Ianto let them in through the secret door and led the way down to the Hub, his hands full of the bags of supplies they'd bought on their way in. When they got down he expected to find Jay on the sofa, where they'd left her the night before, but the Hub was empty and silent apart from the rhythmic beepings of the many scans. "Jay?" he called, knowing where she would probably be without having to check. When no response came he turned to the Captain, who was watching him in concern, "Jack, will you put this stuff away, I have a feeling I know where she is."
"In the archives?" he asked, heading for the stairs with his bags and collecting the ones Ianto had been carrying on his way past
"Probably. I'll drag her out for breakfast." He shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way into his domain.
"Jay?" he called, his feet echoing loudly through the damp, dark tunnels, "Jay, please tell me you've not got to Z without me."
A laugh rang out from a room down the corridor and she appeared with a stack of folders, "It's OK, only halfway through C."
He swore, "That was fast, how long have you been at it?"
"I'm a professional." She explained with a smile, "I know the system inside out because I made it and you'd already got it into order anyway. And I got started about ten minutes after you left."
"You didn't sleep?" he chided, taking the folders from her and setting them down on a table
"Are you surprised?"
"No, come on, breakfast." He grabbed her hand and pulled her back up the corridor.
"Good night last night?" she asked innocently, ducking with a laugh as he aimed a playful slap to the back of her head, "I'll take that as a yes then. If the look in your eyes is anything to go by."
"Will you stop studying my body language so closely? It's disconcerting. And yes." He blushed, "Last night was fantastic, as was this morning. But we're keeping it a secret from the team, they won't understand. Or they'll think it's cute, adn I don't know which is worse."
"My lips are sealed." She mimed zipping her lip as they emerged into the main Hub. "Something smells good."
"Jack can cook, I mean really cook." He agreed, "You're in for a treat."
They went up to the kitchen to watch Jack cooking happily; Ianto set the coffee machine running and leant on the work surface next to it, whilst Jay sat on the work surface opposite., earning her a glare from Ianto and a chuckle from Jack, "You know, you used to yell at me for doing that."
She pulled a face, "I needed to lighten up then, what are work surfaces for if not sitting on?"
"Erm… working on?" Ianto suggested, making the other two laugh loudly, "Do I have to be the adult around here?"
Jack grinned, "No, join us in being a kid. Come on, breakfast's done. Boardroom?"
He rolled his eyes and picked Jay up in a fireman's lift, picking up the coffees one handed on the tray and carrying them and the young commander to the boardroom. When he put her down on the table she looked slightly shocked, very impressed and was laughing so hard she was crying. When she finally calmed down enough to wipe the tears of mirth from her cheeks she took a sip of coffee and promptly choked on it, "You know, I like it when you take control like that." She eventually gasped out, earning her raised eyebrows from the two men, "And yes, I meant it exactly like that."
"Dirty minded little git." Jack tickled her until she couldn't breath again, "You sure you don't want to come here permanently, you fit right in?"
"Nah, sorry but I love being in London." She slid off the table and into a seat gracefully, and they settled down to eat breakfast before the others got in.
There was a team meeting at nine, far too early for Owen apparently. Jay watched from the side as Jack dealt out tasks authoritatively; they were on edge because the rift had been quiet for so long, it couldn't last. She was surprised when Jack asked her and Ianto to form the first response team for the day, but she agreed nevertheless.
"You don't have to if you don't want to."
"No, I do." Excitement lit in her eyes, "Life at the pointy end, what could be better?"
He laughed, "OK, you and Ianto get on with that archiving until we get a call. I may come down to help if I get through this stuff for UNIT and the defence minister."
They wandered back to the room she'd come from that morning and got dug into the C section again. It was an easy task, simply transferring the files from alphabetical by species to numerical by species and file reference – repetitive but interesting work, as they skimmed through the reports they filed and learned more about the alien species Torchwood had encountered over the years.
"Have you ever tried getting Jack's recollections down in here? He seems to have some incredible stories…" she mused, watching him over the top of a folder
He looked up in surprise, "Never really thought about it, but you're right, his stories are incredible. Sometimes I don't know whether to believe them."
"Ah, literally incredible." She sighed and shut the folder, pencilling in a reference number on the front
"How do you do that?" he asked in amusement
"I just do. Just one of those things. I can't remember my childhood, or Jack, or anything I did before UNIT and Torchwood, but I can remember most of the reference numbers for the archive just like that." Her eyes were full of frustration and he just wanted to hug her.
Instead, he gestured around the room, "That's C finished. Want to take a break before we move on?"
"If you want, got anything in mind?"
"Chocolate cake sound good?" he asked, holding the door open for her
"Chocolate cake sounds very good." She confirmed, letting her hair fall from its clip as they headed up to the Hub and the kitchen.
Ianto paused before he went up to offer a round of coffee, which drew Jack out of the woodwork. As soon as he saw his lover, Ianto reached for the Baileys and used it instead of milk in his coffee, for which Jack looked extremely grateful. "Saxon?" the young man asked simply
"Yeah." He groaned, inhaling the invigorating smell of the coffee, "Trying to tell me what to do."
"The man is an arse." Jay growled, "I've met him twice, now the guards are under strict instructions that he's not allowed into my facility. He's violent and far too intelligent for his own good."
"Why?"
"Because if he keeps asking me questions like that I'm going to haul off and thump him." They laughed and even Jay managed a rueful grin. "Erm yeah, the warning should be 'don't get me started' on Saxon I'm afraid. We don't see eye to eye, on anything. His wife's OK, as long as you don't talk about anything more complex than clothes and shoes. Handbags are OK."
"Why, she not too bright?" Ianto asked as he passed her a slice of cake and another to Jack
"Thanks Yan. No, that's the problem, she is too bright. And seems to think that because I only remember 12 months I must be 12 months old."
"A bitch then?" Jack asked with a mouthful of cake
"No, not really. Just… Yeah, class C bitch, thinks she's being nice when you want to slap her."
Ianto smiled, "You have different classes of bitch?"
"Yeah, E to A. Class E is deliberately wearing the same top or dress or something and looking better in it. D is deliberate OTT bitchiness that comes with a pinch of sugar and no malice. C is unconscious patronising or something like that. B is spreading rumours, snide remarks, that sort of thing. Full on class A is Nicola De Suza from Emmerdale level bitchiness."
Jack raised his eyebrows, "Is their anything you don't have categorised?"
"Cake, cake is always individual."
"Good to know." He muttered