This chapter sort of got away from me! it's a bit more intense, but i hope it moves toward getting Ianto out of the Hub a bit more. Yes Ianto is older than he looks. I just love AU! Yes I do have a plan! enjoy!

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Ianto was sitting in Jacks chair staring at the artifact. He sat hunched forward, his hands cupped around the cube, golden light reflecting off his hands and face. The cube glowed softly, colors chasing around hypnotically on its surface. Quite pretty really, looking at it was rather like watching ripples in a pond, restful. Ianto jerked awake, hands still cupped around the cube. Perhaps it was a bit to restful.

It was late at night, even Jack had retired to his bunker for some sleep.

Ianto was working his way towards a decision. Torchwood one had long since blasted (literally) away every scrap of loyalty or trust he had for them, but this was Torchwood three.

Ianto was thinking about trust and the need for (Hah) transparency. Recent actions by Jack and the team caused him to revise a few of his original assumptions.

They had gone above and beyond to make him feel welcome and he needed to return the favor.

Jack was certainly aware that Ianto was not being completely forthcoming, just not how much.

Ianto knew for a fact that Jack was not being completely or even really partially honest about himself.

He was not hypocritical enough to blame him for it, (Pot, kettle, black yeah?) He looked toward the open hatch to Jacks, well, call it a room. He needed to talk, but not to Jack. He needed to talk to Captain Jack Harkness.

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Ianto drops a bomb

Jack was staring at two different files. One was labeled "Director, Torchwood one, Eyes Only, Harkness, Jack"

The second one, larger, was labeled 'the real story.'

File one was the most misleading mix of truth and falsehood that had ever been Jacks pleasure to read.

File two was frightening. It had almost every move Jack had ever made, good or bad, every triumph, every failure, everything. It revealed his immortality, his probable age, and the fact he had traveled with the doctor. It was mostly correct, right down to the fact that two families living in Cardiff were direct descendants of his. It had names and pictures.

Jack read it through to the end and looked at Ianto.

"Is this how you persuaded her to stop the research?" Jack asked. His voice was very soft and quiet. He looked tense, his eyes wary. He had placed his hand protectively on top of file two.

They were sitting in the conference room. The CCTV was turned off at Iantos request.

Ianto smiled a bit grimly.

"After the bunker buster I decided I'd had enough, so I used office politics,Sir."

"How many copies did you make?" Jack said again very quietly. Ianto wanted him to stop; that tone was much more frightening than a yell would have been, especially coming from Jack.

"There are no other copies of file two." Ianto said "I made a deal with Director Hartman; she wanted Intel on every person working for Torchwood, including you and your team. File one had some copies in her personal files, file two has never been outside the cube."

Jack relaxed slightly. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"It's ..." Ianto hesitated "It's so different here Jack. T-1 was like a major corporation, we were all cogs in the machinery, easily replaced if we failed, soon forgotten, like they forgot Lisa after she died…" Ianto stopped and took a moment to compose himself.

"There are a lot of things you need to know about the people you are working with. I am offering you almost the same thing I offered Director Hartman."

"Almost," Jack was looking, so very different from his usual manner. His face had gone blank, smooth, and still. Suddenly Ianto understood that he was seeing the Jack who had survived and worked for Torchwood since 1899, the side Jack kept hidden behind that brilliant smile and the constant flirting.

Captain Jack Harkness, who was very scary indeed, said "What do you want?"

Ianto kept his body relaxed and his hands still. He couldn't help fading out a little. He was going for complete honesty, because the man he was seeing across the desk would detect a lie instantly.

"Torchwood one was a battle ground. The deal I made with Director Hartman just moved the battle to a different front." Iantos eyes turned up to meet Jacks. Jack stared back. Ianto understood that he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, the demands to begin. Ianto knew at least a little of the hell Jacks life would become if certain facts became known.

Ianto took a deep breath "I am offering you the best and most accurate information on every person you need to know about, and this time i won't alter the results."

"Why did you do it the first time?"

Ianto swallowed nervously "If Director Hartman had found out about your families? You know she would have used them against you."

"She threatened your family?"

Ianto nodded.

"Why the hell would she want to do that?" Jack sounded puzzled.

"After the ...Bomb incident... I refused to take part in her research. She threatened me and mine. I ah… revealed a few facts about her um personal life. I expressed myself rather badly." Ianto had managed to blush and fade at the same time.

Jack looked amused "You lost your temper; like you did in the tourist office didn't you?"

Ianto looked even more embarrassed. "We discussed options sir."

Ianto stared at his hands and continued," She threatened to drop the cube into the Marianas Trench. She didn't because I had all her dirty laundry set to publish if she did, and I was useful to her, but the option was still there. "

Ianto had started to fade out again, the memory of that particular interview still very fresh in his mind.

"Most of the staff had very human failings, some slightly more than others. A select few were monsters and then there was you, Jack."

A dark eye brow rose slightly. "So you researched me and found all this?" his hand was still on the second file.

Ianto swallowed nervously nodded and forced the rest out in a harsh whisper 'I would never allow them to get their hands on that file, that would have been.. unthinkable." He was practically transparent now.

Jacks face had gone white.

This was how close he and his families had come to T-1 induced horror. Ianto had protected them.

Ianto had kept Yvonne at bay for years, using that Masterpiece of falsehood and misdirection that was file one and keeping file two to make sure he never led Yvonne or her colleagues anywhere near Jacks children. He wondered how many other families Ianto had protected.

Jack suddenly relaxed. Captain Jack Harkness, leader of Torchwood 3, replaced by Jack, the person Ianto was becoming very fond of.

"Ianto I think I love you," he said, looking at the suddenly empty chair.

"Um," the chair said and a slight Ianto shaped outline came back.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I remember," He said conversationally, "about 15 years back, Yvonne started getting better at finding out dirty little secrets. Was that you?" There was a hint of admiration in Jacks voice.

The Ianto shaped outline solidified a bit more. "It was me." He looked grim. Jack started to say...Something, but Ianto continued "IT WAS ME, Jack; I made it possible for her to take T-1 over so completely. No one who worked there could question her choices without suffering for it. I made it possible for her to almost destroy the world! If the Doctor hadn't arrived, everyone would be converted or exterminated!"

"Ianto... you couldn't have known what she…" Ianto looked at Jack, eyes brimming with guilt and sorrow. "Jack, I worked for her since 1979, I knew how single-minded she was! Even the cyber men couldn't convert it out of her!"

Ianto leaned forward, hands fisted in front of him and a tear sliding down his cheek. "Jack how do I deal with helping Director Hartman almost destroy the world?"

Ianto stopped before he actually said "And did help her destroy T-1,"out loud.

For the children, it was all for the children. Bloody hell.

Jack sat still for a moment, remembering a young (oh so very, very young) time agent turned con man, who nearly destroyed the world, but he had done it for money.

He leaned forward, covering Iantos hands with his and said, "Let me tell you a story."