AN: Okay, to be fair, I did warn that there would be angst with this chapter. For everyone who tells me not to go into hiding, I'd still write. The hiding is so I can get more writing done…lol.
Thanks go to Mama Rocks for really working with me on this chapter. She did an awesome Beta job and she made some perfect suggestions to make it even better!
Chapter 28 - Just when you think it's safe...
"Ianto I think I found something."
Tosh's voice cut through the light noises of the Hub and echoed up to where he was cleaning the coffee machine. He sighed heavily as he dropped the cleaning supplies and headed down to her workstation. Jack and Gwen still hadn't come back from where they had gone to earlier. As much as he wanted to deny the feeling, he was starting to get agitated. Not only did he have to deal with what felt like a million butterflies fluttering in his abdomen, but he was also starting to wonder about some of Jack's more recent actions.
He had been okay for the most part when Jack left. However, after he'd made his way back to his desk in the archives, he'd remembered a few things that caused him to pause with uncertainty. First, there was the filing cabinet with Jack's name on it. After what had just happened, he was now even more hesitant to find a way to open it. He glanced towards it again then looked away. For some reason that single old fashioned cabinet had taken on an ominous quality. He had a really terrible feeling that if he did actually find the key and get it open, he would regret knowing whatever secrets it held.
The second thing that moved through his mind was the expression on Jack's face the previous night when he'd mentioned the unusual weather patterns. Jack had looked exactly the same way when he'd walked out of the archives. And just as the door had shut, he could've sworn he'd seen the man shudder.
What really bothered him was that he couldn't figure out what it all meant.
After standing next to his desk for only a few minutes, he suddenly hadn't been able to endure remaining in the archives. It was too bloody quiet. So Instead of staying and going through the more recent additions, he'd come up to the Hub and started to research the weather patterns he'd found the previous night. After talking to Tosh about what he'd found she had volunteered to help him synchronize his results. Tosh had managed to create a file that showed how extremely odd the phenomenon actually was.
Just as he reached her station, the lights on the cog door started flashing. He turned towards it to see Jack and Gwen walking in together, so intent on their conversation that they barely acknowledged Tosh and Ianto. Gwen followed Jack into his office and Ianto's eyes narrowed with suspicion as Jack shut the door behind them. The only comfort he could find was in realising that the two of them were actually more arguing than discussing something. However, that relief was offset with the knowledge that Gwen obviously knew something that no one else on the team knew.
'What the bloody hell?'
He didn't get too much of a chance to wonder. Gwen left Jack's office, glancing back at him with a look on her face that Ianto knew very well by now. When she first started with Torchwood, she'd had that same look on her face, both adoring and somewhat worried.
'It's so fucking apparent she has a crush on him! Why the hell is he messing around with me when it's so bloody obvious he wants her?'
He scowled as he turned away from Gwen, his eyes nearly rolling from the look of puppy love on her face. He hadn't realised how much that look bothered him until that very moment. Of course, there was always the possibility that he just hadn't cared when he'd seen it before. Though he honestly couldn't figure out why the hell it bothered him now. Jack had made it quite clear that emotions were involved but he wasn't in love with Ianto.
"Ianto?"
He turned towards Tosh to see her looking at him rather concerned. Shaking his head to assure her that he was okay, he walked the rest of the way to her desk and leaned forward to find out what she had found.
An hour later, he found himself standing in front of the coffeemaker staring rather vacantly at the wall behind it as he worked the machine. He made a cup for each member of the team with barely a thought towards what they normally liked, instead serving them all the same. He was too distracted to make different types, so they would have to settle for Jack's special blend. The only changes he made were to add more sugar to Gwen's and more cream to Tosh's. For Tosh it was simply because he knew she would at least appreciate it. Gwen's because he didn't want to hear her complain.
