A/N: Not sure if this needs a warning, but this chapter includes the smut part, already mentioned in the tags. If you don't like it, you can skip the last third of the chapter wihtout missing any of the plot. But I would be very happy if you just read the whole chapter.

Ianto stood stoically at the counter, waiting for the coffee machine to heat up. Only his finger tapping revealed his inner turmoil. He needed answers now, and getting breakfast ready couldn't come soon enough. Jack was busy making toast and getting butter and jam from the fridge, refusing to reveal anything ahead of time.

"I really don't understand why we can't talk about it first and then have breakfast," Ianto complained.

"You've been badly hurt and need to rebuild your strength. And I need a cup of your excellent coffee to wake up," Jack understood Ianto's impatience, but he didn't want to discuss what he'd learned with an empty stomach.

Ianto stared at the coffee machine, mentally pleading with it to work faster, but it took its time getting to the right temperature. After what seemed like an eternity, everything was ready, and two steaming mugs stood on the counter, along with two plates, a small mountain of toast, butter, and a variety of jams on the side.

"So," Jack said, licking strawberry jam from his fingers, "when we merged, I got a long good look at what's going on in your Jack's mind. And I believe I have some answers.

As we suspected, he's been assigned the role of the controller. The voice uses his mind to access all his nightmares directly. They are constantly repeated, and the parasite can access them whenever he wants. Because Jack can't die, he has an infinite food supply. When the host dies, the parasite usually dies as well. It's not going to happen with Jack. When he dies, his body regenerates, but his mind remains unchanged, correct?"

Ianto nodded.

"That's why you can't kill the parasite. As long as it's fused to Jack's brain waves, it is as immortal as he is. Even that I have no idea how your Jack's immortality works."

"Yours too," Ianto pointed out.

"Right," Jack said, frowning. "Anyway. Under normal circumstances, this takeover should not have been possible. I can protect my thoughts from such intrusions. Basic Time Agency training. When you woke your Jack from his nightmares, his defences were down. That's how the parasite got a hold of him."

"Damn, I really shouldn't have..." Ianto began to chastise himself.

"Bollocks, it was bound to happen sooner or later," Jack said, waving him off. "Here's the thing," he continued. "Jack managed to keep some of his memories shielded. In other words, he protected his memories about you. You were like a dark spot in Jack's mind when you arrived with the mind mesh. Something the parasite couldn't see, he didn't even see how I was interacting with you. And this is our chance. He has no idea you exist. When we both kiss, we can connect with your Jack in the Control Room. The connection is pretty weak, but there are like 400 floors between us. The connection will be much stronger if we go higher up, maybe even right into the Control Room."

When Jack had finished explaining his theories, he shoved half a toast into his mouth, jam dripping from its sides, and began chewing. "What do you think?"

"Mmh," Ianto sipped from his mug. "That makes sense. I think we can work with your conclusions."

"Yes!" Jack whooped and raised his hand for a high five. Ianto rolled his eyes while smiling and slapped his hand.

"Let's expand on your information," Ianto said, following Jack's train of thought. "The connection is made when we kiss. I had been wondering why the parasite is unaware of the connection. Now I think it has something to do with the parasite feeding on negative thoughts. We only share positive feelings when we kiss. The voice has no control over this kind of emotion. It focuses completely on negativity and discards everything positive."

"And this helps us how?" Jack asked excitedly.

"I have... absolutely no idea," Ianto admitted, his brow furrowed.

"No, don't stop there; there must be something else. I believe we are on the right track. The way we switched back and forth. That was surreal, and I couldn't control it, but if we can strengthen the connection, I'm sure we can use it to our advantage in some way." Jack was simply rambling to see if anything made sense.

"Well..." Ianto paused, taking a small bite of his toast. He wasn't particularly hungry.

"Yeah?" Jack perked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"No, I don't know, it's too silly," Ianto said, shaking his head.

"Spill it," Jack demanded.

If we could strengthen the connection to a point where you two not only merge but switch sides, it might be enough to free him from the parasite's grip... I could activate the mind mesh and transport us out of here. Owen could destroy the parasite and everything would be over...," Ianto's voice trailed off. He stared at Jack.

"A kiss in the Control Room," Jack realised excitedly. "Yes, yes! That's it!"

"Do you think that could work?" Ianto asked doubtfully.

"How should I know?" Jack burst out laughing. "If we can't come up with some brilliant plan that makes more sense, I think we should give it a shot."

"We'll only get one try. The parasite will notice me when I enter the Control Room. I'm not going to get another chance," Ianto reminded him.

"I know. We will make it work," the determination in Jack's voice was contagious. He reached over and squeezed Ianto's hand with encouragement.

Ianto nodded, a small smile on his face. "We will."

