AN: Some reviewers seem to know what's going on here… others don't. I apologise if my writing at the end of the last chapter didn't make the reasons for Ianto's sudden frustration obvious. All is about to be revealed…

Please review x

Owen was spinning around on the chair behind the counter in the tourist office, letting out an irritated sigh with each revolution. He'd been up there for two hours now and unsurprisingly he hadn't seen a single soul. He could only imagine what Ianto did up here when he was on duty. Letting his gaze drift across the desk area of the counter he found a few pens and a tin that any takings were housed in, a pad of paper that he'd already doodled on, and a rather ill looking pot plant. It was apparent from this plant and the one back in Ianto's flat that the Welshman didn't have particularly green fingers. A small smile graced Owen's lips as his mind flooded with memories of Ianto's fingers that though not especially green had talents in other areas. Opening the top drawer of three that were underneath the desk he grinned. The drawer was empty save for a well-thumbed copy of one of Ian Fleming's numerous novels, and a plastic Tupperware box containing half a packet of chocolate hobnobs.

"So this is how you pass your time." Owen mused, taking the box out the drawer, pulling off the lid and helping himself to one of the biscuits. As he chewed merrily on the hobnob the comms unit in his ear sounded.

"Owen can you come and help me carry some files up to Jack's office." Ianto asked.

"Absolutely." Owen mumbled through a mouthful of biscuit.

"And make sure you put the lid back on properly before you leave – I don't want soft hobnobs." Ianto commented before disconnecting the comms.

Owen sniggered as he took care closing the box correctly before placing it back in the drawer beside Ianto's book. Closing the drawer first he rounded the counter and flipped the sign in the door window around the 'Closed' and bolted the door. Pushing the button that opened the secret doorway he slipped through and travelled down to the Hub via the lift. As he stepped through the cog door he glanced around and saw that Gwen was chatting animatedly and somewhat angrily on the phone and Tosh was tapping frantically at her keyboard. Jack was nowhere to be seen, and Owen wasn't sure that was a bad thing. Stepping onto the walkway he set off down to the archives, pushing open the door and calling out.

"Ianto?" He called.

"Here." Ianto popped out from behind a set of shelves with a box of files in his arms.

"How many more of those are there?" Owen asked.

"Twenty seven." Ianto replied.

"Twenty seven?" Owen echoed incredulously.

Ianto nodded. "As I pointed out to Jack 'Snow' is a rather wide search term, especially in Wales. Its almost as wide as searching for 'Rain' or 'Sheep'." He replied. His tone was far from jovial, despite his wit.

"You okay?" Owen asked softly, knowing that the archives were one place Jack couldn't hear them.

Ianto deposited the box on the nearest surface before replying. "I think he knows." He said simply.

"He knows? What about us?" Owen asked nervously.

Ianto nodded. "This is a totally futile and pointless exercise. He has Gwen and Tosh playing around with things they enjoy. He has me digging out twenty seven boxes of ridiculous information, and he has you banished to the office upstairs like some kind of naughty child. His comment about one of us asking you for help if needed was blatantly aimed at me, so I'm just going to give in. If he wants to make a scene, I'm not going to stop him." His voice turned angry and frustrated as he spoke.

Owen sighed as he closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms around the younger man who melted into his hold. He planted a soft kiss on the side of Ianto's head before he replied. "I can understand your frustration Ianto, but this is not the way to tackle this. Do you want me to go and talk to him?" He asked with unusual calmness.

"You're the one that wanted to hit him the other day. How can you want to talk to him now?" Ianto asked as he slipped his arms around Owen's waist and closed his eyes as though hoping to escape from the madness.

"Because I don't want the team to find out about us through a yelling match in the middle of the Hub. And we don't even know that he does know about us. Not for sure. Maybe what he said before was the truth. Maybe there is something out there that we need to know about." Owen suggested.

Ianto sighed, knowing that there was a chance Owen was right. "How many of my biscuits did you eat?" He asked with a gentle smirk as he leant back so he could look at Owen.

Owen laughed softly. "I'd only just found them when you called, so just the one." He admitted. "Come on. Lets get these boxes upstairs." He said planting a soft kiss on Ianto's lips before the two men parted. The silence was broken suddenly by the sharp sound of someone slow clapping in the shadows. Neither man really needed to look to see who it was.

"Good effort Owen – you almost had me convinced there. And I know there's nothing to find." Jack said as he emerged into the light.

"Is this really necessary? Why can't you just talk to me? Why does this even have to be an issue?" Ianto asked.

"You lied to me." Jack seethed looking at Ianto with dark angry eyes.

"As I said to you before who I am seeing – and in fact whether I am seeing anyone – is none of your business. My private life is sacred to me, especially in this job, and you are not part of it anymore." Ianto replied.

"Why did you leave me Ianto?" Jack asked calmly.

Ianto sighed. "What?" He asked.

"Answer the question." Jack said.

"Because you were cheating on me. Because to you I was just someone to play with. Because I was just another of a long list of conquests. Because I deserve more than that." Ianto reasoned.

"And you think you'll get that from him?" Jack asked incredulously. "From Owen the serial shagger?"

"At least I know he's faithful. At least I know he cares about me." Ianto said. "Which is more than you ever did."

"I cared about you. I still care about you." Jack replied.

Owen snorted. "Course you did. That's why you kept bringing men and women back to the Hub when Ianto wasn't here."

"Shut up Owen." Jack spat.

"No. I will not stand here whilst you bullshit to his face. If you cared about him you would not have cheated on him. You are such an arrogant shit Jack. Deleting the CCTV footage of your little friends wandering around in here… editing the records so nobody would notice the masses of retcon you must have used on them all going missing. Can I suggest for future reference that you incinerate the contents of your rubbish bin, and don't just toss it out? You never know who might go through it." Owen smirked.

Jack's eyes widened and his face grew angry as he realised what Owen was saying, and what he was confessing to. "You bastard." He snarled.

"That's me." Owen nodded. "Now get the hell over yourself, and stay away from him okay? Stop with these pathetic games and lets get on with some proper work." He barked.

"This is not over." Jack growled before stalking out.

e