The TARDIS came to a whirring stop. Ianto immediately opened the door and ran out onto the Plass. He inhaled the slightly salty air and smiled brightly, "Home."
"You know that you're not technically a Welshman, right?" The Doctor pointed out as he joined him in the slightly fresh air.
"Oi!" Ianto growled, glaring at the Doctor, "Yes I am."
Jack laughed and grabbed Ianto's hand briefly, "Listen to those beautiful Welsh vowels Doctor. How could you believe any less?"
John stepped out languidly and asked with a bored twinge in his voice, "Where exactly are we supposed to go? I thought you said the HUB was destroyed."
Jack laughed, "You don't think I left without taking care of things did you? I set up all the plans for the reconstruction of the HUB before I left. Therefore, everything should be exactly where we left it."
Ianto inserted lightly, "Perhaps it would be privy to know when it is."
They all looked at the Doctor expectantly, but he laughed and looked at Ianto, "Well then, go ahead. You're a Time Lord, smell the air: figure it out."
"We've been practicing for months," Ianto pointed out, "And I've never been right. I was merely hoping to expedite the process by having you tell us."
"You've spent a lot of your life on earth: it should be easier."
Ianto dutifully and delicately sniffed the salty air, "It's 21st century for sure. I would place it at about…eight months after I was here last."
The Doctor smiled at him proudly, "Seven months actually, but very well done. We're one month after Jack left."
"As fun as this is," John inserted sarcastically as he began to walk towards the water feature in front of the millennium center, "Can we do something other than stand around and watch eye-candy sniff the air."
Jack called after him, "That's the visitor's entrance. Maybe we should be a bit more flash and go in over by the Quay."
"You want to make less of a statement?" Ianto asked doubtfully.
Jack grinned and winked, "What can I say? I'm growing up."
They made their way over to the Tourist office, which had undergone little damage due to the protection of the giant metal hub door. They opened the door to find Rhys lounging behind the desk with his feet propped up on top of it. He looked at the four men, two in old fashioned military dress and two in suits, and sighed loudly.
"Gwen," Rhys said, tapping his ear com deftly, "I quit."
The four time travelers standing in front of the tourist office desk gaped at him as he dropped the chattering ear com onto the desk, picked up his coat, and left through the front without saying another word. Confusion was etched into the faces of the men as they looked around at each other: their confusion only increased by the sudden reappearance of Rhys.
"Glad to have you back mate," Rhys said stiffly gripping Ianto in a tight embrace. Ianto released a squawk of discomfort as he was squeezed tightly by the larger man. Jack laughed at the wide eyes of Ianto that were just visible above Rhys' shoulder. After a few moments Rhys released him and shook his head in wonderment, "Bloody fucking Torchwood."
He then exited again before any of the men could voice their confusion. Ianto straightened his suit jacket and said, "That was odd."
"Forget the hug," Jack frowned, "What idiot gave Rhys a job at Torchwood?"
"Who gave him my job?" Ianto asked, starring mournfully at the littering of rubbish strewn about the tourist office, "You would think if they went through obvious effort to make the Hub exactly the same that they could at least keep it clean."
Jack laughed, "You saw what the Hub was like before you arrived, not to mention the TARDIS. I don't know why you would expect any less."
"Hey!" The Doctor interrupted, clearly affronted, "I kept the TARDIS very neat."
"Sure you did," Ianto reassured him as he picked up a half-full coffee cup from the desk. He frowned at the water ring left behind by condensation, wondering for the umpteenth time why it was such an inconvenience for people to use a coaster, and sniffed the liquid delicately. Immediately he scrunched up his nose and moaned in despair: "Instant."
"You can't really blame them," The Doctor laughed, "We stole their coffee machine."
Jack looked at the Doctor like he wasn't quite sure he was there, "I still can't believe that we convinced you to come."
The Doctor smiled softly as he watched Ianto begin to absentmindedly tidy the area: throwing out rubbish and straitening brochures. The Doctor waited until he disappeared behind the beaded curtain that lead to the back room before replying to Jack: "You heard what I said to the Master. If I was willing to spend eternity watching over him then of course I would look after Ianto. Maybe it's time I have someone of my own to care for."
"As long as you don't care for him the same way I do," Jack warned playfully, but with a hint of seriousness in the depths of his eyes.
The Doctor laughed and teased, "Are you afraid of a challenge Jack?"
Jack opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by the opening of the 'secret' door that connected the cover business from the HUB and the appearance of four figures with guns drawn.
"Martha Jones!" The Doctor exclaimed cheerfully upon recognizing his former companion.
The aforementioned Martha smiled and began to lower her gun, but was ordered by the gap-toothed woman in front: "Hold formation."
