Chapter Three

It was just gone nine the next morning when Gwen poked her head around Ianto's work station.

"Long night?" she asked, looking curious, as well as a little distracted, her eyes half on her mobile. "Waiting on a call from the station," she explained apologetically. "Andy's had a hell of a night last night—two weevils outside a pub in Newport attacked these tourist - lost, from the looks of it - and Jack's left it up to me to iron out the details. You look absolutely knackered, though," she added, frowning sympathetically. "Everything okay?"

Ianto shrugged and thought that he really needed to see about getting them some stronger coffee for mornings like this. Nothing worse than being told you looked like hell.

"Jack and I were out late working on a case," he explained.

Gwen raised her eyebrows. "I thought he looked happy this morning."

"I don't-"

"No, we should all be thanking you!" she continued, an appreciative smile spreading over her features. "Tosh and I were ready to up and walk out of here last night - he's been impossible lately."

"He's tired," Ianto said quickly, without really thinking, and then wondered if he should be regretting it at the look of surprise on Gwen's face. Jack would have his head if she said something to him next.

"Is that even possible?"

"Yes, of course," Ianto told her, and was about to attempt to explain, when he caught the time on his computer and sighed.

He should have been out at the bay an hour ago collecting samples. And if it hadn't been for Jack's incessant need to make a full breakfast for them out of whatever Ianto happened to have on hand every single time he stayed over, he might have been. Jack was so proud of his cooking, though, that Ianto never quite had it in him to turn him down.

Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "No, you're right. Sorry. Everything that's been happening lately, of course. We're all tired, aren't we?"

Ianto let out a sigh and smiled politely. "Sorry, I really should go and—"

"Right, right, sorry. What is it you guys are working on, anyway? Anything I can help with?"

Ianto was about to decline, adamantly, but then thought better of it. Really, he could use a spare set of hands and Jack was going to be tied up with reports that needed approval and conferences and general meandering around the Hub, looking vaguely important. Besides, he liked Gwen and her industriousness. A fresh set of eyes wouldn't hurt.

"Well, I'm headed to the bay to collect water samples," he started and watched her nose scrunch up in confusion. "We're testing for nitrogen."

"We do that now?" she asked.

"When it involves a case, yes. I also need to test the rainwater and our water system. But I need fresh rainwater, and it hasn't rained since last night."

"Do you want me to collect samples from the basin, then?"

Ianto nodded. "You'll have to test it as soon as possible. I don't know if it'll matter, really, but nitrogen dissolves in water over time."

"Right," she said, beaming, as she shoved her phone in her pocket, Andy all but forgotten. "But how do I test it?"

"There are some nitrate/nitrite test strips in Owen's kit. We're going to have to bring him in on this later to interpret them, but that shouldn't be a problem."

Gwen nodded and turned, ready to flee. She turned back quickly. "Why nitrogen, again?"

"Celluloid is made of nitrogen," he answered, taking a long draught of his coffee.

She nodded again, as though this explained everything (and maybe it did, maybe she'd long since made the connection and this was only her confirmation – he wouldn't put it past her). He watched her scamper to the medical bay as he collected his own tools: vials, test strips, gloves, a funnel, and something that looked like a ladle.

A warm, firm hand pressed to his shoulder. Ianto leaned into the touch instinctively for a moment.

"I love it when you talk science." Jack's voice was pitched low, presumably so that only Ianto had the privilege of hearing him, though it was hardly a guarantee.

Ianto rolled his eyes, and turned to meet Jack's gaze. "Could you be any more predictable?" He shook his head in disbelief, though if he were honest, he found Jack's ridiculous come-on lines more than a little endearing. At least as long as they were directed at him.

"How many times has that line actually worked, anyway?" Ianto finished, raising an eyebrow.

Jack grinned, but didn't move his hand. The attention was starting to make Ianto a little twitchy.

"Twice, actually," Jack was saying. "If you must know, I filled in on a field mission once, with the chief scientific officer of the Royal-"

Ianto cleared his throat and tried to shrug off Jack's grip. "Time is of the essence, Jack. I've really got to be off if we want to have any chance that these samples won't end up completely compromised."

