Thank you to everyone who reviewed and alerted! It truly means a lot to me. I've added the next three chapters, but the next ones might come a bit slower. Please enjoy, and leave a review to let me know what you think. Peace, harmony, and Janto - Amberssister
Disclaimer: Just checked, and 'Torchwood' still doesn't belong to me. All rights are the property of RTD and the BBC. I make no profit.
Jack would have expected Gwen to be the one Tosh would want to talk to about Mary, or maybe Owen, for no other reason than Jack knew how much she liked the medic, but she hadn't gone to either of them in the aftermath. Instead, she'd turned and buried her head in Ianto's chest, and screamed in his arms. Ianto had held her, and kissed her head, and whispered nonsense into her hair, and done all the other things men did when women cried, but the most important thing he'd done was let her scream. He hadn't tried to shush her, hadn't even tried to stop her when her emotions hit a fever pitch, and she'd started hitting him, flailing weakly against his stomach. He'd just held her until her emotion was spent, and when her knees had gone weak, he'd caught her and lowered them both to the ground so that they ended up sitting with her head cradled to his chest.
It hadn't been easy for him, Jack knew. No one found it easy for a friend to be in pain, and her grief hadn't been gentle. Jack ached for her, he really did. He didn't blame her for what had happened with Mary; Mary had used her, and Tosh's only crime had been wanting to believe someone found her interesting. It made Jack's heart hurt, and he was guiltily glad that he wasn't the one she'd gone to with her grief. It looked like it was overwhelming.
Ianto held through it though, with a gentle grace Jack wasn't altogether surprised to see he possessed, and when Tosh looked calmer, he'd gently moved her upstairs, where they could be alone. Jack watched through the window, as they talked for a minute, then Ianto came back downstairs and started to make her a cup of tea. It was technically Jack's job to do that, not the tea, but to talk to Tosh, to find out what had happened, but he'd known from the way she'd avoided eye contact with everyone but Ianto that she wouldn't talk to him now. That was okay, because Jack trusted Ianto to handle it. He was kind and he was clever, and he was absolutely capable of deposing Tosh without hurting her. Stopping to make her tea was just one example of that.
"Oi, Ianto, see if you can find out what she heard about me, yeah?" That had been Owen, of course, and Jack had shot Ianto a look that turned out to be unnecessary.
"No," Ianto had said, brushing past Owen with the tea, "ask her yourself, if you want, later. Not now, Owen."
Then he was gone, back up the stairs, without another word. Jack had felt a rush of pride for him then, and he was certain, not for the first time, that he'd made the right call, keeping Ianto on the team. It was hard to imagine what they would do without him. It was hard for Jack to imagine what he, personally, would do without him.
Ianto had spoken with Tosh for almost an hour, and Jack never found out about what. At one point, Jack had glanced through the window and seen Ianto wince, then shake his head and squeeze Tosh's hand. Mostly, it was Tosh that seemed to be doing all the talking, and Ianto just nodded sympathetically. He was a good listener, Jack knew, because he actually heard what you were saying, and he never judged. Tosh must have known that too, since she went to him without hesitation. Jack had felt a small stab at that thought, but he couldn't readily identify the feeling, and there had been more important things going on, so he'd pushed it out of his mind.
When it was over, and Jack had a chance to speak with Tosh himself, he knew he was getting the Cliffs Notes, but that was fine. If she'd told Ianto anything Jack needed to know, Jack would know it. He trusted that. Tosh hadn't told him anything he didn't expect to hear, until she got what she'd heard in Ianto's head.
"I never knew it was possible for someone to hurt that much, and not show it," she'd said, quietly and sadly. "I'm so worried for him, and I think you're the only one who can help him, Jack. Everything in his head is so dark, except when he thinks of you. Then its…" she'd smiled then, and sort of blushed, then shrugged. "I don't know what it is exactly, but it isn't dark like the rest of it." She'd talked about other things, and when Jack left her, he knew she'd be all right.
Of Ianto, Jack wasn't so sure. He ached for Ianto too. But, what he'd done for Tosh at least proved his worth to Jack. He was still hurting himself, but he'd been there for Tosh when she'd needed him. The fact that he was hurting was why Tosh had needed him, and Jack supposed Ianto had understood that. Ianto was carrying on, through his grief and despite it, and he was there when he was needed, and Jack supposed that was the best that could be expected at this point. Still, he made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the boy. Perhaps spend more time with him, outside of work. Not a date, of course, because Ianto was still had Lisa living inside of him, but Jack liked to think they were at least friends. He was sure Tosh would help him too; she seemed fond of Ianto, fonder than she was of the rest of them, except Owen.
He pondered the idea that Tosh and Ianto would make a very quiet and cute couple, and they would assuredly have gorgeous children. Maybe one day, when Tosh was over Owen, and Ianto had put Lisa away, that was the way it would work out. It was probably what was best for both of them. Until then though, Jack would happily be Ianto's distraction through his grief. Jack still liked him, very much.