For some reason, his mind just kept throwing the image of Jack and Gwen cosied up together in his office and the expression on Gwen's face as she walked out of there. Almost as if it was trying to point out how very wrong his relationship with Jack was. Every time Jack touched him, even if he was just brushing up against him, two sensations would be at war within him at the same time. The first, always the most powerful, would be desire, a lust so powerful that he almost couldn't see straight and nearly knocked him to his knees.
However, there was a second emotion, an underlying awareness that what he was feeling was wrong, that maybe Jack being more interested in Gwen was right...more natural. Along with that would come the certainty that Jack should be going after what he really wanted, even if it wasn't him. Ianto sighed, pulling his body up straight when realised he'd been standing in front of the coffee machine for nearly five minutes staring at the wall.
He was still somewhat absent minded as he took the cups in and began to pass them out to everyone. On that front, at least from what he could tell, nothing had changed. Owen took the cup without even glancing at him, Gwen took her cup and set it down in front of herself, and Tosh locked her eyes with Ianto's and nodded her head in thanks.
He was so distracted that it took him a few seconds to figure out what they were talking about. When he finally understood he had to hide a smile. Of all things that Torchwood had laid down in front of him, he had never in a million, million years expected them to be discussing fairies.
After hearing all of them debating, he couldn't resist contributing, even if it was only to take the piss out of them.
"I blame it on magic mushrooms." He said somewhat jovially as he set down Jack's coffee in front of him on the table.
He was fully surprised when Jack didn't even bat an eyelash before remarking back at him.
"What you do in private is none of our business."
Ianto stared at him for a second, then turned back towards the rest of the team. The best he could figure was that Jack was giving him some subtle hint to keep what they were doing after hours a secret. Which was odd considering he wasn't about to go shouting it from the rooftop. All at once everything began to click into place, making perfect sense. It was so bloody obvious that Ianto was surprised he hadn't figured it out sooner.
Jack didn't want to discourage Gwen. Ianto closed his eyes momentarily, only now realising that Jack was just trying to finish what he'd started when he'd first met Ianto. Once he'd done that, he'd have nothing holding him back. The moment he gave in and added Ianto to his list of conquests, he'd move on and start a real relationship with her.
His thoughts drifted inward again as the team continued their debate over the picture.
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Jack winced, his back popping rather loudly as he stood up from his chair. Gwen had finally decided to leave his office and he was somewhat anxious to find Ianto and distract himself from everything he'd lost that night.
As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't nearly as affected as he wanted to be when it came to losing Estelle. In his mind, he'd lost her many years ago. Her death, albeit painful, was nowhere near as bad as it would have been if he'd stayed with her and had her resentment cultivate to extreme levels when he failed to grow old with her. He'd cried his tears as he held her in his arms, now he just wanted to go find Ianto and celebrate being alive.
Jack sighed as he walked out of his office. He was really starting to regret not telling Ianto about his immortality. He had no idea what he was going to tell the young man when he did finally find out. He was at that point that if he didn't tell Ianto, something terrible was going to happen. Ianto would end up finding out some other way and hate him for it.
As he reached the centre of the Hub he realised that the only person around was Gwen. He turned towards her curiously.
"Have you seen Ianto?"
Gwen was rushing, trying to get her things together to leave. She glanced up at him hurriedly.
"When I came out of your office he muttered something about making sure the tourist office was locked up and took off in that direction."
She paused and looked speculatively at him.
"Did you want to talk some more Jack?"
He shook his head as he turned away and walked towards the elevator. There really was only so much of her sympathetic and puppy love looks that he could handle. He wanted to see Ianto, to spend time with someone who didn't look at him with any type of hero worship. As much as he enjoyed flirting with Gwen he knew it would never go anywhere. He was starting to trust her as a friend and employee, but that's as deep as he was willing to go. If he and Gwen started something up, she would only end up hurt. At least with Ianto he could...
Jack froze, holding his finger down on the button that would bring him to the upper level.
'Could what? Care about...maybe even love?'
