Ianto went down into the archives to file Jack's report on exactly what happened. He had gone through it in the morning team meeting, patiently at first. But Ianto could detect that he didn't like anyone really asking questions. Which of course, Gwen and Owen did.

"So what, they're like from another dimension?" Owen asked, after Jack had explained the rather strange alien contact he had had over the last three days.

At the head of the table, Jack had sighed heavily. His hands tensed around the coffee mug. Ianto had discovered that Jack hadn't completely destroyed the coffee machine. After half an hour of tinkering, while Jack was being examined - and wound up - by Owen, he had managed to produce some fairly reasonable coffee.

"Not exactly they just exist on a higher energy vibration," Jack said. Gwen frowned.

"Higher, how do you mean higher?"

"The energy they produce works…" Toshiko started and paused, frowning as she thought about it. Jack sat back and let her. As if he really didn't want to talk about it. Ianto sat on Tosh's left, Jack was on her right. Although it looked like he was concentrating on what she was saying Ianto could see Jack giving him rather intense, covert glances. The glitter in Jack's eyes made Ianto feel a little uncomfortable. He was trying not to meet the gaze.

"…faster, so they are almost not there, but they are." Toshiko finished her explanation rather lamely and looked at Jack. Jack straightened up, and Ianto could then safely look up as Jack turned back to the business in hand.

"Like ghosts you mean… sort of?" Gwen said.

"Yeah, but they're not dead. Our energy level, the vibration of it is slower so we can't really interact with them directly so they often just…"

"Invade your brain?" Owen asked. He had, on inspecting Jack, found the glowy energy had gone. And he had kept referring to it as such much to Jack's annoyance. Owen just kept saying that Jack had named it therefore it was a technical term, as of now. Having just finished the report on the two weevil autopsies Owen was biding his time, since he had spiced it with the terms, icky, eeeww and goo, and was rather keen to see Jack's reaction.

"Yes, the amnesia was an unfortunate side effect. I didn't realise it had been that long, their concept of time is a little different to ours. With my body here and my brain there…" Jack paused and frowned. "Catching up is a little confusing."

"But you remember everything."

"Two sets of memories for the same time scale," Jack said.

"Have they ever been here before?" Owen said. "Ianto was looking for references for anything similar and nothing seemed to fit."

"Once I had whittled out all the alleged bright light and alien kidnap stories," Ianto said wryly. Jack smirked, Owen rolled his eyes.

"Nothing like that," Jack said. "I don't think they'll try again either, for a while at least. The whole concept of me stuck with amnesia worried them a little. It was the first time they had contacted a human."

"We're they looking for you specially?" Gwen asked. Jack frowned at her and she looked around at the rest of them before her direct gaze returned to Jack. "Well, you do have a little bit more knowledge than the rest of us."

"True, but I think it was a case of co-incidence that we picked up the energy signature on the rift machine and we were the first humans they found. Although I rather think they wanted Ianto more than me. I just moved you out of the line of fire."

"Oh," Ianto said. There wasn't much else he could say to that. He did remember Jack pushing him out of the way when the light hit and it hadn't seemed to want to go near him when it was trying to return Jack's memories.

"So you were talking to them then?" Gwen asked.

"Not talking as such, just kind of…" Jack narrowed his eyes as he thought. "Seeing my memories as… as if I was someone else. Anyway," Jack announced with a swift change of subject. "What's been going on around here?"

Ianto slid the report into the relevant cabinet and then picked up Owen's report on the weevils. That had not gone down well at all. Ianto picked it up, Jack had scrawled over it in red pen, like a teacher correcting a child's work. Owen had refused to change any of it and Jack had spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon in a foul mood. Ianto had known that was coming, after the end of the team meeting. Gwen and Toshiko had dispersed first to chase up a report of a possible alien artefact in the local museum.

Owen had aimed for the door of the conference room and then paused, making sure Gwen and Tosh had disappeared down the corridor before he turned around and looked at Ianto and Jack.

"I'd better add, but I haven't told those two, there were reports of an altercation in a pub yesterday about 6:30. One of them certainly fits your description," Owen looked at Jack. Jack frowned, looking confused, so Owen looked to Ianto.

