Author's Notes: If I can get enough reviews I'll post more soon. The more reviews the happier I is and the more likely I am to get to work on the next chapter, but if I can't feel the love how will I know if I should even bother. No point if no one likes it or will read it. ! REVIEWS PLEASE AND I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER!

You Gave Me Meaning Again

C h a p t e r T w o

by Tamara Kaulitz (Barrowman-ILove)

The day went by slowly, as there hadn't been much alien activity that warranted Torchwood's aid. In the past couple months he had been receiving ample amounts of time alone at the Hub to pretty much do as he pleased. Unless radioed in to do a search through the system, or report back to where Toshiko sat in the R.V. unable to access the main computer without remote authorization, the nights got pretty lonely. Tonight Ianto wasn't minding the company of his team.

There had been a time not too long ago when he would have resorted to anything to send them running for the door without so much as a word. Perhaps due to the urgency of a false rift spike analysis he'd printed out and left oh so subtly at Tosh's work-station, or a bogus report of Weevils spotted terrorizing the locals of Cardiff. When it had been his sole goal to return his former love back from metal, electrical surges and malicious intent, to her human form of flesh, blood and a beating heart. But there was no need anymore, cause now Lisa was gone, and being alone in an empty headquarters frightened him, leaving him with nightmares he was certain no matter of retcon would be able to wipe clean.

Ianto exhaled loudly, releasing the air in the form of a sigh, and gathered a number of cups filled with piping hot, dark liquid on a tray. He made his rounds with refreshments, as he did every night at this precise time, receiving a warm smile from and a moan of approval from Gwen as she sipped tentatively, and gracious nods from both Tosh and Owen as they took the cups from him and continued working. Ianto carried the last cup swiftly to the conference room where he knew Jack was currently resting off the stress of a rather lengthy and unexpected phone-call he'd taken from UNIT.

Nudging the door open with his foot then spotting the Captain snoozing in his chair, Ianto quietly walked towards him. Setting the cup on the table in front of him, but not before being sure to lay down a coaster so as not to leave a ring of moisture on the finish, Ianto stood wondering how it best to wake him. The chairs were designed more for function than comfort in mind, so he'd assuredly be most stiff when he awoke.

"Sir," he said, lightly shaking Jack's arm with his free hand, the other moving papers into organized piles but careful not to disrupt their obviously sequential order.

Jack stirred, and his eyes opened fleetly; lifting his head from the table and leaning back in his chair, he rubbed at his eyes. "Ianto.. Shit! How long have I been out?" he asked worriedly - he'd been expecting an important call and only intended to rest his eyes a short while while he waited.

"Thirty minutes, sir. Should I not have woken you?" Jack looked exhausted, and Ianto was already greatly regretting his decision to disturb him.

"Nah, it's fine, I can't afford to sleep anyway. Too much to do, too much to do," came the Jack's response, and he reached for the cup before him, bringing it up to his lips. A waft of fragrance -uniquely Jack- hit Ianto like a bag of bricks to the nose, almost knocking him back a few paces. Every time he thought he had developed a slight desensitization to it, he was proved wrong.

The coffee was strong, Ianto had always loved that smell, it kept him off edge; so brewing it was one of the things he most enjoyed about this job. However, it's pleasant scent was almost rendered unnecessary to calm his nerves when Captain Harkness was around, as his smell was intoxicating to say the least.

'51St-centry pheromones' Jack called it, the first time he'd inquired about the delicious bouquet whilst they stood pressed against the back door to an abandoned warehouse, an excitable Myfanwy on the interior squawking loudly as it waited for them to return for another round. Ianto loved that smell, and though he wasn't sure why, he couldn't help but crave it – though he'd never said anything he was sure Jack knew.

Eager to free himself from the close proximity of the Captain, unsure of how much of that scent it would take to drive him mad, and lacking the understanding to see why it had that effect on him, Ianto turned quickly on his heel noticing Jack had delved back into the pile of paperwork he'd just tidied out of habit.

This had been happening a lot as of late; the inability to think, form coherent sentences, and overall function normally. It didn't take a genius to notice that every one of these incidents occurred within the presence of Jack Harkness. At first Ianto chalked it all up to stress, mourning even, but as the months passed and he was becoming more and more accustomed to the fact that Lisa's face would not be the first he'd see every morning, and his work-load had been cut down significantly due to the fewer number of alien threats in Cardiff at this time, there wasn't a hell of a lot left to strain him.

