"So where do we go now?" Jack asked as he helped pack up.

Home," Ianto said. Jack's face dropped in disappointment. He put the chocolate cake back carefully as Ianto had instructed into the box and then into a bag. Perhaps they could take it to the hub on the way home. Let them eat some of it, Ianto thought.

"Can't we go somewhere else?"

Ianto looked up at Jack. His trousers were damp, covered in mud, but were now hidden by his coat, which he had carefully kept clean.

"Like where?"

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, sorry, you don't know…. I just keep automatically asking."

"So can we do something else? It's only…" Jack looked at his watch, frowning as he carefully worked out the time. He had learnt enough numbers now to do so. "Three thirty," he said proudly.

Ianto gaped again, desperately thinking. Again the idea of the cinema sprung to mind but he didn't trust this version of Jack to sit still, or stay quiet. Jack watched him hopefully. What the devil could he do? Ianto thought to himself. He was very much inclined to indulge Jack but he couldn't really think of anything. If he had a day off, he would probably have just done some chores and perhaps gone out and caught up on the birthday present shopping he needed to do for some friends and family and Jack needed a new blue shirt, he had been complaining about the cuffs fraying on the one he had.

Shopping wasn't the most exciting thing in the world. Still, Ianto would have worried if it was Jack, with his memory, but this Jack would probably enjoy anything. It was all so new.

"Well, I need to, get some shopping."

"We did shopping," Jack pointed out, looking down at the carrier bag he had of leftover food.

"Not that kind of shopping, this is more fun."

Jack frowned a little uncertain. Ianto shrugged. "Or… we could…"

He watched Jack's face flit with a look of slight panic. "We can go shopping," he said swiftly. Ianto smiled.

"Jack, don't panic, let's take a walk about and we'll think of something."

"Okay," Jack gave a rueful smile. He gathered up the bag that held the remains of the picnic. Ianto didn't really want to carry it around, but he didn't want to dispose of it, wasting the food. He got his answer as they left the park where a cluster of tramps rummaged around the bins.

"Hey," Ianto said. He held his hand out to Jack to get him to pass over the bag of food. The four men stared at him suspiciously. Ianto handed over the bag.

"Careful of the chocolate cake, it's kind of melted a little."

"Thanks! Hey Ianto, didn't realise it was you." the guy looking into the bag said.

"Oh God! Hi just thought you were around the Plass."

"No, here to," the tramp nodded knowledgeably.

He looked up at his mates they stared in the bag and then looked at Ianto with a kind of awe. At his thought, at his consideration. They mostly had to look for what was put in the bin and many people saw them looking. Never once had someone walked up and offered them what would be leftovers. They would often rather put it in the bin for them to find. Ianto walked back to Jack, who was watching carefully.

"That was nice."

"Yes, I know him from the Quay, they must move around a bit. I always give him the leftovers from the hub."

Jack followed Ianto up into the main area of town. "Don't people look after them… like properly."

"They don't have anyone to do that." Ianto said. He stopped when he realised as he stepped into the gift shop he had lost Jack. "Jack?"

Ianto turned; thankfully Jack was a little hard to miss in the run of people on the street since he was tall and dressed rather distinctively. He had paused to watch the people passing by but as Ianto called him, Jack hurried along behind to catch up. He followed Ianto as he looked at rows of cards with pictures. Ianto pulled a few out, looked at them, forgetting Jack hovering beside him, until Jack drew his attention.

"That's won't happen to me will it?"

"How? When? What?" Ianto asked. He looked up from a cutesy picture that might suit Laura's daughter to look at Jack.

"Being there. Just forgotten by someone. You won't forget me, will you Ianto?"

"No. I thought we had had this conversation."

"Sorry."

"Why do you worry about it so much?" Ianto asked. He paused in the middle of the card shop and looked at Jack. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't make a scene, so neither would Jack. Instead Jack would hopefully answer. He paused, scuffed his feet on the non-descript beige carpet and then looked up at Ianto.

"About what?"

"About people leaving you?" Ianto asked. "What scares you?"

"I don't know," Jack snapped. "I don't. I just know I'm going to be all on my own." Jack faced tensed slightly and Ianto reached out to take his arm.

"I'm sorry, okay. I just need to get these cards and then we can go and get you a new shirt."

Jack stopped worrying about his fear off loss. Instead he looked down at his clothes. "Why what's wrong with this one?"

"Nothing," Ianto said. "Your blue one is a little worn, you've been whinging about it for ages. Come on, we'll get you a new one."

Two hours later Jack carried the packages. Although he kept complaining the bags were heavy, as he had done with the food, he wouldn't let Ianto carry a damn thing. And he was still lingering on Ianto's right side to protect his arm. Although he was being slightly less zealous now.

