Creator's Note: I couldn't really find a good song for the chapter until I listened to a bit of Pat Benatar. I'm not her, but I'd hope she'd appreciate the place her work has in this work (and elsewhere in my life). I'm not getting/giving royalties either, etc., etc., etc.

------On With the Show!------

Two weeks would pass. Gwen's wedding would pass. But there would be no sign of him anywhere. Three hours after Jack had turned in, the night after leaving Ianto's apartment, he had began to toss and turn when the phone had rang out front of the Hub. The official line to reach Ianto's work. Jack picked it up after a short and groggy jog.

"Yes, is this the workplace of Ianto..."

"What's happened?"

"You'd better come and see for yourself, sir. You are his employer, correct?"

More than that, Jack thought, as he fought for composure. "Yes, I am. And I'll be there."

Jack lost ten minutes of time. Between leaving the Hub and entering the apartment complex doors, he'll claim to this day that he doesn't remember anything. The fire chief stopped him until he saw Jack's ID. The feverish look in his eyes might have helped matter.

Jack stopped. His heart, his bones, his body stopped as he saw the grey streaks and felt the smoke emanating in wisps from the hallway. The remnants of a fire.

"We were really lucky to get it contained, sir. If he'd been here when the wiring sparked...it could have been disastrous."

Ianto's alive. Jack coughed slightly and kept his cool, well, under the circumstances. "Thank you, what is your name?"

"Ted."

"Well, Ted, you've been very helpful. Would you mind if I see his apartment?"

"Sure, just don't touch anything. I'll have a copy of the report sent to your company. I'm sure insurance will pay to have it redone. Might take awhile though."

"Arrangements can be made. I wouldn't worry about that."

"Very good. Will that be all?" Jack shook the words from his head. Ted's body, but Ianto's voice rang in his head. Jack entered the bizarrely grey apartment and saw everything in Ianto's life up in flames. He opened the drawer where his blazer had been kept; no clothes. The "hidden" bottle of scotch was empty, his copy of Tolstoy burned to a crisp on the bed. Jack wasn't a fool. But he stood there, doing nothing, and only moved when ushered to do so. He picked up the one card from the bed that was completely fire proof. Ianto's thumb print card, and convenient Torchwood member tracker, slid safely into his pocket. He looked around one last time, trying to will Ianto to tell him where he'd gone. The only answer Jack received that night was silence.

Ianto didn't try to become infamous overnight. It just sort of happened. He came across a low-level thug mugging and raping a French hooker. He'd kicked the bastard's teeth into the curb. He became the hot shot of the French underbelly. Every night, he looked down into the city from his hiding place and chose a different bar to visit; swilling down large shots of whiskey and water. He never drank to get drunk, but to make new contacts and feel the burn eroding away the lining of his throat. Strangers knew him by the Who t-shirt. His chopper was also becoming a sort of mini-celebrity.

He was approached one night with a fling of common coin and a picture of some grated-out blond punk hyped up on the next-generation acid. The man puffed a cigar and arched his eyebrow. Ianto closed his eyes for just a second and then blinked twice rapidly, his code for mission acceptance. He did the work of the mob bosses of the underworld France so they didn't have to. He was well compensated and blissfully unattached. To his credit, he hadn't yet had to actually kill anyone. He broke them enough that they just became inefficient, but this one. This one had something in his eyes. Feeling the slight weight of both his hip dagger and underarm pistol; he headed onto his steel steed, his dark jacket flapping around him.

Ianto had been almost miserly about his money; only spending money on various necessities and then Jack and the others. Just enough not to raise suspicion, but now Ianto was well-off and could have chosen himself any life. He chose to feel useful. He found the man in a random alleyway leading to the Catacombs, a usual occurrence in France.

Peals of thunder hit overhead as a storm closed around the two. Steam lifted as the prostitute ran from Erik's advances.

"So you have come for me, then?"

"Judgment is a real bastard, Mr. Damasna."

"I'm just trying to live my life." Erik pulled a gun. Ianto only blinked.

"You won't shoot me."

