"What was that for?" He looked down at the woman who was glaring up at him, her hands on her hips.

If it hadn't been for the serious look she had on her face, Jack would have been forced to laugh. Her hair was pulled into a loose clip and the sweater she was wearing hung, unbuttoned. She looked like a cartoon of an angry librarian. "Jack Harkness, quit sulking – what has gotten into you?"

He went a bit boneless and looked anywhere but her face. "Nothin'…"

"Bullshit. Now spill it." Her hands were on her hips now and she demanding an answer.

"Do you want us to wait, sir?" Ianto asked, looking back for a moment.

"Go ahead, Yan, we'll be there." Jack excused the man. "It's nothing."

"Like hell. You're going to tell me now or this is over." Susan looked into his eye, daring him to turn away from her.

Jack thought for a moment how amused the others would be if they saw this woman telling him what to do. Here was this woman, who by all accounts, was not a heart-stopping beauty, but he liked her looks just fine. Something about her drew people in, but Jack couldn't figure out quite what it was. Maybe it was the way her glasses were always slightly sliding off her nose, or the way that her eyes laughed when she was trying not to do so herself. Or the way her hips swayed when she walked, making the skirts she always wore dance around her. Or the fact that he could see down her shirt from this angle. That was always his favorite. He wondered what Gwen and Tosh were talking about this very moment and how much of a laugh they were having at his expense. And then he noticed, Susan, her hands planted on her hips, tapping her foot. "Susan, I…" he began, but didn't know where he was going. "I…Oh hell, I don't know."

"Does this have anything to do with Erin's new boyfriend? Or the fact that he used to be yours?" Still with the foot tapping.

Jack was flustered. He shoved his hands in his coat pocket and bent a little to kiss the top of the woman's head in an effort to stall for time. "Susan, it's more."

She backed away from him a bit. "More? What the hell does that mean?"

He knew that he was coming dangerously close to talking himself out of a relationship, so he stepped forward, taking his hands from his pockets and reaching for hers. "It's just that I wanted to keep you to myself."

She looked up at him, confused. "You do know that I have kids, right? That you can never really have me all to yourself…"

He rubbed lazy circles up her arm as he smiled down at her. "That's not what I meant. I meant I wanted you to be my little secret."

Her eyes turned suddenly dark as she pushed him away. "Secret?! What the hell are you playing at, Jack Harkness! I am no one's secret!"

"Okay, so maybe the wrong choice of words. That's not how I meant it at all. Please, listen…" He was now talking to a retreating form. A rapidly retreating form. A rapidly retreating, stomping form. One he had to catch up with quickly. "Wait!" He called, but she didn't stop. Not that he thought she would. Damn him and his bad choices! He could only run after her now, and Jack never ran after anyone.

"Don't follow me." She said loudly, hearing footsteps behind her.

"Please let me explain." Jack spun her around, noticing that her hair was falling from the hasty bun she had swept it into and into her eyes. "That's not what I meant."

"You have five minutes to clarify, Captain Harkness, then, I am walking that way," she pointed behind her, "and not turning back around. Ready? Go."

Jack grabbed each of her arms to get her to look at him. He breathed deeply and started to talk, his eyes never moving from hers. "I meant that I wanted to have something that was mine, something I didn't have to share with my co-workers. I didn't tell them about you because I wanted you to myself. I guess that was selfish of me. Am I forgiven?"

She looked at him for a minute before looking down at the hands that gripped her arms. Jack was afraid that he had said the wrong thing again as she batted at those same hands. "Jack, why can't you tell me these things before they get to this point?" Her voice was soft and maternal. "It might have been different when you were dealing with Ianto, but you have to talk to me. I am not the type to just agree with you and go on like nothing is wrong."

"Susan," his voice came out a little more pleading than he had wanted it to.

"I'm not done." She stood back from him again, sure she had his full attention. "There will be no secrets. And before you can say anything else, I want to let you know that your office might say 'Tourist Center', but the things you mumble in your sleep say otherwise. I know you can't go into detail, and I'm not asking you to, but I am saying that you have to be as honest as you can with me. Are you hearing what I am saying?"

Jack nodded, afraid to talk. She was good, he'd give her that. Might be worth it to tell her about Torchwood just to have her on the team from time to time. They needed an interrogator every now and then. He pulled her close to him to show that he agreed with everything that had been said. She relaxed against him. "Done."

She let him hold her for a minute, enjoying the warmth, before whispering in his ear. "Jack."

"Yes?" She could feel him listening.

"Tell that Gwen that you work with that I didn't appreciate that. Lies are never cute." She waited for his reaction.

"How do you know she was lying?" He looked into her eyes again.

"Please. Old mother trick – can't tell you that – I'd have to kill you." She smiled a little smile at him and kissed him softly on the lips. "Just introduce us right, please? Now, how about that lunch? I think Erin and Ianto have given us the slip."

Jack chuckled. She was right, they were nowhere to be found. "Sure thing, I can do that – how about now?"

"Really?" Her eyes sparkled as she asked.

"Yes, now, come on, you. We'll go meet the gang and order some takeaway. How's that?" He took her hand in his and they walked back the way they came. He had decided right then and there that Susan would know about Torchwood. After all, if it went bad, there was always Retcon.

Okay, here ya go, PerGirl13! Heh. Oh, guys, thank ya'll for favoriting and watching this thing - there is still plenty of story left to go, I am just getting started good. Reviewers will get something special!