"I like this," he said.

Ianto guessed that Jack would have liked it if they had paused to watch the paint dry on the side of a house, if Ianto had wanted to see it. Jack had no way to measure whether or not he enjoyed things. He was just enjoying being with Ianto.

"But my legs are tired," Jack added. Ianto looked at him in mild amusement. Tiredness was never something that Jack complained about but as they passed by a pub, a faint spill of music coming through the door Jack peered in curiously. He'd done that with practically every shop they had passed, which made walking down the High Street a rather long affair. Not that Ianto minded, he had picked up more than he had actually needed and he was inclined to agree with Jack. He was a bit tired as well, the painkillers were wearing off a little.

"Come on," Ianto said. He turned into the small alcove of the pub door. "We can stop for a sit down and a drink before we go home."

"Okay," Jack said mildly. He just trotted in after Ianto, peering around the slightly dark interior of the pub. It was one that they had all been in several times, it was close enough to the hub to make it convenient.

Ianto had a quick glance around. It was still early, not quite half past five. The offices still hadn't spilled out the workers looking for an early evening pick me up. Ianto spotted a quiet corner, a little dark, the overhead lights dimmed, but Ianto didn't think Jack would bother about that. He got Jack settled in the corner with the bags and then walked over to the bar.

"What can I get you?" the very bored barman asked.

"Pint of lager and…" Ianto paused. The barman started on that drink as Ianto thought. Jack normally drank water but under the circumstances he probably wouldn't want that. "Could you make that two actually?"

"Sure," the barman said, not very interested in Ianto's hesitation, or why he was now looking a little worried. There had to be reasons why Jack didn't drink, his rather mysterious answer that he had to stay hydrated in case he had to travel in a hurry didn't really tell anyone anything. Until the time he had run off on them, and it wasn't like he never drank anything. He had whiskey and brandy in his office for emergencies, but he very rarely touched that either.

While he debated the morals of what he was doing he ferried the first drink over to the table. Jack watched him in a very serious fashion, Ianto smiled at him and then went back to pay for the drinks and pick up the other pint. When he returned Jack was examining the pint of lager from all sides and sniffing it a little.

"What is it?"

"Lager," Ianto said, he took a sip of his own drink. Jack still hesitated.

"Do I like it?" Jack asked. He looked up with a set of perfectly innocent, curious blue eyes.

"I have no idea," Ianto told him truthfully. "You never really drink much, I could get you some water instead." Maybe you should have done in the first place, a voice in Ianto's head told him. Jack frowned and took a tentative sip of the drink, then a slightly larger one. His eyes moved in his head as he tasted it.

"It's nice," Jack said.

"Good, don't drink it too fast though, I don't want you falling over as I am in no state to carry you home."

Jack just looked confused at that but he obeyed the command. In fact as Ianto watched him, he actually measured his speed against him. Ianto didn't feel like drinking too fast, he didn't want to have any adverse reactions with the pain killers and anti-biotic that he had taken.

"Did you enjoy it today?" Ianto asked him. Jack nodded. He looked down at the bags he had tucked away under the table.

"Why did you buy all that stuff?"

Ianto shrugged, "I keep forgetting people's birthdays, well not forgetting but sometimes I can't always get out to buy things, so I always try and do it well in advance. Which reminds me, I had better think of something to get Tosh soon."

"Do I buy things like that?"

"Sometimes, you usually get me to do it."

"Why? Can't I do it?"

"I guess, but it's easier if I do. It's…" Ianto paused and thought about it. It wasn't that Jack never thought about these things, and he loved all the odd little customs that went on around him. But there somehow seemed to be a slight lack of comprehension of what to get and why. Jack had been on Earth long enough that he really should have figured it out.

And he knew everyone well enough, yet the simple little details he could never seem to manage. Ianto smiled and shook his head.

"I'm just better at shopping than you are," Ianto said. Jack smiled and took another sip of his drink. They had almost finished the drinks Ianto swallowed the rest of his and looked at Jack.

"Do you want another?"

Jack looked around, took another sip, thought about it and nodded. "Yes, please."

By the end of the second drink Jack was blinking a little more intensely than he had been before. His hand had slid over to Ianto's thigh and had been sliding steadily upwards throughout the last pint. The pub had filled a little, a steady stream of office girls and men in suits. It was starting to get a little rowdy and Ianto was starting to get a little fed up of the group of men by the bar, steadily drinking and getting increasingly noisy.

"Shall we go?" Ianto leant in towards Jack to ask. Jack didn't look too happy with the noise and crowds either. That was probably why he was shifting closer to Ianto and why the grip Jack had on his leg was getting stronger.