His heart was thundering in his chest as his arm slowly dropped down. The doors closed quickly and noiselessly in front of him. The lift accelerated upwards and he found his knees giving out as he sat down rather ungracefully on the floor. Somehow, in the middle of all of this, he had started to let Ianto into his heart. He knew that he had to put a stop to it now, before it got to be too late. What had to remain important was the Doctor's return. Even if he did tell Ianto one of his deepest secrets, he didn't have to tell him everything. He would keep his immortality hidden and just hope Ianto never questioned him.
As the elevator slowed to a stop he jumped up hurriedly, leaning back against the wall trying to look casual. It was a waste of time considering Ianto was probably still in the tourist office, but he didn't want to be caught off guard. If he was going to remain in control of both his heart and his life, he needed to at least keep up appearances.
The elevator opened to a darkened empty hallway. He walked down the tunnel slowly, barely noticing when the doors slid shut behind him and the elevators nearly noiseless descent began. As soon as he reached the entrance that led into the tourist office, he stopped. The wall wasn't nearly as thick as he would have liked, but at this particular moment in time, he was going to use that to his advantage.
Standing there, he leant forward and focussed, trying to hear what Ianto was doing. He knew that Ianto's story of straightening up that he gave to Gwen had been his way of getting away from the Hub. Ianto always made sure everything was situated properly when he locked the office in the afternoon. There would have been no reason for him to return to reception. He had no earthly idea why Ianto had felt the need to escape, but he was going to find out.
He heard a shuffling noise and nearly jumped out his skin when something hit the wall next to the door. Just as he was about to go in and see what the hell was going on, he heard the elevator returning behind him. He turned to see Gwen walking towards him and took a few steps backwards, fading into the shadows. He didn't want to have to answer any questions from her about why he hadn't gone directly into reception and he didn't want her to start talking, thereby letting Ianto know he'd been standing there.
Either way it didn't matter. She was so intent on a conversation she was having with Rhys on her mobile that she never even glanced his way. He waited for her to walk out the back entrance that led to the parking garage before he came out and stood next to the entrance again. Ianto had gone silent, probably in response to hearing Gwen walk by, but for some reason Jack felt a stir of unease run through him.
'Get the fuck over it! You're too God damn old to be acting this way!'
Reaching forward he slowly opened the door and stepped through, a lot more hesitant than he wanted to admit. His eyes flicked around the room, quickly taking in his surroundings. The place looked immaculate, more so than it normally did. The only thing that broke the picture in front of him was a shattered knickknack lying on the floor next to the door. Ianto stood stiffly in the archway that led to the storage room, his back towards Jack.
"Ianto, is everything all right? Did you get attacked by something?" Jack said, unable to remove his gaze from Ianto's tense shoulders.
Jack nearly winced as Ianto turned around quickly, his face a mask of calmness. Ianto's gaze settled somewhere on the wall above his head, his eyes never even coming close to looking directly at Jack's.
"No Sir. Everything is fine. I just dropped something and haven't had a chance to clean it up. I'll get right to it."
His voice was a lot more formal than Jack had heard in a very long time. Jack stifled a shudder that wanted to go through him. The last time he'd heard Ianto speak like that was when he'd been trying to hide the fact that Lisa had started to take over the Hub. Shrugging away his unsurety, he walked towards Ianto, grinning lasciviously. At this very moment he really wanted to take the young man down to his room, strip off his clothes, and do what he'd promised earlier that morning.
He was completely surprised when Ianto sidestepped him and walked towards the broken glass on the floor, not allowing Jack near him. Jack stared at Ianto, his eyes narrowing as the young man knelt down and began to pick up the slivers carefully and meticulously. His patience was wearing thin and the reality that Ianto had just lied to him didn't help matters. Besides that fact, Ianto was still avoiding looking at him.
"I'm sorry Sir. I'll clean this up and go home."
Jack snapped, his anger finally boiling over. It was the 'Sir' that did it. He had really started to enjoy the fact that Ianto was calling him by his name. Truthfully, the very obvious extent of Sir's within a matter of minutes was just too much to handle.
"What the hell is wrong with you Ianto?"