"Oh… we were shopping…"

Owen's mouth twitched slightly and he glanced at Jack.

"I was shopping, Jack was carrying, we paused in a pub on the way home and there were some drunk louts at the bar harassing a couple of girls. I intervened, then so did Jack." Ianto kept it as succinct as possible. He didn't want to mention Jack was drunk.

"I think we have encountered a couple of them before now, one looked like he recognised Jack."

"People we've pissed off," Owen said calmly. He looked at Jack. Jack shrugged.

"Some bits are still unclear; I'm missing that at the moment," Jack said blithely.

"I've made sure the police dismissed it anyway," Owen turned to Ianto to tell him. As he did so Jack also turned to look at Ianto. He might have openly dismissed what Owen was saying but Ianto could tell immediately he was entirely aware of what had happened. The look in his blue eyes was frosty in the extreme. Jack wasn't happy. Not one bit.

With a sigh Ianto filed the last report. He had managed to avoid Jack for the rest of the day. Or at least had stayed as inconspicuous as possible, but since Jack was picking holes in everything today it was hard to escape his wrath. Ianto wasn't the only one on the receiving end, the only one who was immune to that was Owen, who had at one point retorted with.

"I'm dead, why do I care?"

Maybe, Ianto thought, he should have confessed to giving Jack alcohol. But he felt too embarrassed about it. All Ianto could do instead was try and stay as impersonal as possible. It was what he had done throughout the day. Just getting on with his work without trying to pay to much attention to the heavy pain in his chest.

He had wanted Jack back, and he knew full well that once Jack was over his bad mood everything would be fine but they still had to ride the storm of Jack sudden mood. Slowly closing the drawer Ianto turned and went out into the hub.

"Ianto!"

His name was roared across the huge space. How Jack managed to project his voice like that from the office always baffled Ianto, and he only ever seemed to do it to bellow his name.

"Ianto!"

As Ianto headed in Jack's direction and he passed the autopsy room he glanced down at Owen, tidying up.

"Glad to have him back are you?" Owen said with a satisfied smirk.

Ianto rolled his eyes. He was, he honestly was but he felt sad that for some reason Jack was trying to erase everything he had been the last three days, as if he was embarrassed by it, or scared. Ianto wasn't sure which, both were probably there in good measure if he considered it.

"Ianto!"

The last bellow was almost directly in his face as he entered the office door.

"Captain?" he said politely. That address should have been Jack's first warning sign. Still, he didn't take note of it. Instead he held up the copies of the reports that Ianto had done yesterday and efficiently put ready to post later on today.

"I didn't sign these!"

"No, I did Sir," Ianto said calmly. The papers snapped back so Jack could look at them again. At the bottom of each one, where necessary, was a perfect copy of his signature. He looked back up at Ianto.

"You forged my signature?"

"Yep," Ianto said, coolly. Very coolly.

Now Jack paused as he looked at him, remembering Owen's comment from a few days back. That Ianto went quiet when he got angry. Now Jack looked at the steady gaze. Ianto's blue eyes were definitely as cool as his voice; he looked back at Jack, waiting patiently. Jack looked at the signature again.

"Why?"

Ianto's shoulders set back slightly. "Because they needed to be done, and since you didn't seem to know how to read, I presumed you wouldn't be able to sign your own name."

"They could have waited a day."

Ianto's eyebrow rose slightly, Jack unconsciously sat back in his chair. Then he remembered himself and sat forward again.

"Since we had no idea how long you would have amnesia I thought it prudent to simply get it done."

"How long have you been forging my signature?"

"I could always do a fairly reasonable copy, but I rather had to perfect it when you disappeared, Sir."

The last word was spoken to sting and it hit the mark. Ianto watched Jack flinch. He could see he was taken aback, but Ianto was not very inclined to try and smooth the situation over by saying anything else, instead he just stood there and waited for Jack.

Jack should have taken the hint. He had pushed his mood as far as he should have, probably more than he should have, but he felt angry, he felt vulnerable, especially as the pair of calm but still slightly red eyes looked at him, trying not to silently demand an answer to every question.

