A/N This takes place a little before "Cyberwoman". I wanted to mention that in this story the first season is canon. The next few chapters will be showing both Ianto's memories and the present, until we get to the main even. Enjoy!

Always

"Oi, Tea-boy, spending too much time in the basement, aren't you? Something we should know?" Owen's teasing voice boomed in the Hub as soon as Ianto was in sight.

Ianto's eyes widened in shock and it took all of his willpower not to stop dead in track as his brain was going on an overload. Could they know? What if they had found out and now were trying to test him or give him a second chance. A bubble of laughter almost escaped his lips. As if. If they knew they wouldn't give him a second chance, they wouldn't even let him explain. They would kill him, him and Lisa. He was a stranger for them even if he knew everything about them... No, not them, but people who looked like them. God, his life was messed up.

Meanwhile, as he was having a panic attack, his body decided to act on its own. His every-day mask slipped easily on his face as he continued his journey toward Jack's office.

"Teaboy! Coffee!" Owen yelled again, breaking him from his musings and this time forcing him to turn around. He glared at the medic who smiled at him slyly and jerked his head toward the kitchen. Ianto opened his mouth, most probably to tell him to "do it himself" when Tosh gazed at him with her adorable puppy-dog eyes that even after years managed to move him. Sighing, he headed toward the kitchen and made 4 coups of coffee, figuring that he could give Jack his when he asked him about an alien Torchwood had caught 40 years ago.

Ianto raised a perfectly-shaped eyebrow when, upon returning, he saw Tosh and Owen whispering conspiratorially and he got even more suspicious when they broke apart as soon as he entered the main room. He gave them the coffee, leaving Gwen's on her desk, and once again walked toward his boss' office. He did his best to ignore the barely audible whispers from behind him, but as he got closer to the room he wished Tosh and Owen hadn't stopped talking. That way he wouldn't have...

Suddenly, just as he reached to open the door, a hand wrapped around his biceps and a nervous-looking Toshiko jumped in front of him.

"I have to show you something," she said, although it sounded like a plead. When she noticed him hesitate, she blinked slowly, giving him her best begging gaze and simultaneously trying not to look as if she was desperate, which she was... clearly. "Please," she added for good measure and her eyes lit up when Ianto nodded and followed her.

Ianto appreciated it, what both Owen and Tosh had tried to do. But he wasn't blind nor was he deaf. He had heard the soft moans coming from Jack's office and the absence of Gwen had been a dead give-away. He smiled and nodded as he listened to the computer genius explaining him about the new programme she had created. He didn't dare thinking about the thing that was happening in Jack's office, scolding himself every time he did. He didn't have the right to, his heart shouldn't contract every time his thoughts headed that way, because...

"Oi, Teaboy, over here," someone shouted and Ianto winced. Was it that time of the day already? He headed toward the voice, mentally preparing a long list of the things he wanted to do and would do if the owner of the voice had come alone. Luckily for him, and for Ianto, not that he would ever admit it, said man had brought his colleagues. At the beginning he had been claiming he was coming to the cafe just to observe how long his boss' fling would last. Now he tended to visit Ianto every day. Twice.

"Hello, Jack. " Ianto smiled at the man he had known the longest in the group and then turned to nod at everyone, a frown forming on his face when he said the last name. "Tosh, Suzie... Owen"

Strange, really, but Gwen never appeared in his memories.

"So, " Owen started, fiddling with the menu because he knew how much it irritated the other man. "What's new?"

"Well, believe it or not, not many things can happen for, "Ianto pointedly looked at the clock hanging on the wall before fixing his glare on the medic. "5 hours."

"Maybe he comes here so often because the coffee is the best in the whole world," Tosh pipped in, her eyes downcast and Ianto couldn't stop himself from smiling at the deep blush that spread over the girl's cheeks when she felt she had gotten everyone's attention with her attempt to defend Owen.

"Well, it isn't because I want to see Teaboy here and Jack eye-fucking, in any case," Owen snickered.

"If you don't stop calling me Teaboy I'll make sure you are served nothing but decaf here," Ianto growled with an ease that came only after repeating the same words over and over again.

The medic relaxed in his seat, a laid-back smile that didn't suit his situation, and pointed at himself with one finger. "Customer here."

"Owner here," Ianto replied, tilting his head, his voice mocking.

The rest of the group and a few of the other customers watched with amusement the exchange. Some of the regulars even started mimicking the bickering men's words with absolute accuracy, making their companions laugh in delight. It happened twice a day after all.

"Ianto," Jack cut in when the argument started heating up. Ianto looked at him, mostly acting on an instinct and his scowl softened when he was met with a dazzling smile and twinkling blue eyes. "Have you considerate my offer? My team really needs someone like you... and if you're working for me you can make sure Owen gets only decaf," the man continued, wearing his hope in his eyes. It was at least the tenth time he'd asked the Welshman, but something was telling him that this would be the time.

Ianto grinned, just a hint of sadistic pleasure when he heard the "Oi!" coming from Owen, before he replied, "I thought about it and my answer is still no, Jack. As much I'd like to spend more time with you, all of you, there isn't really anything that I'd be able to do for you beside coffee. Not to mention that I don't know what you are working... So, decaf for Owen, what about the others?"

If someone noticed the way his smile dimmed slightly no one commented on it. It was the only change in his demeanour. He continued chatting and joking with the customers that had become his friends, accepting the moans of appreciation and the small smile of relief from Owen, when he brought the medic normal coffee. But inside he couldn't stop replaying Jack's words. They needed someone like him... didn't the man know that he was unable to do anything except of coffee, that probably he would just stand in their way, that...

He was just the Teaboy.