A/N: Flashback! This is after "Countrycide". A different version of this is in my ridiculously long fic "Woke Up Screaming" which isn't on FF as of the posting of this. If it ever is and you read both the answer is yes, I plagiarized from myself. Mea culpa!

Chapter 3 – Careless Talk

Several months earlier, he and the Torchwood team had gone camping. As if that hadn't been a grisly enough an idea on its own, he had been abducted by crazed cannibals. He was beaten within an inch of his life. Returning to Torchwood, Ianto had ordered pizzas. Jack ambushed him in his office behind the tourist information counter. He was angry at Ianto for stirring up trouble. He was also hurt by Ianto's continued attempts to distance himself. In typical Jack fashion, he wasn't communicating that well and in the usual Ianto style, he didn't understand it. Emotions were not easy for either of them.

"You managed to get along pretty well with those police and that paramedic. Do you like those strangers so much better than the team?" Jack's eyes were wild. Ianto had seen that look before and he was still surprised he'd lived through it.

"Strangers like me. They felt sorry for me."

"And you just soaked up all that pity! Gwen was shot."

"Oh my God, really," Ianto said sarcastically. "I hadn't heard that 20 times. I was tied up and beaten. I wonder if she heard that?"

"Oh poor, Ianto. He got captured. Was it so hard to go to the SUV? You were probably tired after all that baiting and sulking."

"You're just mad because I lived. No, you're also mad because Tosh got mixed up in it. If you could have sent me to get the SUV alone, you would have. You knew that splitting up was stupid. You said yourself it was a trap and the SUV was the bait. Did you think I'd get caught and Tosh could get away or do you hate me so much you were willing to sacrifice her?" Ianto thought Jack was going to strike him. He flinched. Jack turned away then turned back.

"You're right. I wanted to get you away from me. I was pissed off. I didn't think. It's my fault you and Tosh were out there on your own."

They stared at each other. Ianto didn't want to be the first to look away. He heard the front door open and both of them turned to look through the beaded curtain.

"Ianto! Get 'em while they're hot!"

Saved by pizza delivery. Jack stepped aside allowing Ianto to pass, but not enough to let him pass without brushing against him.

"Oh my Lord! Ianto! What happened to you, mate?"

Ianto hadn't thought about a cover story to explain his injuries. He looked back to Jack on the other side of the beaded curtain. He was looking back, but was offering no assistance. He turned back to the pizza delivery man. The delivery man looked towards Ianto's office.

"Do you need me to call the cozzers," he whispered darting his eyes from Ianto to the shadowed figure behind the curtain.

"No, Scott," Ianto said managing a laugh he hoped sounded more sincere to the delivery man than it did his own ears. "That's just my boss. I was supposed to have the day off. Got called in unexpected like. Got into a barney last night. Didn't even make it home yet." He pulled at his blood stained shirt.

"Been there! You know John John at the Fish?"

Ianto didn't want to chit chat even more than he normally didn't want to chit chat, but he didn't want to raise any further suspicions. He always listened to Scott's gossip.

"Yeah, what's the dish from the Fish?" Ianto couldn't care less.

"Got into a scruff after the football – broken arm, nose busted." It wasn't even new gossip.

"This is becoming a dangerous town," Ianto said knowing Cardiff was a very safe city for its size if you didn't include alien/Rift related incidents.

"You can stand a scratch or two, gives you a little character. Poor John John wasn't exactly Brad Pitt to begin with."

Before Ianto could agree with Scott's assessment of John John's lack of Brad Pitt-ness, Jack came through the curtain. He stood behind Ianto and held out a folded banknote between two fingers to the delivery man.

"Already taken care of," Scott said looking at the £20 note confused.

"It's yours if you leave...now."

Scott looked at Ianto who tried to will Scott to leave.

"You probably have a lot of deliveries this time of day. Sorry to keep you," Ianto said. He looked at Scott, pointed his eyes to the money, then looked at the door and nodded slightly. Scott hesitantly took the money and backed away to the door. Ianto thought if he looked on the monitor he'd see the delivery guy running across the plass.

"Was that necessary," he asked Jack without turning around.

"The team's hungry and I didn't think the two of you were going to wrap it up any time soon."

"Do you know what he's going to do? He's going to run straight back to the Pizza and start spreading rumors."

"Your reputation will suffer," Jack mocked. "What do you care?"

"I care because I have to work with the people in the real world to get the things you and your team want. By the end of the day everyone will hear the story of how Jones at the Tourist was beaten up and this spooky American paid Scott to look the other way. It's going to be a nightmare!"

Jack laughed.

"What so funny?"

"You were nearly killed and eaten. You have cracked ribs and a concussion. And what are you worried about? What the neighbors will think!" Jack grabbed Ianto in a bear hug. His laughter dissolved into a sob. "What would I have done if you had died? It would have been my fault. You don't know how much..." He choked on his words. He let go of Ianto.

"It's not your fault, Jack. I should have been stronger." He tentatively reached out a hand and touched Jack's shoulder.

Jack ran a finger along Ianto's face around his injuries. He found an unblemished spot on Ianto's cheek and lightly kissed it.

"You know with that concussion, you shouldn't be on you own. Let me take care of you. Please."

