I do not own Torchwood, or any of the characters in this piece except for Skye Iwasaki who is my own creation.
Chapter Eight
November 2007
Jack glanced up with a frown as he heard the door to the hub open, a light click of heels making their way to what had now become Skye's desk though she'd made no real effort to decorate it, beyond a bunch of white roses that had arrived for her that morning. He rose quietly after a few moments, watching her through the glass of his office as she typed before he made his way down to stand behind her.
Jack said nothing, his attention quickly slipping from the report she was writing down to a bruise on her throat that seemed to lead to others under her shirt. He frowned again.
"Can't sleep again?"
"No."
"...are you going to explain that? The flowers? I assume they're all..."
Skye swallowed, touching her hand lightly over the mark on her throat that Ianto had left only two hours ago, a faint smile appearing at the memory of his attention.
"Skye? Has he come back?"
"What?"
"Your...mate...or whatever your people would call it...the boy you were..."
Skye's shoulders stiffened as she let Jack turn the chair, her eyes meeting Jack's as she tried to read whether it was really that he was concerned or just wanted information from her. Jack's hand moved to gently stroke through her hair, and he paused before speaking more gently to her.
"I can't help if you don't say."
"I haven't seen Tam since...since he ran...I don't know where he is. And we weren't mates then. You know that."
"You would have been though...and you miss him. So who's done this to you if not him?"
Skye let her eyes drop uncomfortably away from his face. While she and Ianto were hardly ashamed of their relationship, it wasn't something that she'd wanted to be brought into work or particularly under Jack's eyes. After all, he still didn't seem to trust her – the mention of Tam had told her that much.
"Just...someone I met."
"Human?"
"Yes"
"And...you and he...?"
"Yes"
"Since you came here."
Jack paused a moment, considering before letting out a weary but unsurprised sigh.
"Ianto. No wonder."
Jack moved, sitting lightly on her desk as he put his arm around her shoulders, gently drawing Skye close against him. She took a moment before letting her head rest on his chest. Jack watched her, inwardly feeling a sharp pang of jealousy and then anger towards the Welshman, though he didn't let it show on his face.
"Why him?"
"Because I wanted to...because he wanted to..."
"Do you...like him?"
"I..."
Jack gave a nod when she didn't answer, gently pressing a kiss to her hair as he allowed his other arm wrap around her.
"If you don't feel happy, move back here...you're allowed, Skye. You owe him nothing."
"I owe him my life."
"It doesn't make you his. I won't see you making yourself be with him if it's for that..."
"Because you like him more."
Jack gave a soft chuckle as Skye looked up with a slight cheeky smile on her face, giving a nod to her.
"And you like someone else, I noticed."
"I..."
It was Jack's turned to give that cheeky smile, flicking his eyes to Toshiko's desk then back to Skye pointedly, enjoying the blush that crept into her cheeks before he gave her a gentle squeeze.
"You're definitely mine, y'know...Tam I'm less sure, but you...I know you're my daughter."