A/N: This was hard to write, because I've had a lot on my plate at the moment, with revision for exams and various problems my friends have been having in their lives. Thanks so much to the 3 reviewers I had last chapter - honestly, I felt the last chapter was the best I've ever written, and I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it too. Take this one with a pinch of salt - some stuff you may not like, but it's all happening for a reason. Song for this is 'Praise Chorus' by Jimmy Eat World - it was going to be 'Sweetness', but that didn't fit in the end. Enjoy.
He got the call a couple of days later. For a few moments he didn't recognize Learner's voice – there was a catch in his throat that had not been there before.
"Ianto," he said, "Ianto, I have a daughter. Cath and I have a daughter."
He went on to ask Ianto to come to the Basement and bring Gwen Cooper-Williams with him, then hung up, while Ianto longed to have a smile in his voice like Learner's.
He and Charlton had stayed casual at work, but he knew Jack was watching them like a hawk; once, he let his fingers linger on Charlton's when handing him a cup of coffee, and slowly raised his eyebrow at Jack.
Jack turned away with a sigh. Ianto almost wanted to frown at himself.
He and Gwen obligingly went to the Basement, and found Cath and Learner in a strange new room he didn't remember. It was quiet and warm and painted Naples yellow, with a cot next to a large, and heavily cushioned, double bed. The light in the room mimicked light streaming through large windows, and there sat Cath, on the bed, a baby in her arms.
Gwen gasped and hurried to her side, cooing over the infant and putting an arm around Cath, in a friendly way, as if by instinct. He had noticed Cath was different, and supposed Gwen did too.
Learner was in his Umbreyta form, and he stood hands with Ianto briskly, with a smile, and the Welshman did not balk at the sight of the three rows of pointed teeth. He smiled back, and murmured, "Congratulations. Now, what did you really want to talk to me about?"
Glancing back at Cath, Learner signed that he was going out for a second, and Cath signed back 'okay' with a smile.
The alien let Ianto out to the hallway and said quietly, "You know what this means. You know she's not the same."
"Well, I'm just happy she survived, really."
"She survived, by herself. I wasn't there for the birth."
"Is she…well, human?"
"Completely. There's no trace of the Official left. You'll notice the tattoos are completely gone, and the Umbreyta."
"Hmmm. You'll need a replacement soonish, then. She can still work the technology, though."
"I need you. Now. I'm afraid this is an emergency; I'm transferring you over to the Basement until we can find a suitable permanent replacement."
"One condition: I get my own, private, room. No CCTV allowed."
"Do I get to ask why?"
"No."
"Well, okay then." Glancing back to the room, Learner smiled. Ianto watched the alien's eyes soften.
"You love her, don't you?"
And then Learner turned his blank, white eyes to Ianto, and in them Ianto saw an answer, and realized there was no question in the first place.
When Ianto and Gwen returned from the Basement, Jack noticed something was wrong.
Never mind the fact that Charlton was back at work, dressed all in black as per usual, but with a new and secret smile laced onto his lips. There was a drawn look on Ianto's face, and his lips were pressed so tightly together they had all but disappeared.
Charlton noticed too, apparently. He caught Ianto's arm, with a questioning look. Ianto stared at him for a moment, before catching his hand in a barely noticeable gesture, and squeezing it.
Jack swallowed at this point, and looked away. When he looked back, Ianto was putting his coat on the rack and heading up the stairs.
Heading to his office. Oh, shit. Turning from the window, Jack quickly moved to behind his desk, and stared blankly at the pile of paperwork that awaited him. Well, heck, he did it often enough, at least it was realistic.
Quietly, Ianto entered his office, and Jack looked up sharply, "Ianto?"
He watched Ianto's face go through several expressions, and felt his heart melt. This guy, this coffee-boy, was special. In a way he'd not seen before, and doubted he would see again. He knew all the emotions, all the feelings Ianto was holding back, like the back of his hand, because he was holding them back, too.
Gesturing with his hand to the chair opposite, Jack said, in a voice crackling out of lack of use, "Ianto, maybe you should sit down." He saw the slight, barely discernable quiver in Ianto's fingertips, and recognized it immediately.
