AN: I am completely overwhelmed by the response to this story, especially when you consider that this is not a popular pairing. I can hardly believe that I am just a few reviews away from 100 – that is phenomenal, and I thank you all. Do I prefer Ianto/Owen to Ianto/Jack? I used to be Ianto/Jack all the way… now its borderline. The more I think about Ianto/Owen together (minds out of gutters please…) the more I think it works.

Special thanks to those reviewers who I have turned into compulsive email checkers as they await the next chapter – I am hugely flattered, and only slightly worried for your sanity :P x

Please review x

Ianto woke to find Owen stood looking out the full-length windows of his bedroom, a steaming mug cradled in his hands, dressed only in his pyjama bottoms. It had been a long hard day and Ianto for one was exhausted, so finding Owen up at this hour was rather worrying.

"Hey." Ianto said sleepily as he sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "You okay?"

"Can't sleep." Owen murmured with a glance over his shoulder and a faint smile.

"The coffee probably isn't helping." Ianto pointed out with a smirk as he leant forward a little, wrapping his arms around his knees which were bent in front of him though concealed beneath the duvet, which gathered around his bare waist.

"It's warm milk." Owen said. "Not helping either." He mused as he looked back over the Cardiff skyline.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ianto offered nervously.

Owen shook his head as he turned around. "I'm gonna go back to the Hub. I need to talk to Jack." He said.

"I'll come with you." Ianto said, moving to get out of Owen's bed.

The Londoner shook his head. "Stay here. Go back to sleep." He said as he began to dress.

"You're just going to talk to him?" Ianto confirmed, worried what would happen if either man lost their temper.

Owen nodded. "I promise I won't hit him." He said planting a kiss on Ianto's forehead before leaving the room and a few moments later his apartment. As he stepped out onto the street outside his building the biting winter wind rattled around him and he dug his hands deep into the pockets as he began his walk down to the bay. He hoped the cold wind would refresh him and also soothe him for the inevitable battle that would follow. As he stepped onto the Plass and set off towards the boardwalk he spotted a lone figure leaning on the railings overlooking the water, and at just after three in the morning there was only one person that could be. Taking a deep calming breath Owen made his way over, stopping a few feet along the railings and mirroring Jack's pose.

"Do you love him?" Owen asked cautiously.

"Do you?" Jack asked incredulously, as if it were the most ridiculous concept he could imagine.

"Don't you think things would be easier if you just answered a question once in a while?" Owen suggested.

"Do you?" Jack smirked at Owen, and the Londoner couldn't help matching his smirk before the two men laughed gently and eased some of the tension.

"I'm serious Jack." Owen began again. "Do you?"

"This isn't about Ianto." Jack replied. "This is about me not being able to trust a member of my team. After all we've been through this past year, I thought we were all getting back on track. I need to be able to trust you Owen, or it won't work." He explained.

"What about the fact that he can't trust you?" Owen retorted.

"Touché." Jack smiled ruefully as he looked back out across the bay.

"Look I'm sorry for dropping you in it with him, but you have to know why I did it. If you cared about him at all, if you cared in anything approaching the way he cared for you, you wouldn't have cheated on him. I'm no angel Jack, but I wouldn't cheat. Not on him. He deserves better." Owen explained.

"And that's where you come in is it?" Jack asked.

"I hope so." Owen replied softly.

"Look Owen, like I said, this isn't about how I feel about him. This is about you and me." Jack said.

"Bullshit." Owen said with a gentle laugh. "This is about you and him, and how you've suddenly realised that maybe you let a good thing go." He went on. "I won't give him up Jack. Not to anyone, and especially not to you."

"I'm not trying to get him back Owen. If he doesn't want to be with me, there's not much I can do about it." Jack commented.

"I don't want to lose my job because of this." Owen said softly.

"I don't want you to either, but how can you work for someone you don't respect? Someone you don't even like? In our job Owen, that's kind of key." Jack pointed out.

"I'm sorry for what I said Jack. I didn't mean it. You just… you've been a bit of a prick this week to be honest and I let rip a bit more than necessary. I do respect you Jack… most days I even like you." He admitted with a smirk.

Jack glanced over at his medic again and smiled. "So we're good?" He asked.

Owen nodded. "We're good."

Jack returned the nod. "For the record, I do love him, and I will miss him." He admitted.

"For the record Jack, I love him too." Owen replied.

Jack sniggered.

"What?" Owen asked.

"Owen Harper – in love with the teaboy. Who'd have thought it?" He asked with a grin.

Owen couldn't help but laugh. "Sure as hell not me." He said. "But I am."

"Make sure you tell him. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't realise too late. Don't let him doubt it." Jack said with a hint of regret.

"I won't." Owen replied.

"Go home Owen. You're going to need some sleep before work – I can hardly wait to see Tosh and Gwen's faces when you tell them." Jack said pushing back off the railings.

Owen sniggered. "Can't react worse than you." He pointed out playfully.

Jack scowled, but the hint of a grin was always present. "Go home to him Owen."

The medic nodded. "I will. He was worried I was going to hit you." He said.

"Were you?" Jack checked.

"No." Owen admitted.

"I'll see you both in a few hours." Jack said extending his hand which Owen took and shook.

"You'll see Ianto in a few hours… I'll be late as usual." Owen replied before turning and walking back to his apartment, a grin spreading on his lips when he thought about who was waiting there for him.