Chapter Two

His hands shaking, Ianto printed out his letter of resignation. He felt a whole mix of emotions as Tosh took the letter from the printer and handed it to him to sign. It was a mix of sadness, regret, disappointment, anger, resentment, stupidity for believing Jack and relief he had finally made a decision.

This was the final act of months of unhappiness, doubt, and indecision. If nothing else today had shown that whatever he thought was between him and Jack was gone or had never been there in the first place.

With a flourish he wrote his signature. Folding the letter he placed it in the envelope and wrote 'Captain Jack Harkness' on the front. Turning back to the computer he now called up the email he had set up weeks ago and pressed send.

"All done," he said looking up at Tosh as he handed over the letter.

"I'll put this on his desk. Now where is your spare bedding?" she asked him as she helped him stand.

"You don't need to stay Tosh, I'll be fine," he told her.

"You're going to need someone here, especially tomorrow morning. Right now you're full of pain pills, and beside that someone should be here with you tonight," she told him as he frowned.

"Large cupboard in the hall is the linen closet. There's a spare sleeping bag and pillow," he told her, too tired, sore, and upset to fight.

"I'll sort myself out in a moment. Bed for you first," she ordered.

He made his way to his bedroom and closed the door. Walking to the cupboard she opened the door and noted the tidy layers of expertly folded linen. Ianto was such a precise person, careful in all he did. She couldn't understand Jack's treatment of him. Ianto was first in, last to leave, he anticipated what was required before it was asked for, and yet as far as Jack was concerned he didn't even rate a thank you, well not lately. God knew what was going on in Jack's mind and to be truthful she didn't care.

Lying on his back in bed Ianto waited for the pain pills Tosh had given him to take effect. He was so sore he could hardly move. Tosh had offered to make him some breakfast but at the moment he didn't think he could face anything beyond the coffee he had taken a few sips of.

His mobile rang; reaching out he picked it from his bed side table, and he saw it was from Jack. He diverted the call to voice mail. He was in no state to talk to Jack and he closed his eyes. A few moments later his mobile went off again. Seeing the caller ID he turned his phone off.

He lay there a while longer when he felt a pressure on his bladder. Not sure if the pain pills had kicked in, he decided he had to move. Using his right hand as not to put pressure on his left side he pulled himself up. Grapping his light dressing gown he struggled to put it on then made his way to the bathroom.

Flushing the toilet, he heard a banging on the door. He recognised the knock and cursed.

Groaning he made his way slowly to the front door as the pounding continued.

"I'm coming," he shouted out angrily as he reached the lounge and the pounding stopped. Reaching the door he opened it and saw Jack standing there, his legs apart, fury written on every line of his face.

"You send me a letter, you resign and can't even come in tell me to my face," Jack spat out at him as he pushed past.

"Jack I've been offered a job…" Ianto started to say as he closed the door and faced him.

"You should have come to see me and told me in person," Jack interrupted waving the letter at Ianto.

"I've been offered a job at Torchwood House…" Ianto stated to explain. "I've been trying for weeks to talk to you about it. I had to give a reply by today," Ianto told him wearily.

"What kind of job?" Jack demanded.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking to you about this right now," Ianto told him

"What does that mean?" Jack snapped.

"It means I'm not up to talking today, not that we ever talk." Ianto said. Feeling weak he went into the kitchen to find some way to support himself. He knew he should sit down but he wanted to stand for this so he lent against the kitchen counter.

"My door is always open you know that, there was no excuse for not coming to discuss this with me. If you had a problem you should have come and spoken to me first," Jack retorted.

Ianto shook his head sadly. "No Jack! The door is open for Owen, Tosh, and especially for Gwen, but not for me," he replied raising his voice as he gripped the counter.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack threw back.

"I've tried to talk to you for weeks, but every time you made an excuse or you're too busy, or something more important came up. Then yesterday I realised I didn't need to speak to you because your actions made it clear where I stand with you," Ianto told him.

"Yesterday?" Jack echoed, confused.