Relief rushed to the Welshman's face as he took a seat, and put his head into shaking heads. Brow crinkling in worry, Jack sighed, "You get used to it. You don't get over it, but you learn to cope." This brought a wry laugh from the younger man, "Well, I suppose at least you're not lying to me."
Sitting up and sinking into the chair, Ianto looked at Jack carefully, his eyes guarded, "There is a problem at the Basement. Cath had the baby."
"Is that the problem?"
"No. The problem is something else entirely. My problem is how to deal with it – and the fact I'll be dealing with things like this forever, now. Until someone figures out to behead me or something."
Then the look in the Welshman's eyes was completely raw, and sad. His grey eyes seemed silver in the light of the room, and he said hopelessly, "Jack, I've made such a mess. I don't quite know what to do."
Jack reached across the table, and took his hand, and squeezed it lightly, before letting go, mimicking Ianto's action to Charlton. With a heavy sigh, he said, "Well, you've got time to sort it out. I've made a lot of messes over my lifetime, but I've always been able to sort them out. That is," he paused, blue eyes lingering on Ianto, "all except one. One is yet to be sorted."
And in his heart of hearts, Ianto knew what Jack meant.
Thankfully, the entire team (apart from himself and Gwen, of course) went out on a Weevil hunt, which gave Charlton some time to think.
Things will get better for you, Charlton. The Doctor's words echoed in his head, and he sighed, coming at a loss to their meaning. He had promised that his life would get better; Charlton only wished it would start sooner, rather than later.
He'd hated the look on Ianto's face and he wasn't quite sure why. There had been an unbearable regret in his eyes and Charlton desperately wanted to know what it meant.
He sighed deeply, listening to the sounds of the team moving over his comm, and switched on the microphone.
"Okay, the Weevil should be down the alley to your left. It's rifling through some rubbish, should be easy to take care of."
Jack's voice answered, smooth and American in his ears, "Thanks Charlton, we'll take it from here."
He switched off his microphone again, and then turned to Gwen, "They've taken care of it; let me drive you home."
"Are you sure, love? I don't want to be a bother, I can ring Rhys and ---"
"--- Gwen. It's fine," he smiled, and picked up his car keys from the table, jingling them, "Let Rhys sleep. It'll be a nice surprise, you back this early."
"Well, alright then." She took the arm he proffered, and they walked to his car.
He heard Charlton coming in, and looked up from his perusal of the other man's books. Charlton, to his credit, only allowed his eyes to widen slightly in shock, but then yawned widely and smiled, rubbing his eyes, "Hey."
Somehow in the stark lighting of the flat, Charlton still looked…well, lovely. Not Jack's kind of lovely, all hard angles and bright teeth, but something subtler, messier, less certain. He almost felt like it…they…could work out.
Almost.
"I used the key under your potted plant," Ianto offered, with a small smile. To his surprise, Charlton simply walked past him, kissed him on the cheek as he passed, and slumped onto the sofa, flicking on the TV.
It was some trite romcom and suddenly Ianto's life had become a big cliché, watching crap TV with a significant other. Outside of the immortality and crazy job, that is. He sat down next to Charlton, who was watching the romcom with a vaguely crazed look in his eyes.
"Ianto?"
"Charlton?"
"I'd like to know why you were so weird today."
Ianto looked at Charlton now, and was surprised to meet the warmth of the other man's eyes. There was fear there, but mainly anger; a lot of anger.
"You know I can't tell you that. Basement stuff."
"It's to do with me, I can tell. And don't bullshit me, Ianto, don't even try to lie."
This caught him off guard – Charlton had never sworn before, in Ianto's memory.
"Okay, then. I'm being transferred to the Basement for a while, until they find a new Official. Cath had her baby and now she's fully human. There's nothing of the Basement left in her, unlike me, so…yeah."
"That's not all."
"No. It isn't."
Ianto couldn't stand the petulance in Charlton's eyes, and quickly sorted through possible escape routes from this situation. The defiant glare was wearing him down.
He decided to play dirty.
Lying in bed with Charlton later on, watching the rise and fall of the other's chest, Ianto traced the curve of Charlton's cheek, wondering how he'd cope when everything came crashing down.
Because while it wasn't love, it felt damn close.