"Have they gone in the post yet?"

"No, I'm due to go this afternoon."

"Fine, I can re-do them then, get me some clear copies."

Jack slammed the photocopies down on the desk and glared at Ianto. It took every ounce of Ianto's felt control to stop himself from reacting, other than to nod curtly.

"Yes, Sir."

He retreated as quickly as possible, moved across the hub and back into the archive. He went to the relevant filing cabinet and started to rummage for what he wanted.

"What's going on?" Owen asked. Ianto yelped in shock, banging into the open drawer and it shot home on the runners. He managed to whip his hand out in time.

"Jesus Owen! Don't sneak up on people like that!"

Owen raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, is your hand all right? I don't think you need any more damage. How do your eyes feel now?"

"Still aching a bit but the drops helped." Ianto said. Owen had also gone and dimmed all the lights in the hub. Enough so that everyone could still work easily enough but it made it easier on Ianto's eyes. There was no permanent damage; they were just going to be sore for a while.

"Okay, so what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

Owen rolled his eyes. "I mean, I'm dead, not stupid. What is up with Jack? You've spent enough time with him, what happened? You didn't…"

Those two words hinted at what Owen was getting at.

"NO!" Ianto shouted. Owen lurched back, over dramatically and raised his hands at the same time. "No, I didn't do anything with Jack, I came close, Jack kept… well… hinting enough but no. I thought it was wrong."

"Don't tell me he's got the hump because you didn't."

"No, it's," Ianto sighed heavily. "The altercation in the bar…"

"Yes," Owen said as Ianto faltered.

"Jack was drunk. He didn't start it but when we stopped for a drink…" Ianto tailed off feeling his face flush with shame.

"You gave him alcohol."

Ianto nodded miserably. He opened the drawer again to find the forms he needed, just for something to do.

"How much?" Owen asked.

"Two pints of lager," Ianto said. His misery didn't last very long because Owen, hearing that piece of information snorted with laughter.

"You are kidding me! That's it! Two pints of lager and he's anyone's, well mainly yours but, we'd better not let that information out!"

Ianto looked up and gave a wan smile. Owen's face sobered. Then he frowned and turned around. "What the hell?"

Owen turned and went back up into the main area of the hub. Toshiko was at her desk, the artefact she had picked up lay on the desk, just to the right of her computer. She was booting up to obviously start whatever tests she wanted to run.

Gwen was stood in front of Jack and one look at their aggressive stances told Owen everything. He sensed Ianto move up behind him but Owen blocked the doorway, making Ianto stay behind him as he watched Gwen yell at Jack.

"There's no need to be bloody rude, what's the matter with you?!"

"You are supposed to be working for a secret organisation. Secret meaning you don't tell people! You are going to have to retcon that curator now, and you can go and do it, make sure you do it properly!"

"How the hell can we be secret with you waltzing around Cardiff in that daft coat and the SUV, we're more well known than…" Gwen stopped and faltered. "Oh God I don't know!" Off the top of her head she couldn't think of anything, four or five things would come back half an hour later when the argument had wound down.

"And you don't help with that!"

"Oh God you're… why the hell did you have to get your memory back, you were much nicer without it!" Gwen yelled. Jack fell back slightly. Gwen spun on her heel.

"I am leaving."

Owen moved forward, Gwen glared at him as she stormed past to the cog door to get out. Ianto moved out, not surprised that Jack snatched the papers off him.

"Don't you have an office to run?" Jack said rudely. He spun on his heel and stalked back to his office. Owen saw the look of hurt pass across Ianto's face before he turned and followed in Gwen's wake, going to the door to go upstairs. It wouldn't have bothered him, shouldn't bother him but he had seen that look on Ianto's face before. Before it had never concerned him but he knew it was always to do with Jack.

Owen watched him go and then went to Tosh.

"Come on, don't start that now!"

"But Jack said…"

"Bollocks to Jack, I'm starting a unilateral strike action." Owen pulled out his phone and pressed a button. "Gwen where are you?"

