Same Ianto, Different Jack

Chapter 12

by Gracefultree

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Ianto woke in New Jack's bunker, alone. He sighed. Trust New Jack to leave him alone after the emotional night before. His Jack wouldn't have… but His Jack wasn't here, and even though His Jack wouldn't have left him alone, he also wouldn't have talked about Ianto's episode the night before, preferring a quick tumble in the sheets or a fuck in the shower to displace the expressed emotions into the easier to define feelings of physical pleasure they both knew they could get from each other.

After a shower and change of clothes, Ianto climbed the ladder to New Jack's office. It was empty. On top of New Jack's blotter was a metal box the same size as the ones Gwen's boots came in. A card with 'for Ianto' in New Jack's handwriting sat propped up against it. Opening the box (and noting the Torchwood symbol stenciled across its top) Ianto found a stack of papers.

First was a real note from New Jack.

I've considered your proposed job here at Torchwood. Pass a firearms test and I'll give you a three-month trial period, should you be here that long. In the meantime, sign the contract. — CJH

Ianto smiled, glancing through the contract. New Jack had followed Ianto's list of duties he would and would not perform to the letter, though the ominous 'and other duties as required by the Director' sang out in black and white. Still, Ianto couldn't complain, since it was a standard Torchwood procedure to include the phrase. And the pay packet was larger than the one he was used to, which didn't hurt.

There were government documents declaring him alive, stating that it was just a bureaucratic mistake he was declared dead after the Battle of Canary Wharf. There were bank statements, notices of back pay, hazard pay, compensation for surviving the Battle and investment accounts in his name. Ianto, in this universe, had become a rich man, without a flat to support and suits to replace every other week.

The box also contained a Torchwood ID and swipecard, a regular government driver's license, a pair of credit cards, one personal and one for Torchwood, a standard Torchwood stun gun, and a mobile phone/PDA combo that had New Tosh's software fingerprints all over it.

He powered on the phone. New Jack had set a picture of himself shirtless as Ianto's wallpaper. He snickered and changed the picture to one of the standard ones that came with the phone, though he saved the picture of New Jack to look at later.

He went to a workstation and logged in. His email pinged, indicating New Tosh left him a message.

All your access codes have been activated officially. It seems the modifications I did yesterday *were* what Jack meant by basic access.

"Ah, Tosh," he said with a sigh. "You do know your stuff, don't you?" he murmured to himself. He went about sorting breakfast, since the Hub was completely empty.

Empty…

"Where's Myfanwy?" Ianto wondered aloud. He did a quick search of the main Hub before climbing to the aerie. It wasn't there. No nest, no dinosaur droppings, no Myfanwy. No evidence that she'd ever been there. He fell to his knees and fought for breath, feeling a panic attack coming on.

No Myfanwy! He'd ordered food for her just yesterday, even the chocolate. It was such a habit back in his universe that he did it by rote while he ordered the Weevil food. Shit, did that mean she'd been on her own this whole time? Because he hadn't been there to catch her with New Jack she'd been free to eat sheep and maybe get killed by some well-meaning shepherd? The walls started to close in around him.

"Myfanwy!" he shouted, calling for her. "Myfanwy!"

"Easy, mate," New Owen said, grabbing his upper arms. Ianto hadn't heard him climbing the ladder. "Take some deep breaths, OK? You need to calm down. You don't want me to have to sedate you, do you?"

Blinded by tears, Ianto shook his head and tried to do what New Owen said. Slowly, he managed to get his breath back. They waited a few more minutes as he calmed down.

"You get panic attacks a lot?" New Owen asked kindly. It was a strange tone of voice for him, but Ianto reminded himself that to New Owen, he was a virtual stranger. A crying, hyperventilating stranger. A stranger who knew things about his life. A stranger that New Jack just hired and was probably looking to shag.

"Not usually," Ianto said. "I had some after the Battle, but they've cleared up. Jack, he, he helped."

"You had one yesterday, Jack said. He called me about it. He's worried about you."

"I'm in a different universe than my own, with friends who don't know me and a lover who's supposed to marry someone else in a few days. Can you blame me?" Ianto asked.

New Owen grunted. He gave Ianto some tissues so he could wipe his face and led the way back down the the Hub where New Tosh and New Gwen were standing by Tosh's station.

