The next morning – 2 conversations

Jack had been awake for twenty minute and was happily watching Ianto sleep. The concern and comfort the young bookseller had offered him the previous night had shaken Jack to his core. He dimly remembered disclosing to Ianto that aliens were in Cardiff and the matter of fact manner in which Ianto had assimilated the news had given Jack even deeper insights into the boy's caring character. Ianto must have been intrigued about the news that Cardiff hosted extraterrestrial life forms but he had put his natural curiosity to one side and had, instead, concentrated on providing the comfort that Jack had so desperately needed. Such unselfishness took Jack's breath away.

The warm body that Jack was clinging onto began to show signs of waking. Jack propped his chin on Ianto's sternum and smiled into the two sleepy blue-grey eyes.

'Hello'

Ianto grinned, 'hello yourself'

Jack wriggled up Ianto's body and kissed him, 'thank you for...you know...last night. Being here for me, you really helped.'

Ianto kissed him back, 'you did the same for me when I needed it, it's what people in a relationship do for each other.' then he blushed at what he had just said

Jack snuggled close and nuzzled Ianto's neck, 'are we?' he asked hopefully, 'in a relationship, I mean.'

Ianto turned and placed a long kiss on Jack's temple, 'I hope so' he hesitated, all his old insecurities flooding beck, 'I mean...if...if that's what you would like. I know...that is some people would say that taking on someone with a disability us not a good idea'

I'm not some people' said Jack, 'I thought that you knew that by now.'

Ianto chuckled with relief, oh I do. So, we are a couple then?'

'Hmm, I dunno' Jack grinned at Ianto, 'would it be one of those relationships where we share all of darkest secrets and desires.'

'Hell yeah,' laughed Ianto, ' you can start by telling me about the aliens and then you can tell me all your sexual fantasies and we will work out which ones we want to fulfil first.'

The look on Jack's face was a million miles away from the hurt and defeated expression of the previous night, 'Ok then'

On the other side of the plas Owen Harper was waking up in a strange bed. This was not an experience that was completely unfamiliar to him, what was unusual was the fact that he had no desire to slide out from under the duvet and creep away. He replayed the activities of the previous night. Tosh had welcomed him into her home and held him whilst he fell apart. She had held him, soothing him with gentle words and soft kisses. Then she had taken him to bed and made love to him with such tenderness and joy he had cried as he came. There had been no sign of Tosh the Mistress who was at home in the darker world of sexual domination, the woman who was moving against and around him so lovingly was the one he recognised as his friend and colleague, one he could picture waking up next to for the rest of his days. So, instead of running away, he burrowed closer to the slender warm body that he held in a loose embrace. A soft kiss was planted on his circling arms and Toshiko turned to face him.

'Hello'

'Hello yourself' whispered Owen.

Tosh lifted a tentative hand and stroked Owens face, 'everything alright'

Owen leant into her touch, 'if I could convince you to hang up your whips and leather collars, I think it might be.'

Tosh frowned, 'that's part of who I am Owen. Why would you not want to embrace that side of me?' she raised an eyebrow, 'you trying to change me, Harper?'

Owen sputtered, gods had be ruined this already? 'What, no, no. You are perfect – more than perfect. I, I mean...'

Tosh chuckled, and kissed him on the nose, 'gotcha.'

Owen gave a relieved laugh, 'Who are you?'

Tosh rolled hem both and straddled Owen, 'You know me, Owen Harper, you just never saw me before.'

'I know,' Owen looked downcast 'I'm so stupid.'

'Well luckily,' said Tosh leaning down for another kiss, 'We have the rest of our lives to put that right.'

'Ok, then.'

One month later

Jack sighed, sat back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes. It had been four weeks since he and his team had closed down the alien brothel which was being run on the plas but they were still no closer to finding out who had been behind the operation, nor where they had sourced the alien tech that was being used to cloak their activities. Both Jack and Tosh had spent all the time they could spare to seeking any trace of the culprits but there was nothing. The longer it went on the more Jack agonised; he knew if they didn't find them soon, the people involved would just start their repugnant business up somewhere else.