Jack nodded, but didn't make any moves to attend to, well, anything. Ianto sighed. He glanced at his watch and then to Jack in confusion. "What happened to the conference call with UNIT?"

"Cancelled."

"Come on then," he decided, handing Jack a package of vials and the ladle. He rummaged in the drawer next to his desk until he found an extra set of gloves, too, in case Jack actually ended up helping instead of just following him around. "You're with me."

Jack grinned indulgently and stepped aside, letting Ianto lead the way out of the Hub. They went via the tourist center and Ianto stopped briefly to tidy some pamphlets, the top half of the pile having slid a bit to the left. He was tired, perhaps even more so than yesterday, as the scant hours of sleep he'd gotten were merely a tease rather than any sort of actual rest. Still, the prospect of getting somewhere with this excited him and he wanted to prolong the experience of control.

The air was cool and early-morning bright, the sun less bronze and more crystal. It woke him up a little, stronger even than the coffee he'd had. He closed his eyes and let the breeze from the water hit his face.

He felt Jack step directly behind him, close enough to feel warmth seeping through his jacket, though they weren't touching. He smiled to himself at the thought of being shadowed, followed, even though this was hardly a dangerous mission.

"See?" Jack said, a grin tingeing the edges of his voice. "This is what daylight is like. Isn't it nice?"

Ianto snorted and shook his head. He saw daylight every morning he drove into work. It was enough.

"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked.

"Well, get water and test it for nitrogen. Give the strips to Owen to determine if it's more or less than average, if there's a high concentration. And then, I guess, we go from there."

Jack gasped dramatically. "Ianto Jones, without a solid plan?"

From behind him, Ianto could hear a slight ringing, like sonar. "What are you doing?"

"Scanning you. I'm worried you may have been possessed by an alien."

Ianto turned to face Jack, who held his hands up innocently and grinned.

"Right. Well, I've done some research. Nitrate reactions in fresh water can cause oxygen depletion."

Jack blinked for a moment and then nodded proudly. "And if the night travelers are nitrogen-based life forms, but need oxygen, it's a surprise that they've managed to survive at all. Which could explain the need to steal breath, and the need for water. We'll see what Tosh has to say later. Good work."

Ianto gave a small smile, trying as hard as he could not to preen.

It wasn't often that he was given what pretty much amounted to full rein on something like this. In fact, he thought to himself, this might actually be the first time. Not that he'd tried in the past and failed, it was nothing like that; it just hadn't ever come up.

And now that it had, it was almost as if Jack was enjoying giving him this responsibility. Ianto recognized that he didn't have to. It was hardly up to Ianto's methodology - more like a shot in the dark, if anything - but here was Jack, following him out to the bay to collect water samples that in all likelihood wouldn't tell them a bloody thing, and grinning at the passing tourists as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Maybe they did need to get out in daylight more, he thought, glancing out over the sparkling water. The bright expanse of the bay, the call of the seagulls, the relaxed stroll of the couples out with their prams and their pets, seeing this scenery for the first time, maybe. It was nice, being out here, experiencing the view for once instead of being buried underneath it.

And they had work to do.

He sighed and turned to Jack.

"I was thinking the best place to start might be over by the jetty there," he told Jack, already heading towards the collection of small tourist and fishing boats.

They were halfway there when he stopped in front of a sign, which urged them enthusiastically to consider a day trip to Flat Holm Island. He shot Jack a knowing glance.

"Three-hour trips for only twenty quid per person. It's a real bargain."

Jack frowned. "Ever since they started with these tourist boats, I've had to nearly double the staff out there during the day..."

"I could make a call. Maybe report a few particularly poisonous indigenous plants along the shore?"

Jack laughed. "I may take you up on that someday," he said, chuckling as they continued down the boardwalk.

"Well, here we are then," Ianto said a moment later, after nodding to a familiar fisherman, who nodded back to them under a tattered, sun-bleached hat.

Ianto had always found something surprisingly comforting about the handful of old men who spent day after day hanging out on the bay. That their days could be spent so peacefully, even this close to the rift, had to count for something, right?

He turned to Jack once he'd laid the vials out at his feet along the edge of the jetty. "Shall we get started, then?"

