A/N: alright, this is kind of a short chapter, but since you guys have been reviewing faithfully, I felt I had to post faithfully. If anyone gets a bit confused by anything, I promise more will be explained later, but right now, I just wanted to get this posted before I went to bed considering I have to be at work in seven hours. So I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any torchwood...

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It was a nightmare, it had to be a nightmare.

Ianto couldn't breathe, he was coughing, choking as the archives of Torchwood tower burned around him. He had to escape, had to find Lisa and Kit, his two friends in the nightmare he had come to work for. But he couldn't get out. He was trapped, surrounded by shelves, files and the bodies of the other archivists. He was all that was left, as the fire climbed up to the ceiling, then he heard it, the metallic sounds of marching cybermen.

Ianto woke up screaming as he sat bolt upright, covered in a cold sweat.

"Ianto! Ianto! Hey, it's okay! You're okay!" came a voice as something gently grabbed hold of him.

Ianto was panting, out of breath, and then he realized that Jack was beside him, holding him tight.

"You're alright, it's okay Ianto." Jack said, trying to calm him.

Trying to calm himself down, Ianto leaned against Jack and took several deep breaths. "I'm sorry I woke you." he whispered.

"Hey, don't apologize, you were having a nightmare. But you're alright now, I'm here." Jack said softly as he gently ran a hand through Ianto's hair.

"Oh what a nightmare." he muttered, rubbing the heels of his hands over his eyes. He could feel another migraine beginning. But then he paused, he realized he was in Jack's arms, but he wasn't feeling any emotion from Jack. He leaned back and looked at him.

"What?" Jack asked, obviously wondering about the look Ianto was giving him.

"Why…. Why can't I feel anything?" he asked. Then he realized Jack had no idea he was an empath. 'What a dumb thing to ask. He won't have an answer. He doesn't know what I'm talking about.' he thought to himself. Suddenly he was hit with hints of affection and contentedness.

"Better?" Jack asked with a tiny smile.

Ianto stared. "How…."

"Kit told me about what causes you to have an occasional black out. I realized last night I gave you quite an emotional roller coaster ride to go along with your grief. Where I'm from, psychic abilities are pretty common, and we're taught to use mental barriers. But I've let my guard down since I've been here, so I put up my barrier for a bit, that way I wouldn't hurt you."

Ianto could hardly believe what he was hearing. Jack actually had psychic training. It was one thing for Torchwood one employees, but he had no idea about others. Suddenly Ianto felt something warm and fuzzy touch his fingers them move up his arm, followed by something sticky that stuck to his wrist for a moment.

He let out a cry of shock and jumped, launching him and Jack off the bed.

Jack coughed, obviously winded from Ianto landing on him.

"Sorry about that." Ianto said, shaking his head. He looked down at Jack who just smiled, then he began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, that I was jumpy enough to send us flying off the bed?" Ianto shrugged.

At that Jack laughed and Ianto felt himself feeling peaceful for the first time since the night before, when Jack had asked him out.

Ianto smiled and leaned down to kiss the man he had come to feel so much affection for. He wasn't sure if he'd call it love just yet, but he knew he was quite content with where they were none the less.

"So, what was it that caused you to fly off the handle like that?" Jack asked between kisses.

"No idea now." Ianto said, completely forgetting everything around him. 'What irony.' he thought, 'the first time we ever kissed we were in the same predicament on the ground, just without my blankets tangled up around us.' But he really didn't care, he just let his fingers curl around the fabric of Jack's shirt as the kiss deepened, the two men completely ignoring the world around them.

That is, until something very nasty and slimy fell onto Ianto's neck and dripped down onto Jack's chest, bringing the two out of their very passionate kiss.

"Ugh…" Ianto growled, getting the slime on his fingers. "What the….."

"Oh, what is this stuff?" Jack gasped with a grimace.

It was then that Ianto heard a familiar chuckle to their right.

"Damn it Aldair! Where did you come from and why did you have to drool?" Ianto snapped at the giant anteater that had somehow appeared in his flat.

"Ianto why is there an anteater in your room?" Jack asked.

"I thought you could use some company Ianto, but I see you already have some." the anteater chuckled gleefully.

Ianto stood up and gasped in disgust as the slime slipped down the back of his shirt and slid down his back.

"That's absolutely disgusting Aldair!" he snarled at the creature. "How did you get here?"

It was then that Ianto saw the brown door that had appeared on the wall by his closet. Within seconds though the door melted away. It was a sign that his Uncle Malachai was meddling in his life.

"So tell me Mr. Jones, when did you become like Jim and Tim?" the anteater asked.

Ianto paused and looked at the anteater. "What do you mean?"

Tim and Jim had been two of Ianto's best friends in high school, and Tim was eventually adopted into the family after his father neglected him. They had played baseball and formed a strings quintet with Angela and their friend Aldo and they had been close for years. But when Ianto joined Torchwood, all he heard were snippets of their lives. Last he heard he thought Tim was getting married to a girl named Maria.

"Oh you didn't hear? Tim and Jim are getting married."

"So….?"

"To each other."

Ianto choked on a gasp. He hadn't seen that coming by a long shot, the two flirted with women so often, they would've been equivalent to a straight version of Jack.

"Okay, I'd really like to know why there is a talking anteater in your flat." said Jack getting up to stand behind Ianto. "And how he holds so much slime in the tiny snout of his."

"That's my secret." said Aldair his smile showing in his tiny eyes.

"My Uncle Malachai must've sent him here. It's a long story. Anyway, Jack this is Aldair, Aldair this is Jack." Ianto muttered. "I need a shower. Aldair, you salivate on anything else in this flat I swear to God I will call Uncle Malachai and make him come get you." He then turned and headed into the bathroom where he started the water for a nice warm shower.

