5

Ianto decided the best thing to do was to head into the hub, maybe more familiar surroundings would help shake this weird feeling so he pulled on his Burberry and stepped outside, his hand going into his pocket and finding keys, further surprised to find the Aston Martin in the driveway, he had missed that yesterday with the fugue.

Wow.

Ianto pulled out the keys and looked at the keychain, pushing the button and feeling both excited and terrified when the car beeped at him and the lights flashed hello.

Shit me a walrus.

Ianto got in and adjusted the mirror that didn't really need adjusting, nor did the seat and he settled as he found it the perfect fit, then he started it and purred along with it, turning to back out of the drive and looking directly at the little car seat in the back.

He sat for a good few minutes staring at the Spiderman seat, his innards doing weird back flips. The toys scattered seemed to live there as well as the blanket. He was definitely missing something and he made a mental note to ask Tosh, she might tell him right?

He sped to the hub and parked, taking another long look in the back, then popping the trunk and walking around to look serenely at the blanket, spare clothes for a wee boy in a zip lock bag and even a little bag of snacks all neatly stored like he might have done it himself.

Missing something big.

Important.

He walked into the hub and headed straight for Jack entering the office and staling as he found Jack in Gwen's boobs, her making soothing noises as she rubbed his hair like he was a fucking puppy. He seemed to be..wriggling?

Ianto cleared his throat and Jack leapt up gasping for air, his head connecting with Gwen's jaw and she squealed as she bit her lip, staggering back.

"Ianto, Gwen was…er…I had a spasm. Er, you came in after all, eh?" Jack spluttered, still addled from Gwen's unexpected comforting and he watched Ianto's eyes flick between them angrily, like the old Ianto.

"I was going to ask if you wanted a brew sir" Ianto said calmly, his fingers tapping against his thigh the tell to Jack that he was beyond enraged, something he had not done in years and Jack found himself torn between defending himself and chastising Ianto for thinking such a thing.

"I was…I have had a hard morning and Gwen was just trying to be a good friend" Jack finally said, "There is nothing more to it than that."

"None of my business is it sir" Ianto replied frostily, "Will you be needing a brew? Or have you had enough milk?"

Jack looked up with shock as the old Ianto would never speak like that and he saw a flicker as his beloved seemed to show for a second, then was gone as the mask slammed down again.

"A coffee would be lovely, thank you Ianto" Jack said as calmly as he could and he watched Ianto stalk down the stairs.

Gwen had bitten her lip inside her mouth quite badly and Owen was leaning over her at her workstation, "Fuck this might need stitches, what the fuck were you doing leaning over him? You know he hates tight spaces."

She couldn't very well answer with his fingers in her mouth so she resisted the urge to bite down.

"Your blouse" Ianto said softly, "Get it off, I can soak it before the blood sets in, such a pretty colour. Shame, you've worked all night and are due to finish the night shift only to have this happen."

Gwen grunted as she awkwardly let Tosh help remove it and Ianto stalled out as he stared at the purple bra, the missing top piece to the set, and he reached into his pocket to pull out the bottom half.

He didn't know why he even had them in there, he had scooped them up with some sort of anger making him almost burst. Now as he dropped them onto her workstation he was surprised to see not only her smugness but the horror of Tosh and Owen as they stared at them with stunned silence.

"Shame not to have the set, must have been expensive" Ianto quipped and he turned at the sound of Jack coming down for his coffee, "I would have washed them but don't know if you have sensitive skin or not."

"Knickers?" Jack asked with surprise, "Where did they come from? Gwen? Are those the ones you brought for Rhys' birthday last week? You were waving them all over the place like a victory flag."

Ianto considered his reaction, as he did everyone else's and something in the back of his mind whispered soothingly.

Interesting.

Ianto went to the kitchen as he considered things and absently he cleaned and reset the coffee machine, tamping the grinds and seating the cup into its saddle, the work both mindless and soothing.

He reached for Jack's cup and his hand froze as he stared at the little Sippy cup sitting next to it in matching blue stripes.

Josh.

Ianto let his hand slam onto the bench as he stared long and hard at his son's cup and then he blinked a few times and huffed softly.

Right.

Everything slammed home as if waking from a weird dream and Ianto blinked at the tiles behind the coffee machine for a while as he let his mind settle and assimilate everything going on.

Two can play fucking games here.

Ianto went back to the coffee machine with new found anger seething as he went over things in his head and realised he had been played.

But by whom?

His yes swivelled to look out into the main hub where Gwen was blinking owlishly at Owen as Jack leaned in over her and made amused noises at her swelling lip.

Right.

Of course.

Game on bitch.