"Great, so that's settled," Jack said, taking another large sip of his coffee. "Let's make a plan. What should we do, how do we get up there?"

"Well, I'm assuming we use the lift?" Ianto shrugged.

Jack shook his head. "The lift no longer goes up to 500. Not since I tried to destroy the level. It reaches a halt at 450. From then on, we'd have to either climb the shaft or take the stairs."

"The shaft sounds dangerous. The parasite could activate the lift and plug us from the ladder with the cabin any time he wanted."

"We could disable the cabin," suggested Jack.

"Would that work?" Ianto was sceptical.

"Probably not. Blowing up the Control Room didn't work either. Damn."

"So it's the stairs," Ianto decided, and something occurred to him. "That means there'll be more zombies."

"Fun," Jack said with a crooked grin.

"Yeah."

Ianto couldn't wait to put their plan into action after breakfast. He needed to know if it would work. Jack had been in the parasite's clutches for far too long. They gathered their fighting gear and took the lift up to Floor 450. The lift stopped and refused to move any higher, just as Jack had predicted.

On their way to the staircase, they encountered only a handful of zombies, but with combined efforts, they had been surprisingly easy to defeat. No injuries, not even ripped clothing.

Thirty levels later, both were exhausted, each step heavier than the last. I need to find more time to go to the gym, Ianto thought as he exhaled heavily. At least the staircase was free of zombies. The undead obviously despised the stairs as much as Ianto did.

"Ianto, wait. I need to talk to you about something," Jack pleaded. He'd started to fall back a while ago, and they were now almost a level apart.

"What?" No breaks, Ianto thought. Breaks were a waste of time.

"Would you please stop? I don't want to talk about it with your back," Jack sounded like something bothered him. A lot.

Ianto sighed and turned around to sit on the stairs. "What is it?"

Jack caught up and settled down one step lower, looking for the right words.

"The thing is..., I've been thinking about it since we left. I need to know...," he said, his voice unsure. "What does it mean for me? I'm talking about when you get rid of the parasite."

"..."

"Ianto?"

"I'm not sure. Everything... just ends?" Ianto responded thoughtfully.

"I want to live," Jack said, looking up. The intensity in his eyes sent a jolt through Ianto's heart.

He sighed.

"But you do. Jack, up there... he is you... he is what your life will be. Everything else is not real."

Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I understand... of course I understand. It's a scary thought anyway, I can't help it."

Ianto leaned down and kissed Jack lightly on the lips.

Jack furrowed his brows as if there was something else he wanted to say.

"What's on your mind?" Ianto inquired.

Jack remained silent for a while, unsure how to express his emotions.

"I know you're eager to get up there," he began slowly. "And yes, I want to help you, regardless of what it means for me. I can see there is no other option. But please, let us take a break," he pleaded. "A real break. We left in such a hurry, but... our plan either works and it is the end for me, or it fails and it could be the end for you, or at least the end of your rescue efforts. Whatever happens, maybe we should pause for a moment and, and, I don't know – celebrate. Us."

He shrugged as he looked pleadingly at Ianto. He couldn't think of a better way to express how he felt. "There is another observation deck on Floor 494," he added gingerly. "It's actually a really nice place."

Ianto looked at him and realised how important this was for Jack. "Perhaps you're right; let's take a break."

Ianto noticed the destruction that was visible everywhere when they finally exited the staircase on Floor 494. Laser beams had left deep scars on the walls and dust everywhere. His sword felt even more inadequate and out of date than before.

"Lots of fighting happened here," Ianto said quietly.

"Yeah. On this floor, we had a part of our resistance group stationed. They didn't stand a chance," Jack said with a grave voice. "Come on let's go, the observation deck is right around the corner."

Ianto kept staring at the scorch marks but followed Jack without saying another word. They arrived at the large double doors to the observation deck without incident. They heard zombie movement down the corridor, yet nothing in the immediate vicinity.

Ianto slowed his steps and looked around as the doors opened. The previous observation deck they had visited had only served functional purposes. This was a much more opulent version. The room was furnished with dark brown couches, armchairs, and some oversized loungers near the huge quartz glass window. The floor was covered in a thick dark green carpet, and the ceiling was outfitted with light beige textile panels and hidden spotlights that provided a warm glow to the room.

"Welcome to Satellite 5's VIP Observation Lounge," Jack said, his arms spread wide and a wide grin on his face.

"Wow," said Ianto, clearly impressed. Despite the lushness of the room, Ianto thought the large glass front with earth taking up most of its space was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Whatever happens next," Jack begged, "the next few hours are just for you and me and well me, you know what I mean." He chuckled nervously. "Please."