Ianto froze, his whole body tightening and vaguely reminding Jack of a snake that was about to strike. He saw Ianto's hand grip the broken glass in his palm hard enough to cut him and almost went over to check, when Ianto stood and threw the broken pieces back to the floor. Jack's mind focussed absurdly on the fact that they shattered into smaller pieces at the same moment that Ianto turned towards him, his eyes hard and cold.
"What could possibly be wrong with me Sir? Is it the fact that you fucking lied to me?"
Ianto stalked towards him, his hands tight fists at his sides. Jack remained where he was standing, more out of shock than anything else. If his mind had actually been working he might have been able to figure out what the hell the young man was talking about.
"Or maybe, just maybe it's the fact that you'd rather be fucking Gwen? Is that why you turned me down last night?"
Ianto paused, drawing in a deep breath of air before nearly growling.
"What's the matter Sir? Did I ruin your bloody game?"
As Ianto stopped about a yard in front of him, Jack's eyes opened wide in shock. He stared at Ianto with perplexity and amazement. He couldn't figure out where the hell the young man was getting these ideas from. On top of all of that was the fact that the last time he'd spoken to Ianto alone, they'd been fine. Now Ianto was suddenly acting like a jealous lover and Jack was too God damn shocked to be able to figure out what had changed in just under seven hours.
Jack tilted his head at Ianto, trying to work out the puzzle that was the young man's mind. Ianto was silent, staring at him almost as if waiting for an answer to the insane questions he'd asked. After another few seconds Jack gave up trying to figure Ianto out and took a couple of steps forward. He locked his gaze on Ianto's icy blue-gray irises and spoke in a voice calmer then he thought possible.
"Ianto, I have no idea what the hell you are talking about."
Ianto scowled at him and turned away, stalking towards the doorway. Jack walked forward, catching his arm before he could go into the dark hallway. He yanked Ianto around until they were face to face, anger coursing through every part of his body.
"No Ianto. You don't get to do this! You can't just stand here and accuse me of things that make absolutely no sense, then leave before you explain yourself!"
Ianto snatched his arm away from Jack's grasp, stepping away from him again.
"What's the matter Sir? Did I ruin your plans for the night by actually seeing through your bloody game? Did I upset you by not allowing you to add me to your list of conquests?"
Jack nearly reeled away from Ianto as he spoke those words. This was beginning to get ridiculous. Not only was he not making any sense, but Ianto was acting like an entirely different person. Pushing past Ianto he began to stalk towards the elevator. Nothing about what Ianto was saying made sense and he really had no desire to work out or demand an explanation. He stopped suddenly when he realised that Ianto had already tried to run, if he chose to follow through on the action, there would be no hope for them in the future. He turned around, glaring at Ianto with more emotion showing than he liked.
"Ianto I have no fucking idea what the hell has gotten into you. You need to go home before you say something else that you're going to regret." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"Now go home."
The words came out with a harsher tone than he intended, but it was the best he could do with the amount of rage that was coursing through him. Ianto winced at his tone and Jack nearly sighed with relief. He reached towards Ianto, placed his hand comfortingly on the young man's shoulder. Ianto reached up and knocked his hand away, his face flushed.
"Why am I not fucking surprised Sir? The moment you get asked questions by anyone but Gwen, you get angry."
Ianto scowled and turned away, stalking down the hallway. Just as he reached the door that led to the parking garage he turned his head back towards Jack, looking at him with more hatred than Jack had ever seen before.
"Fuck off Jack."
The words echoed down the hallway, causing Jack to shudder as Ianto let the door slam shut behind him.
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TBC
AN: So what do you think? Are the boys going to ever get this worked out? (evil grin) The next chapter is almost done, and from what Mama Rocks said, it's a great addition. Reviews/feedback appreciated, but the story will get written even if you choose not to leave one...lol. :D
BTW…I was amazed at the responses I have been getting. You all are so sweet! :D
One more thing! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!! Please have a safe and fun night!