"Yeah, and why not?"

In one swift move, Ianto kicked up his foot and flung his dagger forth, straight for the barrel. As an added bonus, he heard the slice of the knife hitting the bone of the index finger around the trigger. Erik spit in Ianto's face as he retrieved his dagger. Erik held his hand against his shirt to try and halt the bleeding as he fell to his knees.

"You don't impress me." Ianto raised his gun to the punk's head. Every once in awhile, darkness must fall, Ianto thought. Tonight, he wouldn't just maim. Tonight, there would be justice.

A peal of thunder flew out into the night and two shots rang forth behind Ianto. For a second, he thought adrenaline had allowed him to remain unscathed. Then he realized how much the man behind him had worked on his aim.

"Jack, you found me. Congratulations."

"Ianto, what are you doing?"

"No hello Jack?"

"What have you become?"

"How'd you find me, Jack? Very nice detective work. Did Gwen and Tosh help you?"

"You shouldn't have left Torchwood like that. Anything could have happened."

"Oh come on, sir. Don't lecture me on rules of conduct. You barely know them yourself."

"I deserve that."

"And a whole lot more."

This bloody road remains a mystery

This sudden darkness fills the air

What are we waiting for?

Won't anybody help us?

Jack tried not to show himself tensed up as Ianto cocked his pistol and aimed the barrel at Jack.

"Come home with me."

"I am home."

"And I disagree."

"These walls don't betray me, Jack. And now that you know where I am, I have to destroy you."

"Leaving did that enough to me."

"Just leave it, Jack. But please do tell; how did she taste?"

"What?"

"Did she taste like you expected?"

"You missed the wedding."

"Pity. Another chance to eat cake. I'm happy now Jack."

"This isn't you."

"And you know who is?"

"In fact, I do. And I'd like to prove it to you." Lightning broke in the sweltering summer storm and only too late did Ianto realize he was standing in a puddle of conducting blood. Jack was blessed in that Ianto wore rubber soles. That saved both their lives that night.

What are we waiting for?

We can't afford to be innocent

Stand up and face the enemy

It's a do or die situation

We will be invincible

The road back to Cardiff was a long one. Jack contemplated as he knelt down to wipe the bootprints from the pool of blood. He knew the SUV would be faster and less conspicuous, but even this Ianto near him was too much to let him part again, at any distance. He admired Ianto's closeted taste as he mounted the chopper and set Ianto right in front of him. Ianto's head involuntarily swung onto Jack's shoulder just briefly. He awoke with a brisk wind ripping through his eyes and stinging his mouth. A treacherous thirst filled his throat as Jack drove, but he said no words. Jack gripped the bars tight; wishing he could just envelope Ianto, apologize, explain it all. He even worked backwards and found Ianto's gear in a rundown cottage on the French countryside.

They were both tortured and exhausted as Jack carried Ianto into the Hub. He shrank in closer to Jack's chest, both repulsed and near tears. Tosh was plugged in, working feverishly with Gwen and Owen to chase down a rogue alien when Jack came in, Ianto in his arms.

"Jack." She rushed to his side, pointing futilely to the examining room. Jack shook his head.

"He's not, is he?"

"No, but he's in bad shape. I'm going to take care of him this time; like I always should have." She slowly returned to her computer; forcing herself to cooperate with the orders she saw in Jack's eyes.

Ianto woke somewhere near midnight in Jack's inner sanctum. This was something he'd never done before, and considering his disorientation, Jack was lucky his eye didn't get poked out. He leaped out of Jack's bed with fury, looking for his pants.

"Calm down, Ianto." Jack tried to look calmly at him from his paperwork. He'd watched Ianto sleep; eventually having to tear himself away just out of sheer will not to cradle the man he loved in his arms again. He wasn't sure if Ianto was even capable of loving him anymore.

"Don't tell me to calm down, Jack. I don't work here anymore."

"Oh yes you do. Payroll never even took you off the sheets."

"Weak humor?"

"Only the very weakest. So, what have you been up to?"