"Not exactly the reception I hoped for," Jack smiled ruefully at The Doctor and John.
"You left us again Jack," Gwen ground out, not lowering her gun a fraction.
"You hired Andy," Jack retorted petulantly, nodding his head at the one male in the group of gun toting individuals, "And Rhys."
Gwen glared at him, "My employment practices are not for question Jack."
"I quite like Andy," John piped up with a feral grin, "I told you that you needed a blond."
"I'm hurt that you'd move on so soon," The Doctor inserted in monotone.
John turned to him, "I wasn't moving on. I was about to suggest an orgy."
"Jack - What is he doing here?" Gwen asked furiously, "He tried to kill me."
"I'm joining team Excalibur," John smirked at her and waggled his eyebrows.
"How do I even know if you're really Jack," Gwen decided to change her tactic abruptly.
"You could always shoot him," A dry Welsh voice sounded from the back room, "If he's Jack: he'll live. If he isn't Jack…well then you don't have a problem anymore."
Gwen's gun clattered to the floor, "Ianto?"
He stepped out from behind the curtain and smiled carefully, "Hello Gwen, Martha, Andy, oh, and Lois: almost didn't see you there."
"You're dead," Gwen whispered.
"That didn't stop Owen from walking about," Ianto joked. Only Jack laughed.
Gwen shook her head in attempt to clear her thoughts: "The gloves were destroyed."
"It's not the gloves or any other part of a suit of medieval armor," Ianto explained, "I never actually died."
"I saw your dead body."
Ianto sighed, "Gwen, this is Torchwood: weirder things have happened. Is there anything I could say or do to convince you?"
"We could recreate that time in the hothouse when you walked in on us," Jack suggested innocently, "Or he could explain the rules of naked hide and seek and we can dig up old CCTV footage to prove that he's correct."
"That's why I asked Gwen for suggestions," Ianto scowled at Jack, "Not you."
Jack shrugged, "Just trying to help."
"I for one," John added, "Am all for the execution of either suggestion as long as I get to watch."
Ianto chose to ignore him: "How about I make some coffee while we figure this out."
Gwen let out a tortured sob and rushed towards the impeccably dressed man. She gripped him in a hug that was tighter than her husband's, laughing as she cried: "It is you! How is this possible?"
He patted her back awkwardly, and could see over her head that the Doctor was currently on the receiving end of a tight embrace of his own, courtesy of one Martha Jones. He laughed as he saw John attempt to embrace Andy and Lois, who escaped behind the desk. After a long moment Gwen released him to give Jack a hug of his own (along with a slap). Ianto began to straighten his ruffled jacket, but was caught up in a hug from The Voice of a Nightingale herself.
Ianto was fixing his tie, hoping that nobody else chose to hug him, when Jack snuck up behind him and placed a quick kiss to the back of his neck, "I don't think it's fair that everyone has had their hands around you, but my hands are empty."
Ianto rolled his eyes, "You're hands were pretty full this morning."
From his position behind Ianto, Jack could feel his cock twitch as he remembered waking up around a half naked Welshman, his hand cupped around said Welshman's morning wood. He frowned against the younger man's neck and whispered into his ear, "My hands weren't the only thing that was full this morning, but you wouldn't let me do anything about it."
Ianto succumbed slightly to the temptation to lean into Jack, a motion invisible to the others, as he replied, "We were so backwards about it last time. I want to do this right which means a relationship that leads to sex: not sex that leads to a relationship."
"Then what do you call you rutting against my hard prick with your dripping swollen cock until we both reached our peaks exploded over each other?" Jack asked thickly, pressing closer so that Ianto could feel his erection pressing against his arse, but at an angle where it would appear to the others that they weren't touching, "Under what category did you file our cum-stained trousers?"
"Sharing experiences," Ianto mocked, moving away after the others who had just gone back into the Hub, "Now behave: we have a lot of ground to cover today."
Jack brought a fist up to his heart and groaned, but followed him down the passage, "You're shattering all of my hopes of rechristening Hub three!"
"Maybe you could get John to help you with that," Ianto teased with a wink.
They could hear the sound of Lois' voice ahead of them in the corridor asking: "So, have we really just acquired four incredibly handsome team members?"
"Looks that way," Andy's mournful voice sounded.
"Fantastic," She replied.
A moment later Ianto paused abruptly, causing Jack to run into him. Jack asked, "Ianto what's wrong?"
Ianto turned to him, with a large frown, "What does it say about my life that Gwen believed it was me when I offered to make some coffee?"
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A/N: I've been having a severe block with this fic and I kind of decided that nobody is reading it so I took a really long time writing this chapter. So if you are reading it, let me know, so I don't just stop writing it.