Ianto stared at him for a moment, fighting the urge to keep going, but eventually gave in. "All right," he said, smiling. "Let's stay here for a while."

They'd both settled into one of the large loungers, and Jack had conjured two exotic cocktails out of seemingly nowhere. They cuddled close together, cocktails in hand, watching the earth slowly orbit the sun, its light bathing everything in a magical glow.

"How is it possible for us to look straight into the sun?" Ianto wondered, enjoying the view.

"Because the sun appears even brighter without the atmosphere of Earth, the quartz glass has a solar filter that blocks 99.999% of sunlight to protect the eyes," Jack explained.

"It's absolutely stunning, "Ianto hushed. "I could sit here and watch this forever."

"I would love to do that," Jack replied softly, playing with the sleeve of Ianto's shirt. "I've seen sunrises like this many times, but it never loses its magic."

"I can imagine," Ianto turned his head to face Jack. "Just like how I never get tired of looking at you."

Jack lost himself in Ianto's blue eyes, which were so full of love for him. Then he captured the other's lips for a long kiss. The feeling of love and belonging was joined by arousal, which spread through his body and right into his groin.

Ianto reached out, touched the bulge under Jack's pants, and teased with a smile. "Someone seems to be a little impatient."

They kissed again, the breathtaking view outside forgotten. While their lips met, he opened Jack's fly and shoved his hand inside, stroking the growing erection beneath him. A moan escaped Jack into Ianto's mouth while he pulled him closer. While their hips ground together, Ianto felt his erection straining against his trousers.

Ianto pushed himself up and began to undress Jack, who was still sprawled on the lounger. He pulled the shirt over his head, marvelling at his immaculate, well-toned chest, as he always did when they spent the night together. In one swift motion, he grabbed his pants and pulled them down. In no time, Jack's slender body lay in front of him in all his breathtaking nudity.

"Come on, Ianto, your turn," Jack said with anticipation.

At first, Ianto was hesitant about the idea of being so exposed, undressing in front of the large observation window. With every piece removed, he became bolder and playfully teased Jack with taking the extra slow route. When he was finally done, he turned to look out the window at the stars, feeling exhilarated and inexplicably free. He could hear Jack getting up from the lounger behind him and coming closer. Ianto leaned back into the other's embrace.

"The vastness of space can make you feel so insignificant, and yet you can be the most important satellite orbiting the brightest star," Jack whispered into Ianto's ear as he began to caress his lover's body, fingers running lightly over his stomach down to his groin. Ianto's breath hitched, and he leaned back even more into the strong body behind him.

After a moment of silence, Ianto asked curiously, "Is he here? How does it feel to be so close this time?"

"It feels so natural," Jack said quietly. "We seem to be one in both places. It's difficult to put into words. It was strange at first, but now it's just a pleasant feeling. Ianto, I missed you."

Ianto turned around when he heard these words. Jack cupped his cheeks and slipped his tongue into the young man's mouth for a fervent and passionate kiss, deepening the connection between the three of them. Ianto felt dizzy when he parted his lips to catch some air. Their kiss had been so intense that it had made his mind spin.

"I want to feel you inside me, Jack," Ianto breathed.

"I'll follow your lead," Jack whispered into Ianto's ear, his voice trembling with need.

Without wasting more time with words, Ianto took Jack's hand and led him back to the lounger.

"Lay down," Ianto said, and Jack eagerly obeyed. When he'd finally settled back onto the lounger and made himself comfortable, Ianto climbed on top of him and positioned himself in his lap.

"Are you ready for a ride?" Ianto asked playfully.

Jack chuckled softly. "You think you can tame me?"

A sly smile spread over Ianto's face. He prepared himself and gently stroked Jack, who arched up in anticipation of what was to come.

"Oh yes," Jack panted, his gaze never leaving the man in front of him.

A smile spread across Ianto's face when he changed positions and lowered himself onto Jack. The sensation of their bodies joining was glorious. He began to move slowly, and Jack matched his rhythm.

Ianto felt Jack's hand resting on his hips, holding him in place. He gradually began to move up and down. Arousal seeped through his body. His breath became heavier with each movement. He could hear Jack's rasping breath beneath him, and he felt Jack's grip tighten. Their bodies moved as one, and it didn't take long until they reached completion.

Shooting stars exploded behind Ianto's closed eyes while he rode on a wave of ecstasy. He could feel Jack following him closely, pleasure rippling through the other's body. When his orgasm ebbed away, Ianto collapsed on Jack's chest, exhausted. After a while, he felt Jack turn him around, so he was now the one on his back. When he opened his eyes, he saw the other man smiling.

"You are amazing, Ianto Jones."

Ianto smiled back at him. "If you say so, sir."

"Yes, I do," Jack confirmed and leaned in for another kiss.