His eyes drifted to the framed photograph the stood on the corner of his desk and, despite his other worries, a warm smile crawled across his face. Ianto Jones always made him smile whether in photographic form or in reality. After those two nights when they had individually fallen apart in each other's arms, they had, by mutual consent, began a relationship which was helping them to build themselves anew. The relationship was progressing frighteningly quickly, Jack had never loved someone so completely, so fast but he worried that he might be taking advantage of Ianto's lack of experience. Not that Ianto seemed to be complaining, although they hadn't had penetrative sex yet Ianto's enthusiasm for frottage and his willingness to explore the pleasures of a judiciously applied mouth boded well for their sexual future. Just thinking about Ianto's luscious mouth wrapped around his cock, made Jacks pants uncomfortably tight. The fact that Ianto seemed to have fallen in love with Jack every bit as much as Jack had with him didn't hurt much either.

'Tosh, Owen' Jack raised his voice to be heard across the Hub, 'enough for now, let's call it a day. Go home but take the remote rift monitor with you, Tosh. If you need me I'll be...'

'At Ianto's, ' Tosh and Owen chorused in perfect unison.

'Er...yeah' said Jack taken aback, 'how did you know?'

Tosh and Owen appeared in the doorway of Jack's office, 'because Jack,' said Tosh gently and patiently, 'you seem to be the only one who hasn't noticed that you have moved in with Ianto by a sort of osmosis.'

'She's right,' chipped in Owen, 'it starts with a change of underwear, then a few shirts, some toiletries, hair products, your phone charger, your i-pad and then next thing you know all your favourite books are there too.' he indicated the many empty spaces on Jack's book shelves that testified to the migration of so many tomes.

Tosh giggled, the look on Jack's face was priceless, she pulled out her phone and dialled, putting the phone on speaker so they could all hear the call.

'Ianto Jones.'

'Oh hi Yan, it's Tosh.'

'Oh hello Tosh, sorry, I didn't look at the caller ID. I'm making a chilli for when Jack comes home.'

Tosh grinned, 'that's why I'm calling you actually. How long have you and Jack been living together?'

There was a pause, then Ianto's voice came tentatively, 'about two and a half weeks, give or take. I'm not sure that Jack has realised it yet though.'

'When were you going to tell me?' put in Jack

'Jack?'

'Keeping things from me, Ianto?' said Jack with a twinkle in his eye, 'that the sort of thing that can get a boy punished, you know.'

A rich chuckle came from the phone, 'I'll look forward to that, Sir.' Owen looked at Tosh and mouthed, 'Sir?' She giggled.

Jack took the phone from Toshiko's hand and turned off the speaker, 'I'll be home soon' he told his lover.

'Are they making fun of you?' asked Ianto

'A little bit, yeah' laughed Jack, 'but I get to come home to you so I don't care.'

'Do you mind,' asked Ianto with some concern evident in his voice, 'that we are living together, I mean?'

'Hell, no,' laughed Jack, 'I'll move the rest of my stuff in over the next few days and then we'll do something special to make it official.'

'Love you' purred Ianto, his velvet Welsh tones lodging straight in Jack's cock.

Jack swallowed hard, 'love you too.' He ended the call and then looked across to where Tosh and Owen were standing hand in hand grinning goofily at him, 'oh stop it,' he smiled, ' you two are just as bad as we are.'

'Yes, we are, aren't we?' said Owen with satisfaction.

As the three of them walked towards the invisible lift, the computer at Tosh's work station started to beep urgently. Tosh hurried over to her desk and began tapping keys, 'Jack, we have an incoming message on the frequency used by the sex ring.'

'Open the channel' ordered Jack as he moved to stand in front of the monitor hands clasped behind his back under the skirts of his greatcoat. Tosh thought he looked particularly handsome and heroic and she wished Ianto could see him.

The image that came onto the screen looked like a cross between a humanoid crocodile and a snail, a long snout full of sharp teeth was top by two eyes on long flexible stalks. Jack drew his breath in with a sharp hiss, 'Vloerions' he snarled, 'shit stains of the universe, slave traders, brothel keepers, torturers, gun runners, tech thieves, I should have known'

The being began with no preamble, 'Human, your last payment is overdue by eight cycles. Can I remind you that your stock is only leased and lack of prompt payment will result in...' it looked into the camera and saw Jack for the first time, ' who the freckalia are you?'

'Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood. And you are the low life scum who have been snatching people from their home worlds and selling them into sexual slavery on this planet' He glanced down to where Tosh was busily hacking into the ship's computers and downloading as much detail as she could.

'What do you want, Harkness?'

'I want you out of my system,' said Jack evenly, 'I want you away from this planet and if I find you anywhere near this part of the galaxy ever again, I will destroy you.'

The alien snarled, 'you talk big for a human. Your planet has no intergalactic space flight. You are a child shouting at the dark.'

Jack held up a finger in a just-a-moment gesture and, opening up another window, began to tap in a message, which was in no language Tosh recognised. His task completed, Jack turned his attention back to the crocodile faced alien, 'you seem quite dismissive of me,' he said pleasantly, 'and, I have to be honest, that stings a bit but I think if you glance at your long distance scanner you might just see an energy signature that reminds you of the Shadow Proclamation travel crystals and..yes...if you listen carefully I think you might detect the characteristic sound of a TARDIS materialising.'

'What have you done?'

'I may have downloaded your flight plan and cargo manifest and sent them, together with my report on the situation here in Cardiff to the Shadow Proclamation and as a professional courtesy I also copied in The Doctor.' Jack laughed and over his shoulder Tosh could see a number of rhinocerid humanoids materialising from a bright green glow at the same time as the familiar blue shape of the TARDIS could be seen. 'Not too bad for a child shouting at the dark, eh?' said Jack triumphantly, 'now I can see that you have got your hands full at the moment but get this...' his voice dropped to a low threatening growl and Jack leant forward to make intense eye contact with the Vloerion captain, 'your business with this planet is concluded. I want the names of all the people you have dealt with in the past and maybe the Shadow Proclamation will take your cooperation with my investigation in mitigation.'

The Vloerion snarled at Jack, 'go and disembowel yourself human, we do not treat with you.'

'But you do treat with people who exploit vulnerable races for sexual gratification?'

'They pay.' The Vloerion's face split in what Tosh and Owen assumed was a feral grin, 'they pay well.'

Jack's face cleared, 'you sold them the time slip device didn't you?' he said

The Vloerion laughed again, 'they pay very, very well.' he repeated, 'and part of the service they pay for is complete anonymity, you will find no records in our computer.'

'You...' Jack took a step closer to the monitor as if he wanted to pull the Vloerion through the screen but the Vloerion was snatched away by a massive Judoon and hustled away. His place was taken by the serious and severe face of The Doctor.

'Twice in four weeks, Jack?' he said quirking an eyebrow, 'do I look like a taxi service to you?'

'Who else has the space and resources to relocate...' he glanced down at the cargo manifest and his voice tightened with fury, 'sixty-three prisoners back to their home planets'

The Doctor's expression softened, 'relax Jack, I'll help, of course I will. I'll get these guys home and keep a watching brief of the trial of the slavers. The Shadow Proclamation owes me a few favours, these guys will be going away for a very long and very unpleasant time.'

Jack huffed out a long sigh of relief, 'thanks, Doc' he moved to terminate transmission but The Doctor held out a hand to stop him.

'Just a moment, I know this is hard for you Jack and I know you well enough to realise that you could easily have destroyed these scum with some of the weaponry that Torchwood has accumulated over the years but you didn't. You put the lives of innocents above a need for revenge and I'm proud of you for that. Well done, Captain' He stood tall and saluted Jack, who straightened and saluted him back, before closing the communication link.'

Tosh threw her arms around Jack, whilst Owen slapped him on the back, 'we did it!' he exclaimed jubilantly, 'we caught them and we closed the fuckers down.' Tosh was nodding enthusiastically her smile a mile wide.

'Yeah' somehow Jack's smile did not make it to his eyes, 'I wish we had been able to get the name of the Cardiff side of the operation though. I don't think this is over.'