Jack watched Ianto out of the corner of his eye as they took a taxi to his flat. During the two days before the Welshman had been released from the hospital Jack had harbored some high hopes that Ianto would recover his memory quickly. It didn't appear to be happening, however, as even the scenic drive through Cardiff failed to trigger thing.

"Cardiff is lovely this time of year," Jack said, tilting his head to glance up at the sky through the window.

"I wish I could remember any other time," came the soft-spoken reply. "It seems nice."

Jack turned to look at him. "You will, Ianto," he promised. "You just have to give it time."

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're a fairly positive person?"

"I've been known to be occasionally." He grinned. "Look at it this way, until you get your memory back you have an opportunity to see things through new eyes. You can can re-appreciate everything around you. Fall in love with this glorious city all over again."

"I'm friends with the real life Pollyanna."

"Hey, you remembered Pollyanna! That's a start." Jack beamed. Ianto just shook his head and turned back toward his window, but not before Jack caught a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

When the taxicab arrived at the address Jack had given the driver Jack got out, going around to Ianto's side to open the door for him as the driver removed Ianto's small overnight bag from the boot. Toshiko had done the honors of picking up a few changes of clothing and a couple essentials for the Welshman once he'd been admitted to the hospital.

Jack paid the driver and then started to slip an arm around Ianto's shoulders before he realized that might not be taken very well. Instead he shoved his right hand into his pocket and clutched the Welshman's bag in the other as they walked toward the building.

"So this is it?" Ianto asked, looking around. "Still nothing familiar."

"Maybe the inside, then," Jack replied, ushering the man into the building and then up the lift to the fourth floor.

When he opened the door for Ianto the man stepped cautiously across the threshold, as if he were afraid something would jump out at him. Jack did touch him at that point, simply placing an open palm between his shoulder blades for support.

"Let me go make it a little more homey," he told him, setting down the bag by the wall in the hallway. He walked through the door to his left and into the lounge before moving to the window and drawing the curtains aside so that the summer sun could shine through. "There. Much better."

And it was. When Ianto joined him in the lounge it was bright and cozy, and didn't have any of the feel of having been abandoned for nearly two weeks. Jack knew that was due to the immaculate condition in which Ianto always kept his flat. He'd be hard pressed to find someone who kept things more tidy than one Ianto Jones.

"It's a bit small," Ianto commented, moving slowly through the room and looking around. He ran a hand over the back of the couch before walking into the kitchen. "Lovely coffee maker, though."

Jack smirked, hanging his greatcoat up on the rack in the corner of the lounge. "That's your favorite thing in the flat." Well, when Jack wasn't there, anyway, he thought to himself. "You love it even more than the one at work."

Ianto turned to face him, eyebrow raised. "When I can see that?"

"The other coffee maker?"

"No, I meant where we work."

"Oh." Jack thought for a moment, still unsure exactly how much was too much information for Ianto to handle. "We should probably let you get your bearings here first, before re-introducing you to the workplace."

"You do realize that anything could trigger a memory? If my home isn't working, maybe the office will."

Jack sighed. The man had a good point. "Tell you what. Give it a day or two, and if nothing changes, I'll take you to the Hub."

Ianto spun around from where he'd been browsing his DVD collection. "The Hub? Exactly where do we work, Jack?"

"In an underground base."

"That's..." Ianto furrowed his eyebrows and then shook his head. "You're joking."

"Not at all, Ianto."

"And we chase things called weevils."

"Among other things, yes. There's a lot of chasing."

Ianto seemed to ponder that for a moment. "Well at least it seems my life isn't what one might call dull."

Jack laughed. "No, not often dull."

They spent the next half hour with Ianto exploring the rest of the flat, which, really, only consisted of his bathroom and bedroom. There were a few easily answered questions and then Jack insisted they order a take away. "I'm not sure I want to see the state of your fridge," he'd justified.

They were seated on the couch with a couple bottles of soda purchased with their pizza, watching a random comedy on the television, when Ianto turned to him. "Do you live here too, Jack?"

Jack choked on his pizza and had to take a few swigs of his drink before he could breathe properly. "No. No I don't. Why would you ask that?"

"There are several shirts in my closet that I would never wear."

It was Jack's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You remember what you like to wear?"

"Well, not exactly. But they match the style you're wearing, and not the ones on the other side of the closet."

Okay, so Jack's spare shirts hadn't triggered anything. "Is that all you noticed?"

"Actually, no," Ianto replied, taking a small bite of pizza, chewing thoroughly and swallowing before he continued. "There are also several pairs of similar trousers to what you're now wearing in the chest of drawers, and an extra toothbrush on the counter in the bathroom. I didn't check for underwear."

"Most people don't store their pants in the bathroom, Ianto." The Welshman just stared at him, eyes narrowing. "Alright, alright. No, I don't live here. But we are...involved."

"Involved as in...a relationship?"

Jack started to deny the assessment, wanting to cringe away from anything as square as the box Ianto had just placed them in, but he realized that without Ianto's memory of their history, it wouldn't help matters any. And was being in a relationship really all that bad? Sure, he wanted his freedom. He refused to be tied down in something as archaic as monogamy, but when he gave it thought, that's exactly what this was. He hadn't slept with anyone else since he'd begun sleeping with Ianto, and he was pretty sure the Welshman was a one person kind of man.

"Yes," he replied simply.

"You and I...we're...a couple?"

Jack paused for only a couple of seconds. "Yes we are."

"So I'm gay?" Ianto asked, setting down his plate.

"If I had to label you I'd say bisexual. You used to have a girlfriend." He tilted his head at Ianto. "You can't tell? How you feel, I mean?"

Ianto shook his head and then nodded, blushing. "Well, maybe. It's all a bit...confusing, I suppose."