Ianto and Jack took turns showering then they got dressed for the day.

"What time do you have to pick up Tara and Kit?" Jack asked, snapping on his braces.

"Lunch time, I promised Rhiannon I'd go over for lunch." Ianto said straightening his tie.

"Why do you wear a suit?" Aldair asked watching him. "I thought you hated suits. You always griped when you'd have to wear one for your orchestra recitals."

"I still can't get used to that thing." Jack mumbled.

"I'm not a thing, thank you very much." Aldair growled at him.

"Hush, don't growl." Ianto said sternly.

"And who are you to tell me what to do child?" Aldair asked.

Ianto just sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to tell Uncle Malachai to come get you, I have to go."

"I'm going too." Aldair said.

"No, Rhi would freak over you. Besides, I'm going into work for a bit before I pick up the little ones. My car's at the hub anyway."

"Do you really think I care? I'm going too." Aldair protested.

"I won't have a talking anteater wandering around the hub." Jack argued.

Ianto sighed, knowing this was about to turn into a shouting match between Captain Jack Harkness and Aldair the talking anteater, and he already knew who was going to win.

"I don't care what you think!" Aldair growled. "You have no say in the matter!"

"Think again! It's my team, my hub, and my home, I don't need you getting into things!" Jack snapped standing up.

"Jack, be careful." Ianto warned.

But Jack ignored him.

"I'm going with Ianto and that's final!"

"I'm not taking orders from an anteater!"

"I'm not taking orders from a child!"

"I'm not a child! I'm a hundred and seventy six!"

"I'm three hundred and four!"

Ianto saw Jack quickly hide the surprise on his face. 'I wonder what the neighbors are thinking by now.' he sighed to himself.

"That doesn't mean I'm going to let you into the hub! There's no point arguing, you won't win!"

"I'm going and that's final!" Aldair roared, his snout splitting open to reveal his fangs.

Jack let out a shriek of terror as he backed away from the creature.

"You don't fight with an old angelic creation gone wrong Jack." Ianto said softly as Aldair growled. "If he's insisting, you won't win. But seriously Aldair? Just this once can't you actually listen to me? I'm asking you nicely. Please stay here?"

The anteater starred at him for a long moment. "Fine, I'll stay." he growled. "Can I sleep on your couch?"

"Provided you keep the drool to a minimum, then yes, you can sleep on the couch. I don't think Kit and Tara would appreciate having to sleep on the couch after your saliva soaked into it." he said, feeling relieved that Aldair agreed to stay home. "Come on Jack, let's go."

Jack just nodded and slowly walked around Aldair, keeping a wary eye on the creature as he left the room.

"I'll see you after lunch Aldair." said Ianto, then he followed Jack out of the room.

"So…. Care to explain how he's three hundred and four years old?" Jack asked as they got into the SUV. "Or how he got into your flat? Or why he has teeth?"

"Aldair's just one very long story." Ianto sighed. "As for how he got into my flat… just know that if you see random doors in my flat, don't touch them. There's a story behind them too, but I'm just warning you."

"Your family's more out of this world then Torchwood." Jack sighed.

"So I've been told."

"And he ruined a perfectly good moment." Jack sighed, obviously disappointed.

Ianto had to admit he was quite disappointed as well. Who knows where that kiss would've lead. It was then that he felt somewhat guilty. "I'm sorry I ruined our chance to go out last night Jack." he muttered softly.

"Hey, don't feel guilty." Jack said with a kind smile. "I'm glad you were honest with me. There's plenty of other nights we can try and have a date. It's worth having to reschedule a dinner date as opposed to having that thing wake up and get loose."

Ianto just looked down at his hands in his lap with a quiet sigh. But he was surprised when Jack reached over and gently grasped one of his hands, lacing their fingers together.

"Thank you for telling me the truth Ianto." he said. "I'd rather have you be honest with me and feel a bit of hurt, as opposed to finding out when everything went wrong and feeling completely betrayed and angry. It's a lot easier to forgive honesty."

"I just wish I had done it sooner. Then I wouldn't of tried so hard to save the empty shell of what used to be a friend." Ianto whispered honestly.

"Look at it this way Ianto, if you hadn't of tried to save her, if you hadn't of tried to get into Torchwood three, we never would have met, we wouldn't have our friendship, and you wouldn't have a friendship with Tosh and Owen. Did you think about that?"

Ianto shook his head. No, he hadn't thought about that. But Jack was right, if it weren't for the fact that he was trying to save Lisa, he never would have met the Torchwood three team. He never would have developed such wonderful friendships, and such an interesting relationship with Jack Harkness. Maybe there was some light to the matter after all.

He finally smiled a little. "You're right Jack, I never would have met any of you outside of Torchwood. If that were the case, I might not be as content as I am with what I have here."

Jack smiled back. "That's a good way of thinking about it." he agreed. "Now then, the point is we still have our friendship, and now we have to get to the hub. So at least last night, while not exactly a pleasant memory, it won't be something that'll create too much tension between us, agreed?"

"Absolutely." said Ianto, feeling a heavy weight being lifted off his shoulders. He leaned over and gave Jack a gentle kiss on the lips. "Thank you Jack."

"You're welcome," Jack said, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. Then he let go, turned the key, and before long, they were heading down the road, sitting in their usual comfortable silence.

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A/N: okay, like I said, a bit of a short chapter, but I tried. If there's any confusion, I'll explain later, if there's any mistakes, just kindly point them out and I'll fix them after I get home from work tonight. But now I need sleep. So if you guys want the next chapter, just let me know!