Chapter Nine: Starting Over

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.

Anais Nin

"Please try not to frighten the man, Cariad."

Jack shot his partner an incredulous look. "What makes you think I'm going to frighten him?"

Ianto returned Jack's look with one of his own.

Even before Sara joined Torchwood, Jack had adopted her as something of a little sister. Or possibly even daughter-type figure. One that he still flirted with of course… which, Ianto had to admit was slightly weird save that Jack and Sara weren't really related, he was just extremely protective of her. To the point that Nerys had suggested Ianto 'watch his back' around the 'new girl.' He'd rolled his eyes, groaned, and assured his sister that it wasn't like that at all. He would have tried to use the excuse that both Jack and Sara were Americans, it was a cultural bonding thing, but his sister was well aware that Jack wasn't from the States or even the planet… Ianto didn't even recall exactly how it had come out.

Still, it was good to have one person he could share his deepest darkest secrets with. By the way, my husband is an immortal from the future…wasn't exactly the sort of thing he could say to his mother over Sunday dinner.

Almost a week had passed since Sara asked them out to dinner to meet her… whatever Gil was. She was reluctant to call him her boyfriend, although she'd seen him several times over the week, which clearly marked him as more than a friend. She wasn't however, willing to consider his proposition of marriage any time soon.

Ianto reached around Jack to the drawer where he kept his ties…

"Isn't that the tie I got you for Christmas a couple years ago?" the Captain asked. The tie that hadn't been the real gift, the real gift had been an expensive book he'd spied Ianto admiring.

The younger man smiled a coy little smile. "Why yes, Sir, it is," he answered in a mischievous tone that gave his partner a good idea of what he had in mind for later… meantime, he slipped the tie under the collar of the red shirt he was wearing.

Jack turned from fussing with his hair in the mirror and took the ends of the tie out of his hands, doing it up for him, despite the fact that Ianto was more than capable. As he finished snugging it gently into place, he leant forward, pressing his lips to the younger man's, loving the way Ianto kissed him back without reservation or hesitation. His eyes slid shut and he pulled closer…

"I honestly don't know if I like you better in that tie or tied up with it," Jack told him when the separated some while later.

The Welshman smirked… his preference was definitely the latter... Jack's smile suggested he understood exactly what Ianto was thinking. But for once, Jack didn't suggest they try to beg out of a social engagement so they could stay home and shag. Gil Grissom was one person he wanted to meet.

They would have done it sooner, but they had spent the last few days dealing the alien he and Jack had apprehended. He said his name was Sam, but that was a lie – Jack had used some sort of alien lie detector on him.

'Sam' hadn't meant to crash in on Earth, but he had quite literally crashed, after running away from some war on his home world, a planet he was disinclined to name. He said there was no way anyone on Earth had ever heard of it, so it didn't matter anyway… he'd crashed five years ago during a meteor storm, no where near Cardiff, but had been in the city for almost six months. According to the lie detector that was all true.

He claimed to be harmless, which also seemed to be the truth, but they'd heard that before and harmless was a terribly subjective word, anyway.

The team remained divided on the best course of action, so until they could get the situation sorted to Jack's satisfaction, 'Sam' was taking up residence on Flat Holm Island. He had given his solemn word of honour that he would stay put and not cause any trouble. He seemed to Ianto to be almost relieved to be in their custody and didn't care where they put him.

Jack wasn't sure how he felt about the 'word of honour' of someone whose real name he didn't even know… not that he had much room to talk. Ultimately, Flat Holm Island was the best he could do under the circumstances. It wasn't just Abby and Gwen, the Captain himself had a hard time locking some kid, alien or not, up in a cell next to Janet.

The energy spike they'd picked up hadn't been any kind of weapon; Sam claimed it was a communication device; he was just trying to reach out to see if any of his people were close enough to hear him. Close enough to rescue him.

Mickey, Abby and Tim had gone over the device with a proverbial fine tooth comb and while they agreed that it wasn't a weapon, they couldn't confirm what sort of message the kid had sent. It could be 'ET phone home' or 'Mars needs women' – they couldn't be sure.

Ianto sighed. They saw so much death, so much misery. He hoped they weren't making a mistake in showing some measure of trust, taking the kid's story at face value…

"My world was invaded… I don't know what they were… a bunch of us just ran. I know it was the cowards' way out, but I was just a kid… I was scared. We all were. I'm the only one who survived the crash. I just want to go home. If… I have a home left to go home to…"

"Why did you run from us?" Jack wanted to know.

Sam blinked at him, giving an incredulous look. "You were chasing me! You knew I didn't belong here. I didn't think anybody on this planet would be able to figure that out. We look the same," he swallowed nervously. "I wasn't hurting anybody, I swear."

He'd stolen a few articles of clothing, worked under the table when he could find somebody willing to give him a few quid to do odd jobs. He wasn't a criminal or a junkie, but occasionally he had to deal with them, because not too many legitimate business owners would hire a scruffy looking teenager off the books.

