POV-Ianto

Tosh tried her very best to snap Ianto out of his depression, but he couldn't bring himself, as they say, to come back down to Earth. The past events were branded into his mind with a hot iron, sealed with Jack's patronizing pat on the shoulder. How did this happen? One moment they were heatedly tossing innuendos back and forth, the next Jack was actually threatening him.

"Here we go. This should help a bit." Tosh gingerly handed a cup of coffee to the desolate man. Fearfully he sipped the drink, but was rewarded with the familiar taste of his own blend. "There was still some left over, and I thought…"

"Thank you." Ianto replied sincerely. She had been flitting around him for the last half hour, doing little things she thought would cheer him up. When she offered to show him the hub footage of a late-working Owen singing to the Spice Girls he drew the line. "You've been very kind, but I'm not your responsibility You didn't do anything wrong."

Tosh bit her lip anxiously. "But I did."

Ianto shrugged his hunched shoulders. "Of course you didn't. It was completely my fault."

"But it's true." Tosh groaned heavily and sank down to sit beside Ianto on the ground beside the desk. She took a couple deep breathes, then gushed.

"Jack knew something was up, so he came to me for the answer. I told him, well, not exactly, but I hinted as much as I could without giving anything away, of course, and, well, he took it the wrong way, and was out the door before I could stop him!"

Ianto's head perked up. "What do you mean "the wrong way?" '

She ran a nervous hand behind her neck. "He thought you were playing a game to get back at him for being a flirt all the time."

"He thought…" Ianto said as his brain struggled to wrap his mind around the concept.

"That you didn't mean anything beyond being malicious and—"

"I was being malicious?"

"I know, ludicrous, right?" Tosh gave a weak laugh. But Ianto was no longer listening to her, once again reviewing what had occurred earlier in the day. He could recall that one moment when the flirting turned sour. There had been such a drastic change to come over Jack, most unnatural, yet at the time undetected. Then things began to click with sickening sharpness. Ianto moaned into his hands. This was even worse than he thought.

"But I can help you fix things!" Tosh was busy saying, waving her hands in fretful demonstration. "Just tell him the truth and—"

"The truth?" Ianto questioned heartlessly into his palms.

At this Tosh grew still. She tentively reached a hand under Ianto's chin and brought his eyes into contact with hers. Her agitation was replaced with gravity. "I see the way he looks at you. You're not just a nice body in a fancy suit. He's probably the only one of us who really sees you. And he should know, you should let him know" she amended this statement, "if the feeling is reciprocated." She paused. "Is it?"

Ianto gave a faint yet potent smile that fully answered her question.

Tosh smiled back, relieved. "Then tell him."

"But what if he tries to hurt me again?" Ianto winced at how childish he sounded. But they all knew Jack was dangerous, and all were unsure of exactly how sane he was.

POV-Tosh

Tosh didn't have an immediate answer for that. How could she know if she wasn't just digging them deeper? What if things were best left the way they were, with terse conversations and hidden hurt feelings? But deep down she knew that she couldn't allow things to fester as they were. She would be a coward not to attempt to mend the situation. With that she shot to her feet.

"I, um, I've decided I would like a cup of your, erm, coffee, Ianto. So I'll be back in a minute, all right?"

Ianto stared up at her with such pitiful eyes that she was nearly derailed from her resolution. "But you didn't answer my—"

Before he could sucker her in with that melodious Welsh voice she had stalked off towards the office. When she arrived at the stairs she glanced back to see if Ianto was watching her, but he was again commiserating with the floor. Quickly changing her route, she turned and barged into Jack's office.

POV-Jack

He had hoped the sound of the pencil scratching into the paper would be loud enough to drown out his thoughts, but this proved to be erroneous, and as he gloomily attempted to complete his abandoned office work he heard the pounding of someone approaching and then slamming of his office door. Jack's head shot up, not expecting anyone to intrude on his silence, especially in the boisterous way Tosh had. He frowned, hoping this wouldn't be the start of a conversation he'd rather not be a part of. But he didn't have time to object.

"Jack, you've got to listen to me." Tosh commanded as she closed the door and stood in front of him with her arms decidedly crossed.

I'm the boss. I don't have to listen to anything. The words were on his tongue and he even opened his mouth to recite them, but the glaring look she shot him killed them on the spot. With a click of his teeth his mouth shut and he leaned back in his chair, hoping the action would be defiant enough to deter her. It wasn't.

"I tried to tell this to you before, and, well, you didn't listen to me, and now I've come to correct the situation. You did Ianto wrong. And don't try to contradict me, you know it's true." Jack leaned back in his chair again, now resigned to the fact that he was in for one hell of a reprimand.

"It's partly my fault that I allowed you to think the way you did, but that won't happen again. Let me spell it out for you " She lunged forward and soundly planted her hands on her desk, drilling in her words. "Ianto is not playing a game! Well it started out as a sort of challenge, to see if he could harass you as much as you harass him, but deep down I know there's something there. Even if it's not my place to say it I will: he did not deserve to be treated the way you dealt with him." At the end of her speech she gave a great sigh of relief and sunk down into one of the office chairs. Jack grinned in spite of himself to see how worked up she had become, just to defend her fellow co-worker. She frowned at him, obviously misinterpreting the smile, and he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"You're right. It's not your place to say that." Her face fell and she looked utterly distraught. "But," Jack continued gently, "thank you for bringing it to my attention. I'm sure we can work out some sort of compromise." He put a certain emphasis on this last word and that, combined with his ten watt leer, comforted Tosh in a weird sort of way. He picked up his pencil and with the other hand fatherly shooed her away.

Obediently Tosh stood to leave, but as she was at the brink of the office she turned back, slightly unsure of what had tacitly been implied. "So does this mean—"

Jack cast an impish grin her way. "Don't worry about it, Tosh." The worried look on her face was still there. "Oh" he added, "and can you tell Ianto I'll be expecting him in five minutes?" The look was replaced with a knowing nod and relieved smile.

POV-Ianto

That familiar pain that constantly hovered just outside his consciousness had returned tenfold to Ianto's stomach, surging and ripping up to his throat so that if he were required to speak he would have burst into tears. Without realizing it Tosh had become a comforting presence, despite this new revelation. And now he didn't know where she had got off to and Ianto was wondering if he would be consumed with anxiety. But his ears finally caught the pitter patter of her nearby footfall and he jerked up to see that Tosh was barely hiding a grin behind her fingers. She dropped her hand and gave a slight cough, obviously pleased with something. Had she tried to make her own coffee? Ianto shuddered at the prospect.

'Um, Jack'd like to see you in a bit, Ianto." She explained, attempting to frown to mask her glee. Ianto arched his eyebrow and seemed about to speak, but with a slight giggle Tosh was gone. Ianto sighed nervously and made his way to Jack's office, not knowing exactly what to expect.