"I can understand that."

"And we work together as well." It wasn't a question.

"Yes we do. Actually, I'm your boss."

"Couldn't that be considered harassment?"

Another laugh broke through. Jack couldn't help it. It was almost fun to watch Ianto re-discover himself. If only it hadn't nearly meant his life as the price.

"Well, you haven't filed paperwork on it yet."

"Then either I am horribly repressed under your demanding thumb, or I don't mind it in the least."

"Which do you think it is?" Jack asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's the latter."

"You seem awfully confident for a man who, a moment ago, didn't know he liked men." Ianto was smirking and his eyes were twinkling. It took everything in Jack's power not to lean over and press his lips to the other man's. Instead he set his own drink and plate on the table and folded his arms. "What do you have to base your theory on?"

"Call it instinct," Ianto replied. "Or..."

"Or?"

"Or the fact that I keep getting an erection every time I catch the scent of your aftershave."

Jack's eyes widened and he couldn't help but glance down at the front of Ianto's trousers. His lips quirked into a smirk when he saw the man's growing arousal, and he felt a twinge of involuntary desire between his own legs.

"I don't wear any aftershave," he told Ianto, voice softer than even the first time they'd had this conversation.

"You smell like that naturally?"

"Yep."

"Can I..?" Ianto indicated Jack's neck with a shifting of his eyes.

Jack hesitated just a moment before nodding, watching as Ianto licked his lips. There was that twinge again. Well, actually, it was more like a pleasant tingle.

Ianto scooted closer and his eyes focused on Jack's neck. Jack let his hands drop to his sides and turned to face the other man a little more. Jack wasn't sure exactly what to expect but when Ianto moved close enough he lowered his head next to Jack's, sniffing softly along his shoulder and neck. The action would be comical if it weren't so damned hot.

Ianto nosed along Jack's shirt collar, barely touching, but it was enough to cause Jack to close his eyes. When he felt lips brush along his skin the tingle between his legs turned into a healthy throb, his cock obviously eager for more of Ianto's gentle exploration, as it pressed against its confines.

"I-Ianto..." Jack stuttered, as those lips began to move along his throat and up along his jawline.

"Hmm?"

The kisses moved towards Jack's lips. "We shouldn't...mmph!"

Ianto's mouth slid over his like it was made to be there, and Jack's hands came up to hold the Welshman's biceps. He didn't push him away, however, like he knew he should. Instead he kissed Ianto back, lips parting when the younger man touched them with his tongue.

By the time Ianto's tongue was inside his mouth, Jack was moaning. It hadn't been that long since they were last intimate, all things considered, but the gentle and tentative way Ianto was kissing him was new. With them it had always been hot and messy, or languid but sure. This new kissing was inquisitive and filled with a need to understand, to map territory that should be familiar but wasn't. And it was filled with such an innocence that Jack felt his heart ache a little.

When Ianto's hand slid up the inside of Jack's thigh, however, Jack knew he couldn't let this continue. His grip tightened on the Welshman's arms and he pushed him back slowly, pulling his mouth away reluctantly. Ianto's eyes were wide and his lips were moist. It took every bit of Jack's control not to tug him back against him and ravage him where they sat.

"Did I...do something wrong?"

Jack shook his head, licking his lips and closing his eyes briefly before opening them and focusing on Ianto once more. "Absolutely not."

"Then why did you stop, Jack?" He sat back and Jack released his arms. Ianto gestured between them. "I thought we were a couple?"

"We are, Ianto," Jack replied, rubbing a hand over his face. "I just...I'm basically a stranger to you, right now. And I don't want you to think you have to do this. You don't owe me this."

"You're not a stranger, Jack," Ianto argued, frowning. "You were there with me. I could hear your voice."

Jack lifted his chin. "What do you mean?"

"In the hospital. I didn't know what was going on, and I couldn't understand any words, but I heard you. You were talking to me."

Jack sighed. "I didn't want to leave you alone. But that doesn't mean you have to do this, Ianto. I'm not expecting you to."

Ianto smiled softly and stroked Jack's face. "I never said you were. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about, Ianto? Because I really don't think this is something we should be doing right after you've come out of a coma, and especially when you're just getting to know me again." Ianto opened his mouth slightly to interrupt but Jack held up a finger, pressing it to his lips. "I understand, you know my voice. That doesn't mean you know me."

"Are my instincts wrong?" Ianto asked, settling his hands on Jack's knees.

"That depends. What are they telling you?"

"That we live a very dangerous life, with bad things around every corner. That our relationship is one that's beneficial to us both, even when it might not always be convenient. That you care for me, the me I'm supposed to be, a lot more than you'd ever intended. That you're still afraid, even after considerable time, that you're going to hurt me." He paused, eyebrow high on his forehead. "Tell me I'm wrong."

Licking his lips, Jack shook his head. "I can't."

"Then I do know you. Your face may be unfamiliar, and our past might be something I never remember, but I know how my body reacts to you. And how yours responds to me. I know this feels right."

"We can't have sex, Ianto. The doctor clearly stated no vigorous activities for at least two to three weeks."

"Then we won't have sex. Intercourse isn't necessary."

"Ianto..."

The younger man got up off of the couch, reaching out a hand. "Please, Jack? This might jog my memory."

He eyed the hand in front of him before looking back up at Ianto's face. Sighing deeply Jack took his hand, pushing himself up off of the couch and following the man out of the lounge and down the hallway. As the door was pushed closed behind him and he was slowly but thoroughly kissed, he could only hope that he was doing this because it was what Ianto wanted and needed, and not just because Jack was a greedy bastard. He hoped he was at least a tiny bit altruistic.

tbc...