"Where's Jack?" New Gwen demanded, as soon as Ianto was on their level. She glared at him accusingly.

"He's not in the Hub," New Tosh said for Ianto. "I checked. He's on one of his buildings. He's been there for hours."

"So he sent us out on that retrieval and left? He left this guy alone in our base? That's against protocol!"

Ianto flashed his Torchwood ID. "Actually, I'm staff now, too." He crossed his arms over his chest as he returned her heated look. Still slightly shaky from his panic attack, he hoped that the tremors in his muscles didn't show as much as he felt they would. He'd need a coffee, if he was going to survive the adrenaline crash and continue to send barbs in her direction. Something told him they would be much more pointed now, rather than the ones with His Gwen where he could be subtle, his relationship with His Jack secure, if undefined. "Jack hired me. I've signed the contract."

"What!" New Gwen shrieked. "How dare he do something like that without consulting me?"

"He's the boss," New Owen said. "Now I've got an alien to dissect." He pushed away from the others, moving towards the autopsy bay in his careful undead way.

"Right," New Tosh added. "Ianto, I'll show you our security protocols," she offered, indicating for him to sit next to her at her station. New Gwen stalked away, already pulling out her mobile to call New Jack.

"Thanks," Ianto whispered as he took his seat.

"No problem. She's been a real bitch since this morning."

"Jack must not have gone home again," Ianto mused.

"No, he's been on one of his roofs for the last eight hours."

"He's brooding, then," Ianto commented.

"Are you OK? You look a little pale. I mean, paler than usual. Oh, I mean — not that you're usually pale, or anything, but —"

"It's OK, Tosh. I had a rough night, and Owen just saved me from my second panic attack in twelve hours." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I just found out that you never caught Myfanwy."

"Who's Myfanwy?"

"Our pet pteradon."

"Oh. Wow!"

"Yeah. Can you check to see if there are reports of missing sheep in the countryside, or missing house pets? She might still be alive, in this universe, just not captured."

"I'll look."

"Thanks. Do you think Jack would be upset if I left the base? I want to get some more clothes. The style he bought for me isn't quite my own," he explained, tugging at the red hoodie.

"I'll cover for you if he asks."

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Ianto returned from the tailor's shop three hours later, with a receipt for a dozen bespoke suits to be completed within the month and several off the rack versions that had been quickly altered for his body. It felt good to be in a suit again, like he was more himself. He smiled as he made coffee, handing out cups to New Tosh and New Gwen. If he was going to live in this new universe, he figured, he was going to make the best of it and look good. He had the money. He hadn't had to spend nearly all of it on getting Tanizaki to Cardiff to look at the Cyberman that had taken over Lisa's body.

New Tosh thanked him and New Gwen spit in her mug before dumping it out. Ianto ignored her, deciding that he could live without having to make hers anymore. Standing in the main Hub, he looked to Jack's office, a tray with two cups still in his hand. New Jack still hadn't returned.

Ianto went out again, this time for more necessities, food, and bath products he'd need if he was going to live in the Hub, as seemed likely. He certainly wouldn't get a flat, if that meant he'd miss a chance to get home. He bought a new diary, and spent an hour in a cafe writing, copying from memory the entry he'd penned earlier and hidden in his cell before adding new material.

After everyone left, with New Jack still missing, Ianto logged in as Owen again and accessed Tosh's Rift predictor program. He found the readings for his arrival and memorized them as best as he could. He set up warnings and flags and reminders to go to his PDA in the event of the predictions matching the old readings with an 85% or greater accuracy. Logging out, he logged in as himself and looked through the email from Tosh about Myfanwy. Nothing conclusive, she said, but she'd keep looking.

When midnight arrived and still no sign of New Jack, Ianto retreated to the bunker to try to sleep, since he hadn't picked out a room for himself, and New Jack seemed to want him in his space, at least for now. He didn't relish the idea of going back to the cell to sleep, and New Jack's anger the night before wasn't something he wanted to risk again. There, surrounded by Jack's scent, he closed his eyes and imagined he was home. As he added details to his fantasy, it didn't take long for his body to respond to the smell and location. He stroked himself to a quick completion before rolling over to sleep, Jack's name on his lips.

