3
"So, you and Lisa." Jack said half way back to the base, the silence finally smashed like fine china. "Ah…you know…"
"Yes" Ianto said dryly, "Apparently I do know how to."
Jack looked at him furtively, "So…when were you going to tell us?"
"Never" Ianto slumped, "I thought I could keep him safe, that if you ever turned on me you couldn't use him to hurt me."
Jack resisted the urge to slam the brakes on and let Black Beauty coast to the side of the road instead, "Use him to hurt you?"
"You forget sir, I am the Archivist" Ianto said softly, "I know you would stop at nothing to win."
Jack looked in the rear-view at Ianto and suddenly saw Toshiko's shocked face staring back at him and he realised that was not the place for this discussion as he turned back onto the road.
They got back to base and Jack walked to his office, confident that Ianto would follow and once there he waited patiently for Ianto to get some control over his words. Ianto had this habit of chewing on something before speaking that made him seem to not have an opinion but if people waited instead of cutting him off before he was ready they might actually learn something.
"He was an accident, a happy one" Ianto finally started to speak and Jack settled, determined not to interrupt and lose whatever had been decided on, "We had only known each other a short time and..well. And you see, he's lovely. I was so proud, she was a great mum as well. We were trying to find somewhere bigger than the pokey wee flat and when she was offered the job on the next level up she jumped at it. Me down in Archives and her up there meant we got a good wage….well."
Jack waited as Ianto considered again, his lips pursing, "Well actually. You see. I wasn't archives, not for long. Seems they worked out my ability to access my edidic memory under stress so they put me in the field."
Jack blinked slowly as he felt something twist in the bottom of his gut.
Ianto was a fully fledged Field Agent?
"So, anyway, I was a field agent with archival access so this ole brain box could be useful and that is why I survived and Lisa…I mean..I thought…" Ianto sighed softly, looking out the glass at the team blow who were all pretending not to be waiting for the story too. "So. We'd started bickering about things, the place too small, he was getting so big and she realised she didn't really want to be a Mam. It didn't suit her. Suit her. She actually said that, she said 'Ianto this doesn't suit me' like it was a fucking dress."
Jack nodded.
"So, I had scooped him up and stormed to Rhiannon's and then the ghosts…the….well. I left him with Rhia and I ran for the tower, I knew this was bad. Wrong. I saw the Tardis and I knew, oh god I knew this was it." He sat against the desk and slumped "I almost killed her there, I had my gun to her head but she opened those eyes that could turn your blood to sugar…I ...I thought I could save her. Tanzanaki was in my brain box records on Cyber Tech and I thought…I hoped…I couldn't look at him ya see? How can I look at him? Her eyes glaring back like I buried her in the back yard. Well, I suppose she is…in the basement like."
He was running out of steam now and Jack knew this is where Ianto needed him to stop him, to let him breathe so he spoke, "I had no idea you were that firmly a couple. I was insensitive to that but you altered your file so much that you were unrecognisable, including the level of your loss."
"Yeah"
"Ianto…you know I forgave you right?" Jack asked softly and he watched Ianto's head rise as he blinked, "Ianto, I know what it is to want to scorch the land for what you have lost, I have stood in a place full of ashes weeping for the fact I was still there. Death, destruction, loss and….useless me just there."
"Yeah" Ianto said, more of a soft sob.
"He is beautiful and all I saw was you" Jack finally decided, "Ianto…this changes nothing except your clearance level. Jesus, I have had a fully qualified, trained agent sitting here while Gwen….Gwen… shit, no wonder you keep glaring at the back of her head."
Jack started to laugh softly and to his relief Ianto smiled softly, "She has a long way to go Sir."
"What level were you?" Jack asked as he reached for the mouse to update the system.
"Seven."
Jack's hand hesitated and he looked up with shock, "Excuse me?"
"Level Seven clearance Sir" Ianto said with a grimace, "I had full access to everything, including her files."
"Yvonne trusted you with her personal files" Jack said with wonder.
"Well, she needed someone to keep them in order Sir" Ianto shrugged, "Also, I was useful if she had to think fast, a quick phone call to me was a lot faster than asking for relevant files."
"So … you knew what was happening that day" Jack said sadly, "You knew she went against my advice."
"That's why I came here" Ianto nodded, "I knew you were a fair man, I had no idea you were…"
"What? So sexy, enigmatic? No, wait…I know" Jack leaned back, "Big."
Ianto blinked as his confusion showed and then smiled softly.
"So human." He said in the end, surprising Jack to silence again.