14

Unable to believe Ianto had trusted him enough to go with him, Jack slid them to his own quarters. Yet even after they'd landed, he just stood still holding his trembling body. He was the strongest man he knew yet in that moment he seemed so vulnerable. For just a moment Ianto wasn't a fugitive, and Jack wasn't a hunter who owed the King his life. Ianto was someone who needed him and he wanted to stay in this moment for as long as they could.

It made him feel worth something more than just a glorified bounty hunter.

Ianto pulled away enough to look up at Jack, and he met his gaze until he focused on Ianto's lips. The kiss they'd shared invaded his mind like it had thousands of times since the night before last. He hadn't been able to forget it, and he doubted he ever would. His heart pounded in his chest as he lowered his head and brushed his mouth across Ianto's lips. He was holding back, unsure how Ianto would react, but as his breathing made his chest rise and fall rapidly he felt every second without his kiss.

Goddess, he wanted him.

"Something wrong with your arms, sonny?"

Jack stepped back, reluctantly releasing his hold on Ianto, and looked down to the spot from which the voice had come. At Ianto's feet, he saw a cat with fur of midnight black, except for a streak of gray like a bow tie. Two glowing green eyes stared back at him. Somehow, the cat kind of reminded him of an old man.

"Okay. This is new."

Ianto gave an enthusiastic smile. It was brilliant and made Jack's heart skip a beat. "This is my familiar. He and I met in the cave as soon as I crossed the portal into Torchwood."

"My name is the Doctor." The cat gave his name as if he were an animated character, but Jack nodded in greeting.

"Crazy thing is, he says someone sent him. I've never had a familiar before, and I didn't ask for one, but apparently, someone is watching out for me."

"Someone sent him?" He crossed his arms and focused his attention on Doc. "Who sent you? How do I know we can trust them? Or you, for that matter?"

The cat actually laughed before saying, "Oh, that's rich coming from you, fartknocker."

"Who's a fartknocker? That's just ridiculous. Who calls someone a fartknocker?" He caught Ianto's wink at Doc and couldn't believe they were already conspiring against him. How long could they have even known each other?

Ianto shrugged and said, "I've heard it used before."

"Look, I'm not having this conversation. You can't trust him."

"Oh, and I should trust you? The hunter sent to bring me back to Torchwood. Well, I'm back. Your job is done." Ianto scoffed.

"Yes, you should trust me. There's a good chance the Protectorate already knows you are here, and they're probably searching for you right this minute. You need me to negotiate for you. Maybe we can just get you life in prison instead of an execution."

Ianto looked at him as if he'd just spewed vomit out of his mouth all over his boots. "Are you crazy? You're offering me a lifetime behind locked doors when I know how to fix this whole mess. No, thank you. You can take your negotiation and shove it up your tight arse."

How was he planning to fix it? Was this what Baba Duke had been telling him about?

Ianto turned toward the door, but Jack slid to stand in front of it, blocking his exit. "Surely, you have questions about your father's assassination."

Ianto's mouth parted slightly, and his eyes narrowed as he crossed the small room to stand right in front of him. He poked his finger into Jack's chest as he explained, "I didn't try to murder my father five years ago, and I didn't assassinate him. But someone did, and I have a way to figure out who it was, and it doesn't involve answering questions for the Protectorate. You are not getting in my way."

Jack slowly reached up and grasped Ianto's hand mid-poke. He held it gently in his as he reached out to his face with his other hand and stroked the back of it down his cheek. "There's a record of you being in your father's bedroom both nights. They have evidence."

Ianto nodded as he lowered his hand from his face. "I was there both nights. That much is true, but the first time I was there, he was still sound asleep when I left. And the second time, he wasn't even there. Someone else attacked the King, and I must find out who it was."

"Wait! What do you mean you were there both nights?"

"Five years ago, on the night my father was attacked, I went to his room to explain to him why I...I couldn't be an assassin any longer. I had just returned from a mission where I was tasked to kill a child. A child, Jack! I couldn't do it. And I couldn't believe my father had ordered such a horrific thing. I went to confront him, but when I was in his room, standing at the foot of his bed, I couldn't go through with it. I couldn't bring myself to ask him the questions I so desperately needed the answers to because I was afraid that I already knew the truth. The man who had sent me to the Assassin's Academy, despite my mother's protests, at the age of five was heartless, and I was just a tool for him to use when the job was too ugly for him to complete. I ran and never looked back. I went straight for the portal and left Torchwood and all my misery behind." Ianto's gaze stared past him, as if he were watching the scene unfold behind his back. Ianto was lost in his memories, but Jack could feel he was telling him the truth.

"And the night he was assassinated?"

Ianto met Jack's gaze again. "I snuck back into Torchwood. I scaled the palace walls, and I crept into his bedroom once more. I planned to show him that in the five years since I'd run away, I'd learned who I really was. My plan had been to confront him. I wanted to know how he could do what he had done to someone he called his son. He turned me into a killer. I needed answers about more than his motivation in using me, though. I wanted to know how I could be his offspring. I couldn't quite reconcile the realization that who I was could be so different from him. How was I his son? How was he such a monster? This time, though, when I stood at the foot of his bed, it was empty. He wasn't there. In that moment, I saw it as a blessing. I'd lost my nerve. I went back through the portal and decided to find a different way to get my answers."

"So, are you telling me you're innocent of the crimes for which you're accused?"

"I'm telling you that I need to find out who is behind all of this, and I finally have a way to do that. Now, you either get out of my way, or I will go through you. I'll warn you, if you choose the second option, it will be painful for you."

Jack dropped his hand and stepped to the side, leaving the doorway unblocked. But as Ianto stepped to open the door Jack laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm curious about something you said. Are you saying that he wasn't in his bed the night he was assassinated?"

"He wasn't there when I arrived in the room. I don't know if he arrived afterward into a dangerous situation, but I hope to find out the truth for myself."

"I don't know that I can answer all your questions, but I can tell you one thing. After you left, he was devastated. You meant more to him than a tool to be used for his bidding."

"Then, why would he send me to murder a child?"

"That's a mystery to me as well, but when you were gone, he stopped sleeping. He only slept for a couple hours each night, and usually, in a bed at the other end of the palace… your bed."

"Mine?"

Jack nodded as he watched the confusion and shock on Ianto's face. He really hadn't killed him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to his bedroom. He would have gone to his own. He was assassinated in Ianto's room. "This detail is why I believe you. The assassin didn't kill him in his bed. He was murdered in yours, and you didn't even know that was where you'd find him."

Ianto's body sagged as his knees seemed to give out, and Jack held him upright, while Doc circled his legs. The realization of his father's actions probably only caused him more confusion, but Jack needed to help him.

Someone was trying to steal the throne, and Jack felt a sense of responsibility to make sure that didn't happen. "I'm coming with you. Whatever you need to do, I'll help you."

"I don't need your help, Jack. Your job here is done. Just let me go."

Jack closed the short space between them and placed his hands on Ianto's hips, staring into the brilliant storm in his eyes. "I can't do that. Where you go, I go also. I will give my life for yours. Your cause is my cause from this day unto forever."

Ianto's chest worked in and out rapidly as he listened to his words. "I can't ask that of you."

"That is the vow I gave to your father as a Royal Hunter, and now I give it to you. I am yours to command, my Prince."