Jack nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

A gull landed on a wet rock less than a foot away from Jack and cried at them, expecting the ritual offering of some chips or a piece of bread. It spread its wings and hopped impatiently. Ianto set his kit down near it and it flew off.

"Hand me a vial and set up the rest here. Get the test strips ready."

Jack stared out at the water, frowning like he did when assessing a threat and determining whether it was safe to send someone in head first. Then he nodded and reached into the pack, removing one of the vials and the ladle Ianto would need. He looked at the ladle for a moment, then at Ianto's suit, and laughed.

"Only you. You could just dip the vial in, you know?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "And contaminate the evidence. Good idea."

Jack settled the materials down carefully as Ianto tugged off his jacket. He was surprised when Jack appeared behind him to take it, and he rolled up his sleeves as Jack draped it over a sign post.

"There's a towel in the pack," he said. "Could you grab it?"

It felt strange to guide Jack so directly, used to the quiet suggestions and gentler prodding that was akin to herding cats. It was nice, the way Jack backed off easily, encouragingly, but it still left Ianto feeling less sure-footed than usual.

Jack pulled the towel out of the pack and handed it to Ianto. He folded it and placed it down near the water's edge, lowering himself until he knelt on it. Jack handed him the ladle and a vial and then disappeared. Ianto could hear the soft clink of the glass being set up on the stone and was silently grateful that each vial was nearly indestructible. He felt Jack's eyes on him, the heat of his stare, as if Ianto collecting water from the bay was the most erotic thing Jack had ever seen. Ianto smiled to himself.

The whole process couldn't have taken more than fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes, but by the time it was all said and done, there was a thin sheen of sweat collecting on Ianto's brow. The air that had been brisk and clear had turned downright warm in the sun.

He carried his jacket, folded neatly over his arm, as they made their way back to the Hub.

At Jack's insistence, they chose to take the longer, more scenic route back, and the shade of the trees once they got past the main section of boardwalk was a welcome relief from the sun, which was still rising to its full height over the bay. It was a good thing he'd sent Gwen to collect the samples from the basin now, he thought, because if the nearly cloudless sky over the bay was any indication, it actually might be a while until they saw rain again.

They continued down the path to the church before they looped back again, taking the higher walkway when they could.

"It's shadier," Ianto explained. He rolled his eyes when Jack just shrugged at him, as if he wasn't sweating under that ridiculous coat, too.

The whole thing was strange, really, an odd sort of role reversal, and through it all, Jack had just watched him, as if he was soaking it all in. It was disconcerting.

"What?" Ianto asked suspiciously as he reached into his pocket for the key to the tourist center. Jack was staring at him again, much like he had when they were down at the water.

Jack tilted his head toward Ianto appraisingly as he followed him through the door.

"You're good at this, that's all. It's kind of..."

Ianto tried to busy himself with setting his bag of samples on the desk so that he'd have something to do other than gape at Jack for actually being at a loss for words.

"Fascinating," Jack admitted finally, a strange smile on his face.

"Ah," Ianto said and nodded firmly. "You didn't think I could handle it, then?"

"What?" Jack frowned. "No! That's not it."

Jack ran a hand through his hair, tugging the ends straight up. It was cool inside, though the air was stale with immobility. Ianto toggled the controls back and forth on the A/C. The vents weren't properly circulating again; they'd need to be fixed, cleaned out before summer snuck up on them. The first heat wave last year had been awful.

Ianto waited expectantly for Jack to clarify, but no explanation seemed to be forthcoming. He was tempted to step right into Jack's face, grab the lapels of his coat, and demand it from him. That never worked, though. Not that he'd ever tried.

Jack crossed to the display of brochures and picked up one outlining the various adventures one could have around Snowdonia. He thumbed through it carefully with all of the laser-like focus of someone pretending to read.

"We should go sometime," he said, finally looking up, and Ianto shook his head with a smile.

"We will; there's bound to be an alien up there eventually."

"No, I mean just us. Take a weekend, rent a cottage. There're log cabins there, right by an estuary. It'd be nice. Relaxing."

Ianto smoothed his hands over his jacket, undoing the wrinkles that had formed when he'd carried it back. He put it on and looked at Jack with an expression that meant work and business and severity. He tempered it with a small smile.

