AN: I would like to announce that I am now officially a peace officers wife. He graduated last night and I got to pin his badge on him. This wife cried with pride. Anyway, back to the story. Thanks Taamar for being so awesome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood
Warnings: Usual
Rating: MA
Spoilers: None.
Jack
"I love you too, Jack, but we need to talk. I think you're a bit confused about what's really going on," Ianto said, pulling away slightly, but not leaving Jack's embrace, "You seem to think I'm a prisoner here."
"Of course I think that! It's been three years, Ianto, why else would you have let me suffer that long?" Jack said, gripping Ianto harder and pulling him inside and toward the bed. The night air was too cold for Ianto to be out in it wearing only his briefs.
"I had to… for Ruby, because I needed to protect her. I was only going to wait 'til she was grown…"
Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ianto had chosen to be without him. No, he'd been brainwashed, just like that Trevor kid. "Ianto, who told you to protect her from me? You know I wouldn't hurt her! They made you believe that so you'd stay away, just like they held her hostage so you'd spy on me for them."
"Who's 'them'?" Ianto asked.
"Iden Miller, and Jason, and whoever the fucking 'Minister' is, and possibly Christian, though I have a feeling he was being used as well," Jack explained, becoming a little agitated. Ianto usually wasn't this slow on the uptake.
Ianto pulled away and paced the room for a few seconds before stopping and taking a deep breath. "Jack, I'm Iden Miller. I'm David Carter, and I'm the Minister of the Rifts. I'm in charge. No one has kept me from you; I did it on my own. I was there the day yo— the day Stephen died, and I made the decision to stay away from you for Ruby's sake. Because you're dangerous, Jack. Just like Alice said."
Jack shook his head. It was all too much to wrap his head around. If Ianto was all those people, if he was Alice's friend, and Iden Miller… then he had deceived Jack from the very beginning. Not only with Lisa, but after that, and he had no excuses. None whatsoever. His child was safe… he was actually in charge. God, did Ianto even love him, or had it all been a means to an end? A way to stay inside Torchwood after Lisa? Something between a growl and a sob left Jack's lips. He wasn't really sure what was worse, thinking his lover was dead, or knowing that he had been fooled into falling in love with a spy.
"I'm sorry, Jack. I love you so much, you must know that."
"And if Brody hadn't landed in front of me? Would I still be forced to live on without you? Even though you were here all along? This also means, of course, that when you were with me you were always lying to me, keeping things from me, spying on me, of your own free will."
"No, well I mean, possibly, but it's rather complicated…"
"Is it? Complicated? Do you even know the hell I've been through these last three years, can you even imagine what it's been like for me having to go on without you?"
"I can, actually. From my perspective Thames House was 180 years ago," Ianto replied.
"At least you knew I was alive! At least you had hope!" Jack shouted, ignoring the implications of the comment for the time being.
At the sound of Jack's raised voice, the bedroom opened immediately, and the two guards in charge of Jack burst in with their guns at the ready.
Ianto rolled his eyes. "Get the fuck out, idiots," he ordered.
"We thought you were in danger, sir," one of them said.
"He's alone and unarmed. I promise I'm perfectly capable of taking him out myself if it becomes necessary. Now get out."
Jack couldn't help but be a little turned on by the way Ianto had commanded the men to leave. He was so forceful, so in charge… so different.
"Jack, I'm sorry you had to grieve for me. I've lost lovers, I know it's hard, and in this case the pain was unnecessary. But I did what I thought I needed to do to keep my child safe, because losing a child is far greater a pain."
"So the infant from the graveyard? Was he your son?"
"Oh, you mean the grave you desecrated? Yes, he was."
"I'm sorry," Jack said truthfully. He knew what it meant to lose a child.
The men stood silently for a moment. "So what now?" Jack finally asked.
"I was thinking we could maybe get some rest. I've just flown in from America, and I'm exhausted. In the morning we could maybe negotiate a treaty between Torchwood and the Rift Children."
"And what about us?"
"What would you like to do about us, Jack?"
"I don't know, but I do know that I don't want to live without you, ever again." It would take some time before things could get back to where they were before, if that was even possible. The pain of losing Ianto had been replace with the pain of being so deceived, not only by Ianto, but by Brody as well. How many of his friends and lovers had been spies? How many of them had he grieved for unnecessarily? Had any of it been real?
"Well, that's a start," Ianto said hopefully, "I know that you'd probably prefer not to stay here tonight, I know I've hurt you, and it may be a while before…"
Jack shut him up by kissing him again. "I'm not about to let you out of my sight, Ianto Jones." Jack said. He was hurt, and furious at Ianto, but he still loved him, and he was so happy the man was alive. Things weren't okay between them, not by a long shot, but for what they'd had before, Jack was willing to work on it, and they couldn't do that if they were apart. But it would take time.