"Ianto?" A deep voice interrupted his thoughts and he noticed that he'd stopped just short of the door. "Are you alright?" Jack was looking up at him, his piercing blue eyes fixed. He knew sometimes the weight of the world and extra-terrestrial dangers kept his mind busy a lot of the time and he didn't ask about the well-being of his staff nearly enough, though despite what they might think of him their safety and well-being really did concern him.

Ianto smiled softly and nodded. Jack didn't seem convinced, he tossed the pen he held in his hand on the table and stood, lifting his coat from the chair next to him. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

The car ride to Ianto's flat felt longer than the day had passed and the awkward silence wasn't making the atmosphere at all comfortable. It was easy to see from day one that the young man wasn't one for talking. It's not that he was afraid to per-say, just that he didn't feel he had much to say and for the most part kept to himself unless his input was required or asked for. When it came to Jack, however, communication proved to be more difficult at times, a struggle even. It was as if he felt he had to work harder to sound more intelligent or witty around him to even come close to competing with his enigmatic persona or risk coming off as a bore. At the end of the day, the question he always reverted back to was 'Why does it matter?'

Apart from the occasional 'Turn here' to confirm that the man in the drivers seat was on the right path, Ianto sat quietly in the passenger staring blankly out the window, not really taking in the sights of the buildings, trees and other obstacles he saw every morning on his way in to work and night on his walk or the bus-ride home, but making it look as though he was so he wouldn't have to meet Jack's occasional glances to his side of the SUV.

Rounding a few more corners, and a couple more bends, Ianto was surprised he actually felt relieved to see the building to his flat a short ways off in the distance. Each day the idea of having to be alone with his boss at one point or another plagued him and as odd as it sounded, it terrified him.

"Uh ..thanks." Ianto said all too quickly, jumping from the vehicle, not bothering to tack on the usual 'Sir' because it would only increase the amount of time he had to spend in that car, if even by a few moments. Shutting the door at such a similar speed so as not to allow a word from Jack, he began the walk towards the building, not once looking back, and trying his best to slow down his steps so it wasn't obvious how eager he was to get away. It wasn't until the cool handle of the front door was in his grip that he started to relax, and he rummaged through his pockets for his key.

Once in the building Ianto's heart rate began to slow and he let out a deep breath he didn't know he was holding in. He elected to take the stairs this time instead of the elevator, taking them one at a time as opposed to the usual two. He decided come work tomorrow morning he would blame his behaviour on his inability to move on, and hoped that the others would buy it. The rest of the team might, but somehow Jack had a way of knowing otherwise; he always managed to find out when something was up – he just knew.

A large bevelled number '4' hanging on the wall in the stairwell indicated there were only two flights left and that's when Ianto picked up the pace, suddenly more eager to reach is flat that he'd been once he started at the staircase foot. Ianto's heart started to beat faster, and he knew exactly why; he could hear his name being called behind him. He knew the voice. Stopping dead half-way between the fourth and fifth floors, he turned reluctantly to see yet again the man he'd been avoiding sprinting up the steps after him, the tie Ianto had loosened from his neck, in the car -where it felt as though it was constricting tighter and tighter the longer he sat- swinging back and forth in his grip.

"Wouldn't want to forget this," the corners of Jack's mouth turned up slightly, enough to reveal his perfect smile and at that exact moment the other man's knees to buckle. Ianto reached out for the railing just in time in an effort to mask the slip-up, but at the same moment the Captain threw out an arm for support as well. "Woah woah woah!" he exclaimed, a flicker of worry now on his face, replacing the smile that was there just a second ago. "Ianto, are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course, sir. Just.. uh.." he tried to think up an excuse.

"Is it.. Lisa?" Ianto nodded the moment the words left Jack's mouth, determining that it was still probably a valid reason, better than anything he'd be able to come up with on the spot, and it wasn't entirely wrong either; he still was quite torn up about it, and it would explain a lot, but his boss didn't need to know that was not the source for his most recent embarrassment.

The presence of the man before him began to filter it's way through Ianto's senses, effecting each one differently, as he moved closer. "Come here," he said, and in a matter of minutes Ianto found himself in Jack's arms, and although his entire body froze up at first contact, he soon found the touch was really what he needed and he welcomed the comforting gesture. Jack had always been a very tactile person, it was the way he showed he cared, and so when words would fail it was always the next best resort.

What frightened Ianto the most was not his need to be held, he'd been through a terrible ordeal with the loss of Lisa and no one would expect otherwise from anyone placed in that situation. No, what scared him most was the fact that over these past couple months, with all the sympathetic words and empathetic touches -you know, the ones people feel obligated to give just to say they made an effort at consolation- this one, felt, genuine.