Spoiler alert: Cyberwoman

Beta-ed: GlassSplinter

Ianto woke up disoriented. The smell of the bed was familiar but strange. The light was dim but it didn't look like daylight. Was it still nighttime? He felt as if he was run over by a train, like he was running for hours. He turned in bed and rubbed his eyes so he could see clearly. Oh, he remembered and sat up. He changed his position, he won't sit a lot today. He was alone in Jack's bed. Clearly he'd fallen asleep. When he spotted the clock he panicked a little. It was nine o'clock, the others would be there already, and his clothes... He sighed with relief when he spotted his suit neatly folded on a chair. Jack was kind to put it there, but nevertheless, the suit was irreparably crumbled by tossing. He got dressed and buttoned his jacket; hopefully nobody would look straight at him, they rarely did. He breathed in deeply and climbed up with all the dignity he could gather. He picked up Jack's clothes for dry cleaning so that he had a cover if anybody spotted him. Jack really should have woken him up earlier. He felt relief; Jack was alone behind his desk. He strode towards the door without hesitation.

"Oh, morning," Jack began cheerfully.

"I'll be back soon." Ianto opened the door and went down the stairs, no point in postponing it.

He walked through the office area surprised by his luck. There was nobody there. He managed to get to his car without running into somebody. He left the clothes in the dry cleaning, went to his flat and changed, then popped in for some pastries. When he got back the Hub was still and empty. They must be out on a mission. He started coffee machine, the light was on in Jack's office. He sighed and went up with a tray.

Jack was smiling without lifting his head.

"Just what I need, a cup of coffee." He reached for the mug gratefully and breathed it in. "And yes, I can eat, thank you." He grabbed a pastry and leaned back in his chair lifting his feet up on the table. "So, what you'll do today?"

Ianto blinked and shook his head confused.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you Owen declared this day free. They're off; you can take some time for yourself."

"Owen declared?" Ianto said with a smirk. "And since when is he the boss? You should have warned me, so I could quit on time." He started to straighten up the table.

"He wouldn't be that bad, would he?" Ianto raised his eyebrows doubtfully. "Anyway, he gave you a free day."

"No, thank you." Ianto dismissed that. "I'd rather clean up so that this looks like it should, at least for few hours, and I have loads of work in the archives." He grabbed the now empty tray and headed for the door.

"Or you could grab a coffee for yourself." Jack's voice stopped him at the door. He turned his head around. "Sit down, eat and maybe have some fun." For a moment Ianto smiled and gave Jack that look of his, under his eyebrows, but then he remembered how tired he really was, and because of that he straightened himself up.

"Tempting but I should, um, work." He offered a wider smile and retreated. He heard Jack's amused laughter behind him.

Ianto occupied himself with cleaning, and he really did succeed. The Hub looked almost decent. It's a pity that it would last only for a few hours. Owen, Gwen, Tosh, and even Jack would throw something and miss, or would simply put something in the wrong place. He sighed, there was nothing he could do about it, and he learned to deal with it in time.

Sometimes he longed for the clean and sterile surfaces of Torchwood one, but only sometimes, and only for a brief moment, because he'd remember what they did to Lisa. In the end they did let the Cybermen through. All those years fighting aliens made them self-assured, and greedy for more knowledge, more technology. They forgot that space is huge, and that they are not invincible. Knocking down that alien space ship gave them all reassurance that they needed to feel like they were the ones making decisions. He actually liked the personal character of Torchwood Three. It seemed to him, he realised it in time, that Jack was never too sure about the things they were facing. Of course there was technology that he was familiar with, and aliens he'd encountered before, but every now and then he looked around to see what was the right thing to do, was he going too far. Like that time that Gwen stopped him from shooting that man, the one he still dreamed about with his axe. Or that look filled with sadness after he gave up that girl to the fairies. Gwen was angry like hell at him, Owen an Tosh were stunned , but Ianto knew that Yvonne from Torchwood One would gave up a whole busload of children and wouldn't think twice about it, because she would believe strongly that she was right, that the world is exactly how she sees it. Jack will always doubt, that was why he let his people doubt him, defy him and even punch him in the nose. He would just carry on as if it was a discussion they needed to have. How far away that punch seemed to Ianto now, as if he was somebody else and it didn't pass that much time. Jack threatened to kill him that day if he didn't comply. He didn't comply to anything that day, and Jack just let it pass like he didn't ask him to kill her, to decide, like he didn't put the whole world in danger. The more he thought about it, the more his stomach twitched inside. They could've all died, Rihannon, and David, and Mica. When he thinks about it too much he drifts into the senseless darkness. He didn't even notice that he stopped in the middle of the Hub and stared into that future where he would've caused all that destruction, and this time, Torchwood wouldn't be the one to blame, it would only be him behind it all. He was startled from his thoughts by Jack's hand, put on his shoulder as he sometimes did in a comforting way.

"Are you ok?" Jack sounded worried.

"Yes," he nodded quickly. "Fine, just thinking, sorting things out."

Jack smiled.

"Ok," he said softly, as if he knew Ianto was disturbed. "Maybe we should have something to eat."

"Of course, Jack." He forced a smile on his face. "I'll order."