It was a bitter sweet memory. Ianto felt like he was Jack's consolation prize since Jack was at least third in line for Gwen. He still felt like that a lot, but he also was thankful for what he did have with Jack. Whatever that was.

He was not thankful for Scott's gossiping ways. For weeks people would look at him funny as he walked around the neighborhood. He thought it was the bruises, but even after they faded the looks continued. Then, one day at the Fish, he was picking up lunch.

"Jaunty Jones! You sir are looking good today!" John John came around the counter and punched Ianto in the arm.

"John John! Your jaw has healed up nicely." He wished he could come up with a better compliment, but John John was not an attractive man. He always missed a patch of beard when shaving. His hair was unkempt. He reeked of pot.

"I was hoping," John John said leaning in close and speaking what was for him softly, but what was a normal tone for the rest of the world, "you could do me a solid. What kind of rates do you charge?"

"Rates?" Ianto's first thought was of prostitutes. He had been propositioned on more than one occasion by a man thinking he was a rent boy. It didn't happen often any more, but that was his first thought. His second thought was if he were a rent boy he would have standards for clients that John John could never meet.

"Look, you're a cool cat. Got it. You don't do business in your backyard. That's cool, but we're buddies, right? I just need a little loan, between you and me. I've got some real toughs upset."

Ianto almost laughed. Did he think he was a loan shark? That was illegal! Ianto felt guilty parking the SUV illegally unless it was a genuine Torchwood emergency. He compartmentalized that way. Would he hack into someone's computer to steal their personal information? Of course not, unless it was work related. His boss at Torchwood One fondly called him Ethically Ambiguous. It was a skill he shared with serial killers everywhere.

"I think you have a false impression," Ianto said pulling John John away from the prying eyes. "I work for the Tourism Board."

"Come on, Ianto! I'm begging here! I really need your help!" Ianto knew he should turn and run, but he didn't. He sighed theatrically.

"Tell me the trouble and I'll see what I can do, but, and I mean this, it isn't what I do, got it?"

John John nodded and told Ianto his tale of woe. It boiled down to a hard luck story. He'd missed work while he was recovering from his post-football fight. Short on funds, he agreed to pedal some drugs for his dealer. It didn't go as planned and now his dealer wanted £500. He had a scheme to get the money, but it was going to take a week. The dealer wanted the money now. He started to explain his scheme and how his mate from Birmingham had some top of the line stereo systems that fell off a truck.

"Don't," Ianto said. "Honestly, don't tell me anything about it. I don't want to know." He thought back to his misspent youth and how he could have been John John if he hadn't found Torchwood. "Okay, here's the deal. I'll loan you the money. You don't tell anybody where you got it. You pay me back next week. You don't tell me where you got the money. You promise to stay away from criminal elements from now on." John John threw his arms around Ianto.

"You are saving my life mate." Ianto shrugged out of the hug.

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Never mention it. Keep the chips warm. I'll get the money and be right back."

"Jaunty Jones to the rescue!" John John shouted as Ianto walked out.

Ianto was looking forward to telling the team about it, but he was feeling like a gullible sucker for giving him the money. He thought he'd leave that part off, but by the time he made it back to the Hub with the fish and chips everyone was discussing what they were going to do about an alien from the Crysnal Belt who came through the Rift and wanted to go home. He didn't want to interrupt their serious discussion with his 'guess what happened on the way to the Fish' story. He didn't think they'd care anyway.

Ten days later, John John and his Birmingham friend came into the Tourist Information Centre. He was in the back making corrections to a transcript of the Crysnal Belt alien and Jack when he saw John John crossing the plass on the monitor. He had a friend with a dolly of boxes with him. He hoped nobody in the Hub saw him coming.

"Jaunty Jones, this is Mark and vice versa," John John said jovially. Ianto held a hand out and Mark, looking as if he'd never seen a handshake, timorously shook it.

"It's Ianto Jones. I don't actually go by Jaunty." Mark mumbled something Ianto took to be a greeting.

"I know I'm a few days late," John John said holding his hands up. Ianto had been so busy he hadn't noticed. "But I've got your money!" He handed Ianto an envelope. Ianto opened it, saw it was money, and set it under the counter. He'd count it later. His immediate need was to get rid of them.

"Cool. Remember to steer clear of danger."

"To make up for being late and to thank you for helping me out and all...here." Mark rolled the dolly back and dropped the boxes off. "It's top of the line!"

"No, not necessary."

"No, very necessary! People in your line of work don't have to be nice, but you did me a solid. We are friends for life!"

"Just don't tell anybody," Ianto said. "Careless talk costs lives," he added darkly while laughing on the inside. That was one of Jack's favorites.

"Not a word!" He and Mark both gave him two thumbs up and left leaving a cloud of residual reefer haze in their wake. Ianto counted the money and was pleasantly surprised to find all £500 there plus an extra 50. He was even more surprised to find the stereo, perhaps because of its dubious origins, sounded great in his flat.

Now, sitting in the barber chair, Ianto was remembering that misunderstanding. He was being mistaken for a ne'er-do-well, again, but this time instead of pot head numbskulls it was gun toting senior citizens. He missed the days when he was mistaken for a rent boy.