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Thursday came, and still no sign of New Jack. New Tosh reported that he'd moved to a different building, but that was all. New Gwen continued using Torchwood time to finish planning the wedding, and Ianto had to listen to her loudly talking to her girlfriends about Friday's planned hen night. New Owen bestirred himself to give Ianto the weapons overview and accuracy test, which Ianto passed with flying colors. He was a bit disappointed that New Jack hadn't been there to give him 'pointers.'

Then again, if the shooting range was where New Jack first seduced New Gwen, maybe Ianto didn't want to be there with New Jack after all.

Ianto spent the day coordinating from the Hub while the rest of the team went out on calls. With New Jack still missing and not answering either his mobile or comms, it took longer then it should have. New Tosh and New Owen, by this point, had accommodated Ianto into their mental maps of Torchwood and were treating him like a team member and sort-of friend. New Gwen, on the other hand, ignored him when she wasn't glaring at him.

Ianto didn't sleep much that night, preferring to wander the Hub. His feet brought him to the old storage room where he'd kept Lisa for all those months, though it was clear this room hadn't been used in at least ten years, if the faded yellow newspaper was to be believed. He sat down in the pile of dust, for once not caring about his clothing. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, remembering that horrible time and all that he'd had to do to keep His Jack unaware of Lisa and Ianto's subterfuge.

God, I was so scared, those first few times I let him fuck me, Ianto thought. But he took care, in his off-handed way, and I got through it. By the time they found Lisa, I liked it, liked him. I was so conflicted, wanting him, needing her, not being honest to either of them. It was a bit of a relief when she was gone. Now I'm stuck in another mess, only this one is even more fucked-up, if that's possible.

New Jack, it seemed, trusted Ianto from the first, in part because of his knowledge of His Jack. In part, Ianto thought with a modicum of alarm, because New Gwen didn't treat him very well and he was starved for affection and a lover who was good to him.

The sound of his mobile ringing startled him out of a light doze and he answered sleepily.

"Hey, handsome, where are you?" New Jack asked, his words slightly slurred.

"I'm at the Hub," Ianto answered. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah. You should come over here, there are lots of really nice people!" In the background, Ianto could hear the sounds of a lively club, bass thrumming, women and men laughing and flirting.

"Hey, sugar," a female voice said near New Jack's ear, and thus, the phone. "Tell him the first drink's on me if he's handsome enough."

"Oh, he's handsome enough," New Jack enthused. "Best looking man I've seen in a long time. He's even into threesomes! You hear that, Ianto? Free drinks! And Sheila's really cute! You'll love her."

Ianto sighed in disgust. "No, Jack. I'll stay here, thank you very much."

"Woah, woah, what's wrong?"

"I am not going drinking with you to pick up women!" Ianto snarled. "I've had enough of that with my Jack. Either you go have your night out and enjoy yourself, by yourself, or come back here and sober up if you want to see me."

"But — but —"

"No buts, Jack. You know where to find me if you change your mind."

"Sugar, your boyfriend doesn't sound as into this as you said he'd be," Sheila cooed into New Jack's ear.

Ianto scowled and hung up. How dare New Jack call Ianto his boyfriend to some slut he met at a bar? How dare he go drinking after being gone for two days, leaving the rest of them to muddle by on their own? Ianto made his way back to his cell, deciding that he'd be better off there, with New Jack in the mood he was in. He didn't want to get involved in whatever New Jack was plotting.

Forty-five minutes later, a very drunk New Jack stumbled into Ianto's cell. Ianto woke to New Jack's lips on his cheek and New Jack's hands tugging at his pajamas. Ianto rolled over, drew the blanket over his head, and attempted to ignore him. It didn't work for very long. Soon a completely naked New Jack pulled Ianto off the slab that doubled as his bed and curled himself around Ianto on the floor.

Ianto grunted and freed himself from the blanket and New Jack's embrace. He carefully put the blanket around New Jack. "Sleep it off and we can talk in the morning, yeah? I'm not staying down here."

"But, Ianto —"

"Sleep," Ianto repeated, kissing New Jack's temple. "We'll talk in the morning." He trudged down the halls to the main Hub where he lay back on the ratty couch. Wouldn't be the first time he'd slept there.

Wouldn't be the first time Jack Harkness did something monumentally stupid, either.