Ianto let out a ragged breath. "Okay, I mean, I may need to use the loo alone from time to time."
Jack wanted to laugh at Ianto's joke. He longed to hold Ianto and drag him into bed and bury himself in his lover until the pain stopped, but he couldn't. There were too many lies between them now. "I'm going to take a shower, you go ahead and get in bed…" Jack said before looking over at a small couch in the corner of the room, "I'm going to sleep there, though."
Adrian
Adrian always woke early. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because in his first life he had slept most days and been awake most nights, so now he wanted to take in the morning light every chance he could. He tried not to think of his first life much, but sometimes he would allow his mind to wander there if he was feeling particularly despondent, and this morning he was. He thought about his master, the man who had forced Adrian to do so many unpleasant things in his first life back in Paris. He had beaten Adrian on an almost daily basis, but for some reason he had loved the man. Once he was under the man's care, Adrian had never gone hungry or slept in the cold again. He had been the first person to say 'I love you' to Adrian, and Adrian had latched onto the words, wanting to believe them true. He understood now that it had all been a ruse, that the first person who truly cared for him was Ianto.
He absently reached across the bed like he usually did in the mornings. Of course, he found nothing but his own discarded pillow where Jason would usually be. He thought about Jason and wondered what he was doing. He had checked on the man during the night and found him sleeping restlessly. It had taken all of Adrian's strength not to give in to the urge climb into Jason's bed. He refused to do it. Jason needed to learn his lesson; the man was entirely too impulsive, and he needed to learn to think things through. Adrian had to admit he missed the warmth of his lover, though. And… other things.
Jason liked to sleep in most days. He couldn't always, of course, but today was Sunday and Adrian and Jason usually stayed in bed 'til the middle of the day. They didn't always have sex, sometimes they'd just cuddle and gossip. Sometimes they would lazily make out. Of course, more often than not it ended in a nice round of sex. Today wouldn't be like that.
Adrian sat up and kicked his feet off the side of the bed. Today wasn't going to be fun, it was going to be stressful; he was probably going to have to talk to people he didn't know, explain that he wouldn't shake their hands, and have to endure their covert glances. Adrian had started to categorize the glances he received from people when he explained that he didn't like to be touched. Some would look at him in confusion, some would think he was kidding, some would look like he had insulted them, and some would look at him with pity. It was the pitying looks he hated the most.
He loved Ianto, but he hated that the man had made him standing Minister without even asking, and now he was the leader of Cardiff Rift. Adrian hated being in charge. He did it for Ianto, but he hated it. There was only so much stress Adrian could stand, and now he felt like he'd just been given the maximum amount. At least as Minister he'd had Ianto's authority to back him up, not that it had helped, but as Rift Leader he was on his own, leading a bunch of Children who had already shown that they didn't respect him.
With a sigh, the Frenchman got up and went to his bathroom. He showered and shaved, then dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a dark shirt. He actually considered putting on some black eyeliner, but couldn't find it, so he just wore his black rimmed glasses that Mia had said made him look older. He looked into the mirror and sighed; with or without the glasses, he just looked like nineteen year old kid. He hated how he looked some days. He wanted to throw something at the mirror. Of course, he wouldn't mind it nearly as much if he wasn't forced by his best friend to be in charge. If he could just lurk in the shadows, appearing as a teenager for eternity wouldn't be so bad.
Finally, Adrian emerged from his room and started down the hall. He tried to ignore the guards tasked with watching over the Torchwood members. He was happy Ianto had ordered them to be disbanded. That was one thing he wouldn't have to worry about as Rift Leader. Wankers.
"Sir," Jefferson said as Adrian walked by. Adrian was tempted to flip him off, but opted to simply pretend he didn't exist. A door close to the landing opened just as Adrian was passing it. It was the room Brody was staying in, but the person who came out was the young man Ianto had brought with him. It seemed someone had gotten lucky last night. He wondered if Ianto and Jack had.
"Hello," the kid said, closing the door behind him. "I'm Trevor."
Here it came, the moment when the boy would try to shake Adrian's hand, and Adrian would have to reject him. Only the kid kept his distance and nodded with his hands stuffed in his pockets as he moved toward the staircase. Adrian wondered if he was just rude, or if he already knew that Adrian didn't like to be touched.
Adrian introduced himself and followed Trevor down the stairs. They walked together to the kitchen in silence. Trevor got out the coffee machine and began to plug it in. "No, you can't use that one, it's Ianto's. There is a smaller one under there that we can use."