"You don't know how to relax. We should get these to Owen, see how Gwen made out."

"I could learn how to relax," Jack offered, sounding thoughtful as they made their way into the expanse of the Hub's main room, the cog door grinding shut with a thick thud behind them.

"You could also learn Welsh," Ianto responded, not quite meeting Jack's eyes. "But I haven't seen that happen yet."

It wasn't that the idea of a quiet weekend alone with Jack didn't sound nice. It did, in a way. Ianto just knew it would never happen. Jack had excellent intentions, but the fact of the matter was, well, this was Torchwood. They didn't exactly have weekends at Torchwood, for one thing.

Gwen was sitting at her workstation and she smiled at Ianto as he and Jack approached.

"So how'd it go?" Ianto asked, trying not to sound overly eager.

"Already working on her results now," Owen called up from the autopsy bay.

"No problems then?" Ianto asked, eyes half-following Jack, who was already heading towards Owen.

Gwen shook her head. "It's a slow day for Owen, or so he says, so he was happy to help. A little toohappy, if you ask me."

"Probably makes him nostalgic for his days at uni," Ianto observed.

"Not sure if I can imagine Owen in a research lab though, you know?" Gwen frowned, and then flashed Ianto a sympathetic smile as Jack shouted his name above the din of the Hub's ambient noise.

"Ianto!" Jack called again, and Ianto couldn't quite tell if he was excited, or just impatient. "Come look at this!"

"Right, so like I told Jack," Owen said, once Ianto had made his way downstairs to what had clearly been appropriated into a makeshift lab, "Nitrite and nitrate concentrations in Gwen's samples are relatively normal. A little on the high side, about 0.6 parts per million, but that's not entirely uncommon for this type of water. What's interesting, though, is that this water has been sitting there for going on, what, twelve hours now? It's a bit of an unusually high concentration given that, but what I'm really going to need is to compare these to what you collected from the bay."

Owen fixed them with an impatient smile.

"Er, right," Ianto replied, bending over to retrieve the used test strips and a sample vial of bay water. "So, your conclusion right now is that you have no conclusion?"

Owen scowled. "Well, there's the normal nitrogen cycle to consider; when things die, proteins are broken down by different bacteria, essentially forming nitrate and nitrite. The levels in the sample were higher than what they should be in similar environments, but those similar environments are lacking in one thing."

"The rift."

"Got it. And therefore, aliens with different protein structures living and dying over centuries. And that's where you come in. There may be data sets of nitrate/nitrite readings in the archives. I'll check out your strips and we'll go from there."

Ianto nodded and started for the archives.

"Ianto," Owen called. "Why are we doing this?"

Turning around, Ianto shrugged. "They're a part of Jack's past. I want them gone."

Despite his superb system of organization, searching for something as benign as readings of nitrogen levels in the Torchwood archives was proving harrowing for Ianto. He'd pulled stacks of files from numerous decades, all detailing sample analysis, and was seated at the small metal table, poring through each one for anything to do with nitrogen. It was cool and dry, blissfully climate controlled, but the air was stale recycling. And he was exhausted.

"Coming up for daylight any time soon?"

Ianto started at the voice and then suppressed a smile. He looked up at Jack's shaded form in the doorway and nodded.

"Eventually. I've still got to get through the nineteen twenties through present day. I've found some old data, mostly from the late nineteenth century, but I wanted to see if there's anything more recent."

Jack crossed over to him. "Have you eaten?"

"This morning, remember?" he replied absently as he flipped through another file. He grunted in frustration and tossed it on top of the ever-growing stack to be put away.

"Ianto, it's almost two. I – wehaven't seen you since this morning. The files aren't going anywhere. Bring up what you have, give it to Owen, and relax."

"I just want to make sure he has the data he needs to make a suitable comparison," Ianto said, adding one more file to the top of the pile and watching as it wobbled precariously on top of the cabinet next to him. He sighed and quickly reshuffled the files into two more stable stacks as Jack watched, looking on thoughtfully.

"So what you said to Owen," Jack said offhandedly. "Was that true?"

Ianto sighed. He laid the rest of the files down and crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in the chair and staring up at Jack.