"Yes, please," Jack voice was a little slurred and he blinked vigorously. "I need to pee first."

"Okay, over there. Do you want me to come with you?" Ianto asked. Jack, for just one fraction of a second, smiled in a way that Ianto was more than familiar with. The innocence dropped out of his eyes and they glittered with amusement.

"I think I can manage that on my own."

"Go on then," Ianto said feeling the blush run up his face. He had spent two days treating Jack like an overgrown child. Moments like this, throughout that time, reminded him he wasn't. Jack got up, wavered on his feet a little and then clambered out to saunter along the bar to the toilets. Ianto watched carefully, he was still fairly steady but it was clear the alcohol had quite an effect on him. It had never occurred to Ianto that Jack actually avoided drinking because he simply couldn't handle it.

As Jack walked along Ianto noticed two groups of girls watching him walk past. So did the group of suited men. However as they also watched the girls one of their number glanced in Ianto's direction and then commented to his friends, which caused a rumble of noisy laughter. Ianto sat back in the seat and spun his almost empty glass round, pretending that he didn't know they were talking about him and also that it didn't bother him. It didn't, he told himself, and it wouldn't if Jack was himself. Jack had a way of handling every situation like this, usually by flirting. Ianto had never met anyone who could literally flirt someone into submission but Jack certainly could.

He could take one innocent, almost innocent, innuendo and turn it into an indirect threat in a matter of seconds. Ianto now and again wondered if it was some kind of defence mechanism, but defence against what?

The yelp made him look up again. One of the group had grabbed a passing girl practically pinning her to the bar and one hand firmly clamped on her backside. She looked less than pleased about it, trying to wriggle away. Ianto watched her companion, another girl in a blouse and short skirt. She looked like she wanted to help but didn't want to get grabbed. Both girls had unconsciously swept the bar for help but everyone looked away, not wanting to take on the group of six men, not even the barman looked interested. Ianto sighed inwardly as the girl being groped caught his eye frantically.

That was the problem he had, being who he was, and having spent an awful lot of time with one Captain Jack Harkness. You couldn't just ignore these things, he couldn't do it and Jack certainly wouldn't. Even without his memory he would probably still get involved.

Slowly Ianto got up. He noticed one of the men spot the movement and watch his approach. When he was close enough for all six men to realise he was there he spoke.

"Enough, leave her alone."

"What's it got to do with you?" the groping man asked. The girl had gone very still, leaning back slightly away from his attempt to kiss her. She had either not noticed, or didn't care, that her long dark hair was trailing in the condensation and spilt beer on the bar.

"She quite obviously doesn't want your attention," Ianto pointed out.

"It's not like your interested is it?" he said looking around at the group. They all laughed, the hint obvious, they had spotted Jack's lingering closeness to him. Although in the darkness they had probably not been able to see the possessive hand on his leg.

Ianto however at some point between getting up from the table and actually reaching the group, had lost his fear. It was the thing that he had pointed out to Tosh once, when they were trapped by a group of cannibals. The feeling that they got, the look on their faces when everything was so out of control. At that point in time, as he stood there, he realised he was starting to feel exactly the same way. So this time the laugher, and the meaning, had no effect on him.

Instead he just stood there and for a moment said nothing. His face said it all and the fact he simply waited for the laughter to run it's course all seemed to confuse them. At that point he took his moment stepping a little further forward. One of the men backed off, which again added to the confusion. Ianto reached out and grabbed the wrist of the man who was still groping the girl. With one expert twist he caused enough pressure to make the man let go with a loud yelp. As he jumped back the girl shot sideways around Ianto to stand behind him. Her companion moved to join her.

The man in front of him glared at Ianto, who had backed off slightly now he had done exactly what he intended to do. But judging by the look on the six men's faces he wasn't getting away with just turning and walking off. The man looked him up and down and his eyes lingered on Ianto's tightly bound right arm. It was unnecessarily still in the sling, but it had seemed a sensible enough precaution. Ianto now regretted it slightly, even in the bad condition it was in, he got the feeling now he was going to need it.

"Leave it Jake," one of the others said. He had also spotted the sling, his friends stance and now looked a little nervous.

"Why should I?"

"He's got a broken arm or whatever… come on let's just go."

Ianto frowned. The placating group member had been hanging back from the beginning and Ianto watched his eyes flicker to the side of the bar. Looking, he realised suddenly, for Jack's return. As if he didn't want Jack getting involved in this. Jack was certainly memorable enough, half of the city had probably seen him at one time or another. This guy knew him for a not so good reason.

"Yeah, no doubt him messing around in things that don't concern him."