"I know what I'm doing, and I'll take the rap if he gets upset." Trevor insisted, beginning to open cabinets, obviously looking for the coffee beans.
"Okay, it's your funeral," said Adrian with a dismissive shrug.
"I like the glasses by the way, they are a bit ironic, you know 'cause you don't need them, but I mean, they make you look a bit older."
"Thanks," Adrian smiled. Come to think of it, Trevor looked even younger than Adrian. He understood. He wondered what else they had in common.
"Good morning," An American accent chimed from the entry to the kitchen. Adrian turned just in time to see Jack stride into the kitchen and toward the coffee machine. "Can I have some of that?" he asked Trevor. Jack was certainly in a good mood this morning, which answered Adrian's earlier question. Good. That would mean Ianto wouldn't be as irritable as he always got when sexually frustrated.
Adrian looked toward the door to see two guards running in with their guns pulled. "Oh, for fucks sake, put those away," Adrian commanded, "He's our guest now, not our prisoner. Go monitor the outside, or something."
"I have to say, Christian, those glasses are hot," Jack flirted once the guards had reluctantly left the room.
"It's Adrian, actually, and thank you," Adrian said, feeling a blush coming to his cheeks. The black rimmed glasses were getting him a lot of pleasant attention. He opened one of the cupboards and pulled out the flour, baking powder, oil, and his own special ingredient. He had learned to make pancakes while living in America. They were his specialty.
Jack leaned on the counter and winked at Trevor, who didn't blush like Adrian would have, but winked back. Trevor poured some of the freshly made coffee into a mug and began to add what Adrian thought was way too much sugar.
"Here ya go, Captain, nice and sweet, just like you like it. Can I assume that's also how you like your men?" Trevor smiled, handing Jack a mug. Adrian blinked in confusion. How did the kid know how Jack took his coffee?
"I like them kinky and sarcastic, actually," Jack retorted.
"You're in the right house then," Adrian quipped before he could stop himself.
"Yes, I seem to be, it's like a candy shop. Is there a taste testing option?"
"I don't think you could stop at just one taste," Adrian replied.
"You're right; I've had a taste, and I'd like more," Jack leered, coming slowly up behind Adrian and then just as slowly letting his arms snake around Adrian's waist, as if to give him plenty of time to pull away. Adrian was sure his breath stopped, and he forgot all about Trevor being in the room as Jack gently placed a kiss on his neck. "Will you make me the tiny pancakes? Those are my favorite."
That brought Adrian back to reality; the silver dollar pancakes were Jason's favorite as well. "Of course, Jack," he promised, gently pulling away from his friend. "How about you go wait in the dining room, and Trevor and I will bring breakfast in shortly."
"Okay… listen, I'd like for us to talk about all this at some point."
"Sure," Adrian agreed, pouring the milk into his mixture of dry ingredients.
"You don't have your ring on?" Jack inquired, looking down at Adrian's hands.
Adrian looked back at Jack and decided to be absolutely forthright. "I'm assuming you've already deduced that Jason is my lover and Ianto is my best friend. Jason went against my wishes by kidnapping you and your team, he treated me like a child, and he kept me from contacting Ianto, so I've broken it off."
Jack walked a few steps forward and engulfed Adrian in a hug, proving once again that Jack was a touchy-feely kinda guy. Adrian found that he didn't mind; something about Jack was rather comforting. There was no intensity between them, just… calm. "I'm so sorry to hear that," he said before kissing Adrian's hair and leaving the room.
"Are you really not going to get back together with Jason?" Trevor asked.
Adrian bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."
Jason
Jason needed sleep just like he needed sex. If he didn't have it he was irritable, and the fact that he had gone without both, well, he was about ready to kill. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how he looked at it, Jason's depressed state was making his irritability seem almost non-existent. He got out of bed and walked to his window, looking down at the garden below. He remembered Ianto telling him about Anna, how she had ended her second life herself. Jason might have considered doing the same if Adrian had said he didn't love him anymore, but he claimed he still did. It gave Jason hope.
The room was in total disarray. Jason sighed and went to his bathroom. He had told Adrian he would clean the room, and he intended to make good on that promise. First, however, Jason searched the vanity for something to write on the mirror with, and as luck would have it he found some black eyeliner. He opened the cap and drew a single line in the top left corner of the reflective surface. Day one without his beloved. He knew it would be a long time before he earned Adrian's trust back and the man was willing to wear his ring once again, and Jason planned on marking the days.