"I didn't want to accept the offer until I had spoken to you to find out where I stood with you, about us. Yesterday was when I finally realised that whatever I thought was going on between you and me wasn't real," Ianto told him. Taking a sharp intake of breath he continued, "then I walked in on your row with Gwen… "

"So that's what this is about? This is why you're are sulking at home instead of coming into work and getting Tosh to hand in your resignation because of some argument I was having with Gwen?" Jack spat out.

"Yes Jack, I'm taking the day off because I'm annoyed with you over Gwen," Ianto snarked as he glared at him.

"I want an explanation why you didn't see fit to tell me to my face," Jack demanded.

"Jack, this is not the right time or place," Ianto struggled to say.

"I'm not going until you give me an explanation," Jack told him looking stubborn. "We are going to talk now or you can come into the Hub and we will talk there, but talk we will," Jack shouted stabbing a finger at Ianto as he spoke. He moved towards him pushing his face into his.

Ianto staggered as he stepped back. As he did Jack went to catch him. Ianto grunted in pain as his knee twisted. Trying to steady him Jack put his hand on his waist. Drawing back at Ianto's grimace of pain Jack pulled his hand away in confusion.

He looked at his hand and he saw faint trace of blood on it. Only now did he see the wound pad. He was about to say something when Owen burst through the front door. He took one look at Ianto and pushed Jack out of the way. "For fuck's sake Jack," he shouted at him as he helped Ianto to the sofa.

"He's injured, when did this happen?" Jack said bewildered. He looked at the blood on his hand and then towards Ianto who being examined by Owen.

"Listen Harkness, you can stand there and shut up or fuck off," he warned him forcefully as he pulled back Ianto dressing gown to see the wound pad was showing evidence of fresh bleeding.

"Shit," Owen burst out. Tosh now raced through the door, saw Jack, and pushed him strongly with both hands. He staggered back, and then she went to see what she could do to help.

Opening his doctor's bag Owen placed it on the coffee table. Then he went quickly to the kitchen and washed his hands then returned and started to remove the wound dressing, exposing the wound.

"It's looking good. I thought for a moment you had torn the stiches, but you must rest in bed like I ordered," he told him. He replaced the wound pad and examined the bruising.

"Got a beauty coming up on your back Ianto? Perfect boot print, he must have really put the boot in," Owen told him.

"Don't make me laugh Owen it hurts too much," Ianto told him grimacing.

"Not that you've got a lot to laugh about," Owen said, throwing a look at Jack who was standing there looking more and more disturbed as the full extent of Ianto's injuries became clear. "Knee's still swollen, you need to keep off it," he told him as he helped him stand.

"Now back to bed," Owen asked him. He now helped him into the bed room, then pulled back the covers and helped him get in. "Now lay there and don't move unless one of us brings you something to eat, drink or you need to get up and use the toilet," he warned him as he walked out and closed the door.

Tuning to Tosh he pulled out a prescription pad from his bag and started to write out a prescription.

"I'll go and get that," Jack offered.

"No you won't. Tosh will," he said as he tore off the top sheet and handed it to Tosh. "When you get back here, he is to have two of each. It's strong I know, but he's in a lot of pain, and I want him to sleep. When he wakes up if it's been three hours give him the same. Try and get him to drink and eat something other than coffee. Have you any idea what he likes?" he asked Tosh.

"Fresh orange juice, extra pulp and bagels," Jack spoke up then went back to biting his bottom lip.

"Some juice and bagels then. If the pain medication I have prescribed is not strong enough then call me," he told her. She nodded took her bag and raced out the door.

Clearing up the discarded wound pad, Owen glared at Jack.

"There's some cream cheese and jam in the fridge he might like as well," Jack said as he headed for the kitchen and opened the fridge to check. "You should have told me," he said as he closed the fridge door.

"I was my way in to tell you when you screamed out the Hub. I would have been here a lot quicker if I hadn't got stuck behind a bloody great lorry blocking the whole bloody street," he told him.

"What happened?" Jack asked still reeling.

" I will give you a full debrief back at the Hub and you and me are going to have a talk," Owen told him pointing to the door as Jack went to say something, stopped, looked towards the bedroom, hesitated, then left.

Waiting until Tosh returned, he looked at her as she entered, letting out a long sigh. "Call me if he needs anything," he said as Tosh gave him a thumbs up.