"Are we really going to have this discussion now, Jack? Could I maybe shower first?"

"I wasn't going to say anything, but..." Jack nodded to the adjacent bathroom.

Ianto's personality kicked back in. Maybe it had something to do with the air in the Hub. "My God, Jack, how do you find anything in here?"

"I don't. Usually, I just get lucky."

Warm water felt foreign to Ianto's skin. He turned the taps to ice cold and looked for soap. He was severely skinny and even paler than normal, but otherwise, from Jack's vantage point-everything looked almost the same. He was missing seeing Ianto at full mast; he couldn't help but stare.

"Stop it, Jack. You flirt with anything with a pulse. That's just downright disgraceful to look at me in the shower uninvited."

"You never used to mind." Ianto breathed in the scent of Irish Spring. He tried not to think about it or let the ghosts of tears fill his eyes as he soaped up and finished efficiently.

"Thank you for the shower," he said as he rummaged through his pack. "I'll be on my way shortly."

"I don't think so, Ianto."

"You are gonna stop me?"

"No, but you will." Capt. Jack Harkness took the biggest gamble of his life that second, paramount to even apocalypse. Because Ianto leaving might not kill him physically. That would be the least of his worries.

"Watch me." Ianto headed for the door with his pack.

Don't go. The words were meek and brief but Ianto stopped dead at the office thresh hold. He cocked his head back and saw Jack gasping for air, as if his very breath depended on Ianto being there. "Don't leave again."

"Why stay?"

"For me."

This shattered dream you cannot justify

We're gonna scream until we're satisfied

What are we running for?

We've got the right to be angry.

What are we running for

When there's nowhere we can run to anymore?

"I couldn't help myself anymore, Ianto." One blasphemous tear traced its way down Ianto's cheek and a rage burned within him. He dropped his gear and Jack didn't know whether to expect a punch or a kiss. Luckily, it was the latter. There was a brutal energy to the kiss. It still wasn't his Ianto. But it was his touch, and Jack did all he could to keep from melting.

"She was never yours to have", Ianto snarled when he came up for air. "She's married to Rhys now."

"I was a fool for not telling you the truth."

"What? That she was never yours to have? But you couldn't stand that, could you? Get your rocks off with me and then run to her when the timing was right? When she couldn't stand it anymore because of all the flirting, those shameless moments you held? The ones you'd have to have been blind not to see? Tell me Jack, was that it?"

"I've hurt you."

"Why otherwise ask me out? You know she could have just as easily gotten bored of Rhys and come back to you, to something different."

"I didn't want her."

"Oh please. I might just make the coffee, but I'm not inept."

"I never said you were. Do you know what this place is like without you?"

"Unkempt?"

"All this place is without you is steel and brick and dirt and bone. The echoes drove me crazy when you weren't here. The lack of coffee; the everything."

"What, no one else can use a coffee maker?"

"No one else is you." Ianto walked out the thresh hold and sat on the couch. He was unable to build another good head of angry steam.

"The whole team knew about this. They, she all knew. They all knew what we were doing."

"You cared what they thought?"

"Does it matter when I get pushed to the side so easily? I went from field to office boy, Jack. You put me there. Your private fuck, your boy. I'm not useless."

Jack took the seat next to Ianto. You were never useless.

We can't afford to be innocent

Stand up and face the enemy

It's a do or die situation

We will be invincible

"I love you, Ianto."

"Don't say things you don't mean."

"I love you, Ianto."

"Stop it, Jack."

Ianto went to rise and Jack took him by the shoulder. He put his forehead up against the furrowed creases in Ianto's forehead. Don't kiss me, he silently pleased. But Jack couldn't hear that. Their lips met as Jack took Ianto's chin gently in his hand. Ianto tried to resist, but still nuzzled closer against the feeling of Jack's bangs sweeping his eyes.

"Ianto, you have to know why I pushed you away." Jack slipped out of his shirt deftly and showed Ianto his wrists, burning with a bright yellow flame.

And with the power of conviction

There is no sacrifice

It's a do or die situation

We will be invincible