"Calling me a liar, sir?" Ianto said, his tone amiable, and watched Jack smile as he moved around the small desk until he was behind him. Jack placed one hand on the back of Ianto's chair, and leaned back against the row of filing cabinets. Ianto turned a little in his seat so that he was almost facing him.

"Just curious," Jack said.

"It was the truth," Ianto said, letting out a deep breath when he felt Jack's hands move to his shoulders, fingers digging deep into his muscles, the pressure measured and familiar. "Though you knew that already." Ianto closed his eyes and moved his neck from side to side to release some of the tension there as Jack continued to knead.

"You know, we might not find anything," Jack said. His voice was quiet, almost swallowed up in the acoustics of the small space.

"You don't know that. Besides, the rift's been quiet these past few days. We have time."

Jack's fingers were relaxing his overactive mind as much as they were easing the strain on his muscles, and as Ianto stared at the stacks in front of him, he realized that he was quickly losing his determination.

"And okay, you win." Ianto turned to Jack and raised his eyebrows. "Shall I order in something for a late lunch?"

Jack smiled and kept his hands, still now, on Ianto's shoulders. "We could go out, if you want."

"I'll order in, it's fine. I still have to finish up here, and then I've got to take care of the menagerie, and there's the vent up in the tourist office that needs fixing before it starts getting too warm out, and the package of brochures –"

"Okay, okay," Jack protested, holding his hands up defensively. "I get it. Did I ever mention you're a workaholic?"

Ianto sighed and leaned back in his seat. He pretended not to notice the flicker of disappointment in Jack's eyes as he closed his file with a resolute snap and pushed it away from him. "Just because I want to order in doesn't mean I won't take a break. But by the time we get there, get seated, place our orders, eat, and get back, hours will be completely lost and then you'll just want to take me home, anyway."

Frowning, Jack stepped back and propped himself against the desk, his arms folded across his chest.

"Which is fine," Ianto hastened to add. "I just need to get to a good stopping point with all of this."

"I know," Jack sighed. "I don't want you to get too caught up, though. Not for me."

"Too bad. Now, lunch?"

Jack smiled and nodded. "Bring up the files you have; Owen can start comparing while we eat. At least walk with me to pick up takeout? You've been down here too long."

"I've still got to put all of these away and – "

Ianto was tugged forward by his shirt, his lips pressed firmly against Jack's. The angle was awkward, uncomfortable and a bit sloppy, but it served its purpose.

"Fine," Ianto said, smiling a little as he caught his breath. "We'll go on your walk."

Jack's smile brightened and he extended his hand, backing away so that Ianto could get up out of his chair.

Outside, the air was surprisingly refreshing. It had cooled off significantly, too – the morning's warmth had given way to an afternoon breeze that wasn't quite brisk yet, but was definitely leaning in that direction. They went by way of the invisible lift this time and, as they stepped out onto the Plass, Jack hooked his arm around Ianto's elbow. The gesture surprised Ianto and he paused for a moment just before stepping off of the paving stone.

"Stop that," Jack told him quietly. "You're going to confuse the perception filter."

"I doubt that very much," Ianto replied drily. He leaned against Jack's shoulder briefly before their arms drifted apart, more grateful for the fresh air and the company than he thought he'd be.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack's features soften, and his lips quirk up briefly into a satisfied smile.

"Owen's running a second set of tests on your samples from the bay," Jack told Ianto around a mouthful of pizza that was stacked so high with toppings, Ianto wondered how Jack had managed to fit it into his mouth, let alone hold a conversation before swallowing. "He mentioned it when I gave him the files from downstairs."

Distracted, Ianto nodded and then leaned over to catch a rogue piece of sausage just before it managed to escape onto Jack's trousers.

They'd had to wait an extra ten minutes for the pizzas once they'd arrived, and Ianto now wondered if that extra time had been spent procuring the greasiest sausage in the city, just for them.

"I keep telling you to use a plate," Ianto remarked, frowning, as he wiped his hands vigorously on his napkin.

"Anyway, he should be up in a few," Jack finished a little sheepishly, as took the politely proffered paper plate from Ianto's hand. "Hopefully he'll have some news for us."