Finally, Jason set to work on his room. It didn't take him long to realize he would need a few bin bags, and also some new lamps. A glance at the shards of glass by his dresser reminded him to replace that mirror as well. He stripped the torn sheets from his bed and remade it with fresh linens before leaving the room to fetch the cleaning supplies he'd need. There were two sets of guards in the hall, and Jason gave them a nod of acknowledgement before heading toward the stairs. He saw Adrian and Trevor in the kitchen. Adrian was making pancakes and wearing his black rimmed glasses. He looked delicious. Jason wanted to sneak up behind his lover and wrap his arms around his waist. He wanted to nibble Adrian's neck and beg the Frenchman to make silver dollar pancakes for him. He knew he had lost the right to do any of those things, so he walked straight to the laundry room without a word and grabbed a few bin bags, along with a broom and dust pan, and headed back toward his room.
"Breakfast will be ready shortly, Jason. I want you in the dining room to eat with us. Please tell your guards to let Torchwood out of their rooms and escort them to the dining area," Adrian called.
"Yes, mon amour," Jason replied.
"Don't call me that. Right now I'm the Rift Leader, and you will to refer to me as sir."
Jason felt his heart sink, and he bit his lip, trying to compose himself before he answered. "Yes, sir," he said, and retreated to his room until breakfast.
Ianto
"Minister?" Trevor's voice came into Ianto's dream. Ianto attempted to ignore it. "Iden?" No, Ianto was refusing to wake up, no way was it time. "David?" Oh, Trevor was being a brat. Ianto wondered how the man felt about spankings. "Ianto Jones!"
"What, Trevor," Ianto snapped.
"Oh good, you're awake. I've made you some coffee, and Adrian's downstairs making pancakes."
"I only drink my own coffee." Ianto yawned, opening his eyes to see a mug on the bedside table.
"That's because you haven't tried mine yet. Jack likes it."
Jack? Ianto shot up and looked at the couch where Jack had slept. He wasn't there. "Where is Jack?"
"Downstairs with the rest of the humans. You seem to be the only vampire in the house."
"Har de har har," Ianto muttered, rolling his eyes. He eyed the mug of coffee once again. What would it hurt to give it a taste? He sat up, grabbed the mug, and took a hesitant sip. He was surprised to hear himself moan. It was delicious.
"Told you you'd like it," Trevor smiled, sitting down on the bed.
"Trevor, today's going to suck," Ianto sighed.
Trevor took the mug from Ianto and placed it back on the side table. "You want some advice from your lowly assistant?"
"Something tells me I don't have a choice," Ianto grumbled, watching Trevor closely as the boy sat next to him on the bed.
"You always have a choice, Minister."
"Well, I'd like to hear what my 'lowly assistant' has to say."
"Just breathe." Trevor advised, leaning over and kissing Ianto tenderly on the cheek before getting off the bed and walking to Ianto's closet. "And wear a suit."
"Wow, you should be a motivational speaker."
"Nope, I like my new job." Trevor called. He came out of the closet a moment later holding a suit. "Okay, red?"
"No, Jack will think I'm trying too hard. I'll wear the blue one."
"The purple, then."
"Trevor, I know how to dress myself," Ianto insisted when Trevor disappeared back into the closet and came out with a deep purple shirt and a silver tie.
"Not if you think you should wear blue."
TW—TW—TW
The dining room was silent when Ianto and Trevor entered. Ianto wasn't sure if they had all stopped speaking when he entered, or if that's just how it was before he got there. Gwen broke the silence by pushing her chair out and running toward Ianto to pull him into a hug. The guards, who ignored her hug completely, rushed forward when she slapped him. Ianto moved in front of her protectively. "Fuck off, you wankers," he growled. "She had every right to slap me."
"Yeah, stay away from my wife," Rhys said, his mouth full of pancake. "It's good to see you, Ianto, glad you're not dead."
Martha got up next and hugged Ianto, "This is my husband, Mickey," she said.
Ianto shook the man's hand. "Ahh… the new tech expert, I presume?" Oh, that reminded Ianto about Tosh and Owen. He wasn't sure he was up for that conversation just yet. Jack was going to be so pissed.
"Yeah," Mickey said, "Not that I could ever outdo Mrs. Sato, she was amazing, I hear. Wish I could've met her."
"You're in luck," Jason said under his breath.
"What was that, asshole?" Martha snapped, "Are you threatening my husband?"
"I don't threaten, I promise," Jason responded scathingly.
"Jason!" Ianto warned, sitting down at the head of the table and finally looking at Jack, who was staring down into the mug in front of him, his mind clearly elsewhere. Ianto wondered if he was even hearing the conversation around him.
"Here Jack, let me get you some more coffee," Trevor said, taking Jack's mug.