He swore he'd never gotten into trouble… the lie detector wasn't convinced, which meant he wasn't convinced… but that only served to convince Jack that his character was probably basically good.

Jack could pass a similar question with flying colours. And according to Gwen, the kid didn't have a police record.

…………………………………………………………….

Sara took a deep breath and let it out again before opening the door. She didn't have to force her smile when she looked at Gil standing there in a suit. He looked pensive, but he also looked good. It made the pterodactyls in the pit of her belly start fluttering around all the more.

His smile was a mirror of her own. "You look lovely tonight, Sara," his tone betrayed nothing but the utter sincerity of the statement.

Her smile warmed to a grin. "You look pretty good yourself. Why don't you come in for a minute? I'll introduce you to Mrs. Chandler." Although they had seen each other several times over the last few days, this was the first time she had invited him to her home.

Sara's landlady was gracious… polite. She gave her guest a mildly appraising look, but if she had any doubts about what Sara was doing, she kept them well hidden. She excused herself after the pleasantries, leaving him feeling a little awkward.

But it wasn't meeting Mrs. Chandler that was fuelling Gil's trepidation over the evening…

Sara guided their way across the street to a neat little house. All of the houses looked more or less the same, but this one had a front garden full of rose bushes in full bloom. There were also irises, phlox and day lilies growing along the fence. A bouquet of similar flowers had been sitting on the coffee table in Sara's landlady's front room. Gil raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. It seemed as if her boss was giving her flowers on a regular basis…

Before they had ascended the front steps, the door opened to reveal a boy of about ten years old. He flashed a decidedly dark look in Gil's direction.

Sara very carefully hid her amused smile. "Jason, I'd like you to meet my friend, Dr. Gilbert Grissom. Gil, may I present Mr. Jason Harkness," she made the introductions in a formal tone.

Gil managed a smile and extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You'd better be nice to Sara," the boy instructed, without accepting his hand.

She flushed a deep shade of crimson; Gil seemed to be taking it in stride however.

Just behind Jason, Ianto appeared from upstairs; he cleared his throat loudly, having overheard.

"It's nice to meet you, I guess," Jason accepted the man's handshake and stepped aside to let he and Sara into the house.

"I believe you still have some homework to finish up…?" Ianto asked in the boy's direction.

With an loud and unhappy 'humph' Jason trudged up the stair.

Ianto flashed an apologetic look at their guest. "Sorry about that. Jason is a bit like his father at times. Ianto Jones-Harkness," he used his full name as he extended his hand towards the other man.

"Gil Grissom," he introduced himself, accepting the young man's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Dr. Grissom. Won't you please come in?" he gestured them further into the living room. Dr. Grissom was older than Ianto had expected, at least ten years Sara's senior. Not that he had much room to talk when it came to falling for older men... and Grissom certainly wasn't an unattractive man.

He accepted both the younger man's hand and the invitation. "Please… call me Gil," he added.

"Gil then. Ianto," he invited.

"That's typically short for Ifan, isn't it?"

Ianto blinked in surprise. It was uncommon for someone outside the UK to know that. "Yes, it is. My sister and mother are the only people who ever call me that, though. Usually only when I'm in trouble," he said with a shy smile. "Can I offer either of you a drink?"

"I'm fine, thank you," said Gil.

"I'm good too…unless you've got some coffee…"

"Sorry, Sara. Jack finished the pot earlier… I'm afraid if I put on another, we might miss our reservation. He's upstairs fussing," he told her.

She snickered. Jack had to be one of the vainest men she had ever met.

Ianto motioned for the two of them to have a seat; he sat down after they had settled into the sofa. "I hope you like Italian," he said to Gil. "Jack and I have a favourite little place near where I used to live."

Gil nodded, "Italian sounds good. You have a lovely home, by the way," he added. He'd never been especially good at small talk and it was showing.

"I try. It's not always easy…"

Glancing up, he saw Jack finally coming down the stair, wearing a dark blue shirt and waistcoat with his customary trousers and boots. "Sorry to keep you kids waiting," he flashed a smirk. He let his gaze settle on Sara, "Gorgeous as ever, Miss Sidle."

"Why thank you, Captain Harkness," she rose and allowed him to plant a small kiss on her cheek. "May I present Dr. Gilbert Grissom. Gil, Captain Jack Harkness."

"Captain."

"Doctor," Jack couldn't help the mischievousness in his grin, even if the Doctor he was thinking of wasn't the one standing in front of him at the moment. "I thought we'd drive, if you don't mind…?" he said.

"Cariad, please remember what I asked you upstairs."

Jack favoured his partner with a truly lascivious expression, brows raised suggestively, wicked grin playing across his lips. "I thought I was going to tie you up after company had left…"