Hi, here is new chapter further into Ianto's dealings with things. I've caught up with my writing so there may be few days before next ch. Hope not too long. Enjoy.

Spoiler alert: Fragments

Beta-ed: TattooedLibrarian

The next few days were very neat and organised for Ianto, even by his standards. He had found new place, and boxed his things. In the process he got rid of many things that belonged to his past; his and Lisa's belongings, little things that reminded him of good times. Luckily he hadn't invited Jack into his space, so there weren't any things that would remind him of Jack. Except of his suits, but he couldn't really get rid of those or his stopwatch, his grandfather had left him that watch, he couldn't possibly get rid of that just because he'd used it in some game he made up. It is strange how many things can remind you of some person, random things you never think of. Like bottles of water, he wouldn't trade in his favourite brand of water just to forget Jack. It's not like he's important, not that much. Besides it's pointless to get rid of such small things while he carried on working for Torchwood. If he quit he wouldn't remember anyway.

It's not like Ianto thought of him much, but in the Hub they constantly talking about Jack. It wasn't just enough for them to know that he's gone. They had to know why, where, and how long. It was childish really, Ianto thought, to be so bluntly unaware of the consequences. Jack himself had told them that actions have consequences.

"But why didn't he leave a note" Gwen was talking again "he must have been trapped, or abducted, maybe worse. He wouldn't just leave us like this."

Ianto sighed and headed for the archives again. Down there he could be at peace from Jack. There were cells to be cleaned, Weevils to be fed, and files to be sorted. All of this was far more pleasant then listening to them rambling on and avoiding the obvious answers.

Gwen was inside the Hub when Jack left, she was in the other room, he could have just shouted out and said 'goodbye, I'm off, my ride is here, take care'. The cameras were on he could shouted in them 'I won't be back'; 'I quit', or 'see you soon', he knew Tosh could have easily interpreted that. But he didn't do anything, they weren't on his mind, he just wanted to go, and who could blame him? Ianto couldn't. If Ianto had been the one that was shot at, and then laid in the morgue for days, he sure wouldn't stick around to find what kind of death they could think of next.

In his sorting and updating the archives Ianto was more than efficient considering the time he put into it and that his flat wouldn't be ready for moving for couple more days, and the construction on the Hub hadn't begun yet. That's how he ended up before the almost cloaked doors. He hesitantly pushed them almost expecting a grey blanket on the floor. Of course the room was empty not that was impossible to expect Jack there. He was after all, travelling through space and time, he could literally be anywhere. That made it all the clearer that he wouldn't be coming back. With a time travelling machine he could take a tour around the universe and get back in same minute, nobody would know he was gone. He could just pop up behind them and say 'who's taken me', take coffee from Ianto and start ordering them around. They wouldn't even know how much time had passed for him.

Ianto decided that he wouldn't be so skittish, nor would he expect Jack to pop out of any corner. He straightened himself up and entered the room starting from the first cabinet working his way through the drawers. While he was working he kept his back turned away from that spot in the centre where Jack had almost made him cry. He was satisfied that his mind didn't dwell on it too much, that showed that his self-control was coming back to him.

He was stuck way in the back thinking about stopping for the day when one label caught his eye. He had to crouch down to see it properly; it was on the bottom drawer. The label was slightly brighter than the labels around it. The paper on most of the drawers was faded and yellow from aging. After all this was room with personal files on the Torchwood employees from the turn of the century, 19th to 20th. This part of archives were rarely used, they weren't necessary for lives and deaths those agents, their short lived lives. Ianto wasn't going to spend much time in this room, he was just checking on labels, years, and was making new signatures easier to find in computer file bank. Until this one he had opened just a few drawers to be sure he was on the right track, but this drawer wasn't just different coloured paper, it was obviously younger than its counterparts, but that wasn't what was bothering Ianto. Sometimes labels were disposed of for new ones, but this was just wrong. It said "Northern Expedition". That had no place here. The Northern Expedition files were three levels lower, Ianto hadn't gotten there yet. This was really a mess he thought and he better sort it out now.

Ianto pulled the drawer out and Jack's name caught his attention. He cursed Jack inwardly. Must he be everywhere? There wasn't any place that was safe from him. Of course, Jack could be so old to participate in that expedition. He had no intention of investigating Jack's involvement in such adventure, but then his mind rewound what he knew about the Northern Expedition. Ianto was somewhat interested in whole incident, mostly because he adored the North Pole, and secondly because he was sucker for pioneers, especially so ill advised ones, that had spend months in search for alien habitats underneath the ice. There was no mention of Jack Harkness on that mission, even more; there wasn't that Harkness signature anywhere. No danger, risk, references of staff looks, no wit anywhere, just deadpan tone and official references. Jack wouldn't be caught dead near those. Well maybe dead.

That's why Ianto pulled the first file out and started to read it. He was half way through when he realised what he was reading. They were reports from Torchwood surveying Jack around Cardiff on the end of 19th century.

"First I'm going to kiss the Doctor, and then I'm going to kill him."

"The Doctor he left me behind."

That was enough of Jack's drunken ramblings for Ianto. It did coincide with recent events. Ianto flipped through the drawer looking at the years just brushing through events, not really wanting to know. The whole drawer belonged to Jack, the whole century, and even more was there. He walked through it all; he was that old, maybe even more. Ianto returned to the file he was holding.

"My time vortex manipulator broke" said Jack in the bar, which drew full attention of rather uninterested Torchwood operatives that had been watching Jack and his many deaths. He had deranged death wish.

But obviously the Torchwood operatives had an even worse fascination of death, and ideas how to reach it. Ianto threw down file horrified. Obviously Jack had already been to the Torchwood basement. Thinking about Jack locked away in the vault made Ianto sick.

He felt sorry for Jack, but then a little, fat fictional figure from his teens came into his mind.

"Do not dare to turn my victory into defeat by pitying me, I won." Lord Mark said with furry and Ianto straighten himself up. Jack won, all those people were a long time dead, he outlived them all, and he survived their narrow minded ways of looking at life. He would not appreciate pity thrown his way. That's why Ianto closed Jack's file, tucked it back in the drawer and shut it. If Jack wanted him to know any of that he would have told him. Instead he hid himself behind a false label to turn away any curious investigator and it would have worked, even on Ianto, only if the piece of paper that he used wasn't so white. Ianto took it out to discover the yellow label beneath. "Captain Jack Harkness" it clearly stated. Ianto took that label and went to the typewriter that was held in the main archive room. He turned the label around and typed on the back: Years 1902. - 1906. They were the most uneventful years he could think off, and they also fit the surroundings of Jack's drawer. That way nobody would be tempted to move it. If the drawer was moved Jack would have much difficulty in finding it.

While Ianto placed label in its place, he realized that he believed that Jack would return at some point; probably when all of them were gone. He had that luxury to wait until the right moment. Ianto paused on that thought. Was that what Jack had been doing all this time, waiting for the ride, waiting for the Doctor. When he thought of it like that it sure looked that way.

Ianto had suddenly felt utterly defeated. He didn't stand a chance in any moment. He really was just a passing time distraction. There were no sci-fi quotes that could help him with that so he got up and went left the room. He felt a bit disoriented when he entered main floor.

Quote: Mirror Dance, Lois McMaster Bujold (love her and lord Mark:) This is maybe my favorite quote from her. Don't know if it is correct because it's my free translation from Croatian version.