Ianto raised an eyebrow, he could have pointed out that psychotic rampaging aliens were in fact his business and his arm wasn't actually broken just bitten, by said psychotic rampaging alien, but he got the feeling that none of that would really help.

The man glowered as Ianto said nothing. He stepped forward and pushed Ianto back slightly. He aimed for his good shoulder and Ianto moved back, but still he refused to be provoked. However the next voice that did break the silence made him wince.

"What's going on?" Jack said. His voice was loud and Ianto immediately picked out the vibration of stress in it. This was a situation that Jack was not prepared for. Ianto however moved for a pre-emptive strike, his plan; to get the two girls, Jack, himself and his shopping out of the pub.

"Nothing," he addressed Jack calmly over his shoulder. "We're just leaving now."

The man stepped forward. Ianto registered the slightly fusty look in his eyes, reddened face and inhaled the scent of alcohol on the man's breath. Even hampered Ianto was sure he could manage the guy. Whatever incident the guy at the back had connected with Jack, he had told at least two of his friends and they also looked rather nervous. The man stood in front of Ianto however, registered none of this. All he was concentrating on was Ianto.

"You're not, not until we settle this!" the drunk man snapped.

"I do believe it's settled and quite frankly I didn't want to get involved in the first place, I just happen to be a gentleman." He didn't add 'unlike some' but the hint was there. Ianto backed up slightly, wasn't followed and met Jack, who had stepped forward. Ianto glanced up, Jack's blue eyes moved over the group of men looking confused.

"Of course, your kind always are," the man said sarcastically. "Not interested in the girls are you, gonna go home and let your boyfriend here do you."

The insults came as a slur. None of them were particularly original, well-spoken, but they pretty much got to the point. Ianto saw Jack move slightly and open his mouth to answer. Seeing that Ianto stepped sideways to stand on his foot. Jack scowled as he felt the pressure and looked at Ianto. He knew full well that Jack, missing the point of the insults would have simply pointed out that Ianto wasn't having sex with him at the moment.

"Let's go," Ianto said to him. He wanted out of the pub, right that minute. Jack looked even more confused.

Then he looked startled as three of them stepped forward and Ianto wasn't surprised when Jack's hand strayed to his belt, where he gun would have been.

"Hey! Where's my gun gone?" Jack asked loudly.

"You can't use it anyway," Ianto murmured to him. The three men paused.

"Why not?" Jack asked. "They don't seem much different to a weevil to me."

Nor me, Ianto thought but didn't comment. "Don't worry, your gun is safe, Gwen locked it away." He told Jack in a low tone. The man, close enough to hear laughed.

"A gun, well your friend obviously likes dressing up." He eyed Jack's rather distinctive coat up and down. Jack frowned.

"Are you sure I can't kill him?" Jack asked.

"Yes, Jack, now let's go." Ianto turned to leave. He'd had enough and threats and insults were all he thought they were going to get.

However he was wrong. The drunk man was now convinced that Ianto was totally in the wrong. His drunk mind told him as such. And the rage hit him as he realised he was being dismissed by Ianto, who had dared to get involved in the first place. Despite the drunkenness he was swift as he lashed out. He grabbed for Ianto, caught the sling and yanked him back. Ianto staggered at the violence of the movement, and it was telegraphed slightly. He was pulled past the man and slammed into the bar, his arm jarring hard. The man's weight was against him for a second, and then suddenly it was gone.

He turned, someone helped him. Blinking to clear his fuzzy vision he realised it was one of the girls. He followed her gaze. Ianto could feel no surprise. Naturally it was Jack who had reacted, over-reacted. Seeing the man grab and push Ianto was too much for him. Ianto was hurt and Jack was supposed to be looking after Ianto as much as Ianto was looking after him. He had promised as much.

So, he had hauled the man off, grabbing him by the lapels and pulling him close with considerable force. His furious face was an inch away from the drunk's who was also pulled up onto his tiptoes by Jack's grip.

"You touch him again I really will kill you."

Jack's voice projected across the pub. The room had fallen silent during the altercation so Jack's voice and sudden change in aura carried. It was meant, understood and left no shadow of a doubt. Ianto glanced around. It was almost as bad as when the man had been groping the girl. No one wanted to get involved. No one should, Ianto thought, except again him, who probably should have left well enough alone the first time.

"Jack!" he snapped the name. Jack jerked back and let the man go. He didn't exactly push him but he fell back several steps. Ianto looked around, the girls had gone, the man's friends had retreated to the other end of the bar. The barman moved up towards Ianto.

"I think you and your friend had better leave."

Jack jerked at the unfriendly tone. Ianto however had other concerns.

"Come on," he said to Jack. "Get the stuff, we're leaving."