55
Ianto was saddened to see how much the place had degraded in five short years.
Well, maybe five and a half, but you know what I mean.
Paint was starting to peel in the lower levels, damp a problem.
The smell of stale paper started to tickle as he neared the stacks and he smiled at the familiar rows.
"Taddy's home" Ianto whispered and then laughed at himself for being so silly, even as his fingers started caressing shelves.
Silly.
Jack had kissed him here, against these boxes, his tongue down his throat and his hands down his pants.
Ianto closed his eyes and took a moment to recall that day, the hot breath on his neck as Jack whispered such dirty things that his face had been aflame with blush.
Old cardboard boxes were piled in the corner, some had fallen over and stuff spilled out.
Ianto shook himself, scolding himself for wool gathering, then started for the hidden door he wanted.
The mainframe backup was still there, Ianto whispering thanks to the gods as the door hummed open.
He stepped into the Torchwood version of Santa's Grotto and started scanning the drawers along the left side, finding the one marked "crystals" pulling it out and after starting to pick through it he snorted and carried the entire drawer to the desk in the centre of the room.
He wondered how to transport them and remembered the large military bag Jack kept in his room so he wandered up into the hub, taking a moment to sigh as the mess, then laugh at himself.
No Zs.
No Weevils.
No humans.
Take a fucking chill pill!
He went to the kitchen and opened the cupboard to find a vacuum sealed container of coffee.
Jack's industrial strength.
He smiled as he lifted the can and hugged it, wondering what Jack's expression would be when he showed him what he had got him.
He placed it down, trying desperately to ignore the dust on the table, then he stared at the lower cupboard that had contained all the MREs and tinned food.
Shit.
Ianto looked up at the ceiling, imagining the food still waiting in the vehicle bay where Owen had left it, wondering if it was still there.
God, that would be a boon, wouldn't it?
He then opened the cupboard and stared at one of his suits, still in the plastic bag from the cleaners.
He wondered what else was still in Jack's bunker, the spare Great Coat for one, maybe some braces as Jack's were a bit worse for wear.
He crossed the hub, listening to the water dripping in the muddy pool that once held water and he smiled as he saw frogs jumping in.
He looked up at the ivy growing, hanging over railings and showing how overgrown the greenhouse had become.
He stepped onto the stairs to the office and froze, scenting the air as he picked up something foreign in this setting.
He canted his head, letting his other senses reach out.
Breathing.
Something or someone else was in here.
Ianto stalked up the steps, trying to hold back the transformation threatening and he crept across the office floor on his hands and knees, not even aware he was sniffing.
He reached the porthole to the bunker, Jack's private space.
The space they had laid in before they had started their End of the World adventure.
He hesitated, then told himself to man the fuck up.
What would Jack do?
Ianto dropped into the space, looking around as his predator reflexes honed him to the corner of the room.
There was movement as something whimpered, pulling more of the musty bedding over it and Ianto saw with surprise that his jacket was in the bundle.
He canted his head as confusion won over fear.
It was the one he wore in the Barrens.
He had wondered where it had gone, thinking it had gone on the furnace. He now knew Jack had kept it, knowing Lisa had bought it for him and was obviously going to get it cleaned.
He settled back and watched the bundle move, trying to work out if it was human or now.
Didn't smell like a weevil.
He frowned as he took the time to weed out the other scents, puling forward the one that was out of place.
It didn't make sense.
Finally he couldn't stand it anymore and he just said it out loud.
"Marley?"