"Stay there; we're coming to join you." He said, paused and listened to her reply. "No, I am not bringing Jack, just Tosh and Ianto if he wants to… we'll be there in ten minutes." He cut off the call. "Grab your handbag Tosh, and wait by the door. I won't be long."

With that Owen spun on his heel and stalked towards Jack's office.

Jack heard the footsteps and was about to tell whoever it was to go away the moment they stepped in the door. Unless perhaps if it was Ianto. However Owen threw the doors open so the glass rattled violently in the frame and he stalked into the room. He moved to the desk and slammed his hands down on it, glaring at Jack.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Owen roared. When he was pissed off, his voice could project almost as well as Jack's. "And if you tell me it's because Ianto gave you two pints of lager and showed up your inability to handle alcohol then I will risk messing up my right hand punching you!"

Jack sat back in his chair, unable to answer for a moment.

"He knows I don't drink."

"Your feeble response to it is not the reason you usually give though is it. You'd rather tell us about your desire to run away."

"Well, he shouldn't have given me what is technically a drug without my permission."

Owen snorted, "he also gave you coffee but I don't see you worrying about that. Plus it's just a fraction rich from someone who has been sneaking him extra prescriptions of sleeping pills rather than telling me, his doctor, that he has a serious problem."

Jack pulled back a little. "He didn't want to tell you."

"And don't you think that if you had overruled him and told him it was necessary, then don't you think that he would have done it, and he wouldn't have had all those extra pills that he was forced to buy when you pissed off! And even without your memory you knew something was up with it!"

Owen watched Jack's jaw harden. Now he was getting to what was wrong with Jack. He had so exposed himself during that time, the basic core of his personality, with all the pieces he wanted to hide. It really was him, Owen thought. Ianto was the one that probably knew more than any of them, but it was obvious, if you really looked.

"Well?" Owen asked.

"I suppose."

It wasn't a punch but Owen leant forward his left hand snaked out and he slapped Jack just over his ear, as hard as he could. Jack recoiled at the blow.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You being a complete prick. Especially to Ianto, and over the last few days considering the fact he has been playing babysitter, you have absolutely no right to treat him like that."

"It wasn't that difficult."

Owen glared at him, suddenly regretting that he didn't have his gun on him.

"I really don't believe you. He was the only one that wanted to look after you, if you remember rightly. And you do remember it all, don't you Jack?"

"Yes." Jack sank down in his seat a little.

"I would have put you in the vaults. I think Tosh would have agreed with me after you terrified the life out of her!"

"It was one quick grope," Jack protested feebly. Owen snorted, Jack flinched back.

"And I could have got Gwen on side as well… but no!" Owen hissed. "Ianto said no, you were scared, it would make it worse to put you down there. I know he's got the patience of a saint but bloody hell he goes above and beyond the call of duty for you."

Owen paused. He didn't breathe. He could have pulled his automatic trick of letting the air wash in an out of his lungs but he didn't. Hopefully that lack of action would impress what he was feeling to Jack.

"After what I have seen over the last few days, you do not treat the tea-boy with the respect he seriously bloody well deserves!" Owen shouted.

"Says the person who keeps calling him a tea-boy," Jack snapped as a retort. It lacked bite, it lacked everything. Owen rolled his eyes and smirked and stated an irrefutable fact.

"He is the tea-boy, he makes the drinks."

"He does more than that!" Jack automatically leapt to Ianto's defence. Owen smirked; he pushed himself up from the desk and straightened up.

"Yes," Owen agreed mildly. "We've had enough of you; you can stew in your own juices as far as we are concerned. I am taking Tosh and Gwen out for a large drink, and Ianto as well if he wants to come along. But I very much doubt he will, don't you?"

Owen didn't wait for an answer. Instead he walked out of Jack's office, not closing the doors behind him. A moment later Jack heard the cog door roll back and he knew he was alone in the hub. Overhead somewhere the pterodactyl screeched, but it wasn't him she wanted. She wanted food, she was looking for Ianto. Who probably, Jack surmised, wasn't coming.

"Bollocks!" he announced and threw his pen across the room in a childish gesture.