"Yes, thank you Trevor," said Jack, grinning. Ianto couldn't even get eye contact from the man, and here he was, giving that smile Ianto had missed so much to someone else.
"Minister, would you like some too?" Ianto reluctantly pulled his eyes from Jack's grin and looked at his new PA.
"Yeah, sure, thanks." Ianto nodded, looking back at Jack and watching the immortal's eyes follow Trevor's ass out of the room. Truth was, Ianto would have been following the same ass out of the room had he not been analyzing Jack. "Okay," Ianto said, clearing his throat and looking around the table. Jason, Adrian, Brody, Gwen, Rhys, Martha, Mickey, and Jack, and a toddler. "Is this your baby?" Ianto exclaimed, forgetting what he was about to say. The little girl's cheeks were just too kissable. He got up and walked over to where she was sitting in Ruby's old highchair. "Aren't you the cutest thing with those cheeks, you look just like your daddy. What's her name?" He asked Gwen.
"Anwen. It was on the rattle you gave her." Gwen smiled.
Ianto looked up at Gwen. Rattle? He didn't remember that. So he gave a non-committal "hmm" as an answer.
"We did it to honor your memory," Rhys added, and the atmosphere in the room became awkward once again.
Ianto was relieved when Trevor came back into the room and set the new coffees in front of Ianto and Jack. He took a sip, then tried once again to speak. "Adrian, I want all the Children involved in the kidnapping of Torchwood in the meeting room at eleven. Jason, you'll need to be there for that."
"Yes, sir," Jason said, staring at his uneaten pancake. Adrian just nodded.
"I need to know exactly how it went down," Ianto addressed the Torchwood team, "So if you are all willing I'd like to ask you each questions separately. After that, I'd like to maybe come up with a compromise of sorts. We are peaceful and there's no reason the Rift Children of Cardiff and Torchwood shouldn't be able to live in the same town so long as we respect each other."
"They stole tech, and we'll need that back," Jack said.
Ianto looked at Jason, and the words came out before he could stop them. "What, kidnapping him wasn't enough for you, had to go and steal his tech, too?"
"Like we don't have a basement full of things you've 'liberated' from Torchwood over the years?" Jason retorted. Ianto glared at him across the table. "They always say payback's a bitch, I've just never believed it 'til now," Jason spat.
"If this is about payback… god, I better get started now if I want to finish before my three hundredth birthday."
Jason stood up. "All those things, you made me do them. I never wanted to do any of it, hated every second. It was required to preserve the fucking time line, and you're the one who told me I had to," he said in an icy calm voice that told Ianto exactly how angry his guardian was.
Ianto refused to allow Jason's fury to intimidate him. He looked down at his watch then back up. "You have two hours until the meeting. I suggest you spend them in your room." He said calmly but firmly.
"He does seem like he needs a nap," Adrian said pointedly. Ianto wondered what that was about.
"What about Dylan? Are you forgetting about him? They beat him black and blue! Have you even seen him? No, of course not, because you're all talk, Ianto. You pretend to care, but you don't really."
"Jason, you were ordered from the room, now leave." Adrian said tightly, making it clear that he would back the Minister over his former lover.
Jason looked at Adrian and opened his mouth as if to argue, but seemed to think better of it and stormed from the room.
Ianto looked at Jack. God, what a mess. He had hoped to come back when Ruby was grown, explain things to Jack, and go back to how they were. He had expected complications, but nothing like this. This whole mess between the Children and Torchwood meant he had to be the Minister before he was Jack's lover, when all he wanted was to beg forgiveness for deceiving him. No help for it now, he had to stay focused. "What happened to Dylan?"
"We had him for a good five hours before I hit him. He wouldn't tell me where you were, and I thought you were in danger. I acted irrationally."
"Yes, you and Jason have that in common," Ianto snapped. He paused to take a deep, calming breath. "I'm going to go see Dylan, and after that we will begin the interviews about your abduction. I promise we'll finish before five, and you will all be free to leave then. I'll have someone drive you wherever you choose." Ianto looked around at everyone in the room. "Trevor, will you keep everyone entertained?"
"I don't strip anymore, sir, you've given me an honest job."
Ianto looked at Trevor and raised his eyebrow. "You do know what PA stands for don't you?" he deadpanned, giving Jack a sideways glace. He was happy to see the corner of Jack's mouth twitch into a tiny smile. Once, during an argument, Ianto had reminded Jack the PA meant personal assistant, not piece of ass.
Trevor rolled his eyes; Ianto had told him the piece of ass story in the car on the way to Cardiff. "I'll entertain them, sir."