After Jack had dropped Gwen home, he raced back to the hub, completely ignoring the speed limit. He had a tendency to do that a lot. When he reached the specially built Torchwood car park, he parked the SUV clumsily and walked over to the door to the hub. After punching in the code, the door opened and Jack stepped into the lift that would bring him down to the main level of the hub. When the lift opened, the certain man he was searching for was nowhere to be seen. This left Jack puzzled. Ianto was always waiting for him when he got back from a call, if he didn't go with him. Always. Jack called out, but his shout was met by a cold silence that hurt Jack's ears.

He stalked up to his office to sulk, thinking that Ianto had just left and gone home without him. He opened the door and smiled at the sight before him. Ianto Jones was slumped in Jack's chair, sleeping peacefully, his head resting on the side of the chair. Jack noticed that the CCTV feed was on the screen which meant that Ianto was, at least, watching and waiting for him to get back. He mentally slapped himself for doubting Ianto. As if on instinct, Jack pulled off his jacket and draped it across the sleeping man, careful not to wake him. It didn't work.

"Jack?" The exhaustion in Ianto's voice was extremely evident and Jack realized just how much work Ianto did around the hub. He looked down and smiled.

"Hey. Do you want to go back to your flat tonight or stay here? You look like you could do with a long sleep!"

Ianto considered his options and decided to get himself to the closest bed he could find, which just happened to be right underneath him. He heard a click and knew that Jack had figured out his answer and was opening the hatch door that leads down to his bedroom. Ianto climbed tiredly out of the chair and walked over to Jack, slipping his arms around his waist. He felt Jack turn slightly in the embrace and smirked when he saw Jack lean towards him and place a small kiss on his lips. Jack climbed down the ladder first, motioning for Ianto to follow. Ianto did not hesitate. He followed Jack down to his bunker and allowed Jack to strip him of his clothes. Ianto pulled back the covers and slipped into the familiar bed, the smell of Jack lingering on the pillows, making Ianto inhale in delight. Jack wasted no time and was soon lying in the bed, with Ianto curled around him. Jack found himself softly stroking Ianto's hair and soon realized that the young man was positively fast asleep.

For the first time since he got back, he registered how late it must be and checked the clock on the wall. It read 3.45 AM. Jack hadn't realized how late it actually was. He clicked that Ianto had waited up for him until the early hours of the morning, slightly reveling in the fact that someone cared enough for him to stay awake longer than usual.

He smiled and placed a soft kiss on Ianto's head. Ianto's grip on his waist tightened and the low hum of pleasure that emerged from his lips was barely audible but Jack heard it loud and clear.

Jack wouldn't admit it, but secretly, he craved love. He had been in love before and it made him feel good. He loved the idea of someone wanting to be with him, to hold him when he was upset, to kiss away the tears when he wept, to laugh with him in the most joyous of times, to prevent him being lonely and to just be there with him in general. Jack examined Ianto. Breathing in his scent. He smelt of coffee, paper, cleaning detergent and just, Ianto. It smelt good. Very good.

That night, he thought about The things they had gone through together, even if they had not actually been together at the time.

Ianto being sent to work for a new Torchwood team.

Ianto had liked where he was. He was working with another Torchwood team in Glasgow when he was relocated to Cardiff.

Meeting Ianto.

Their first meeting didn't go quite as planned. Jack laughed as he recalled it.

Ianto turned up at the hub only to find that the code he was given for the door didn't work. He ended up having to ring the hub's telephone and tell them to open the door.

When he got down to the main level of the hub, he introduced himself briefly and launched into a rant. 'Who changed the alarm codes and why?'

Jack left his office and went out to see what all the fuss was about.

"Well, if you would answer your phone or listen to your voice mail, you would know exactly why the codes were changed and you would know the code itself."

He stuck out his hand.

"Jack Harkness, team leader."

"Ianto Jones, new head archivist."

Ianto took his hand and shook it firmly.

Himself and Ianto getting kidnapped.

He and Ianto had been chasing an unknown energy source on the PDA for a while. Suddenly, it doubled back on itself and was right on top of him and Ianto. Ianto was grabbed first, then Jack. While they were held by their unknown captors, they had a chance to talk and worked out their issues with one another. They were eventually rescued by Gwen.

Their first kiss.

Ianto had had a serious argument with his sister and turned up at the hub. He went in and told Jack everything about the argument. How his sister pressed him about information on his job. Jack knew how hard it was to keep his job a secret. His ego wanted him to scream it from the rooftops sometimes, but he just couldn't. Ianto found a stray tear running down his face and Jack couldn't help himself. He lifted a hand to Ianto's face, wiped away the tear and kissed him. It was brief but it was amazing.

John.

God, Jack hated John. John was Jack's ex boyfriend. He showed up, out of the blue, one day. He tried causing trouble for him and Ianto, stirring things up. For a while, to Jack, it looked like John was going to try to get to Jack through Ianto. But they pulled through, in the end, and John left. This time for good.

Jack marveled at the fact that they had pulled through all of that as a couple. In all fairness, it was a pretty long list. He felt their relationship was stronger than ever. It was that moment, as he mentally listed all of Ianto's perfections and stroked his soft hair, that Jack Harkness realized something.

He was completely and utterly in love with Ianto Jones, Torchwood Archivist and Teaboy.