A/N: here we go again after a short break. Here is Ianto pondering in the bathroom.

No spoilers

Beta-ed: TattoedLibrarian

Ianto stood under the shower and let the hot water run down his body. He felt fine. He hadn't felt fine in ages; he forgot just how good it feels. He felt no aching or pain, there was no discomfort or anxiety; it was all washed away from him. And Jack did all that. Ianto smiled at the blue tiles thinking just how little was required for him to get to this pain free state. Sure it took months, but in the end all that was needed was a warm body to sleep by; to be precise Jack's warm body beside him. It was silly really, he chuckled at himself, to feel this way just because they had fallen asleep from exhaustion; but as he did with pain and hurt he embraced this feeling as well. He decided he wouldn't deny himself this feeling just because it was a bit embarrassing just how much he enjoyed kissing Jack Harkness, and how welcomed was his face when he opened his eyes. Jack really did make the morning good one.

Ianto turned around and leaned against the wall thinking he wouldn't mind being awarded with the sight of Jack at the bathroom doors. Speaking of that, he was lingering too long in here. Jack hadn't interrupted him. In fact Jack had been careful all evening and morning, making sure he didn't cross any of Ianto's lines, you could say he acted almost insecure. Ianto smiled at that notion and dried himself recklessly putting a towel around his waist. Ianto opened up the door and was greeted with silence. Jack was nowhere in sight. Ianto felt disappointed by that. Sleeping over was just an accident. He approached the kitchen to make some coffee and noticed little white scrap of paper on the counter.

"Dinner, tonight, at 20PM, I'll pick you up" it said with Jack's handwriting and Ianto smiled again feeling light. Ok, so he was the girl in this scenario, let see how that goes. He wasn't bothered by that position, Jack was older... much older, and the boss... at least at work. Ianto wasn't going to linger on just how much older he was, he looked good as hell, and was more than attractive. In the past three months while he was gone, Ianto learned that he cared about him more than just a bit. He cared a lot, and that was ok, Ianto was that kind of person, he just didn't know how to love less. Luckily Jack was there to even him out, to keep things lighter, and fun. Ianto liked fun; he was almost casual when fun was at hand.

Ianto focused on his clothing. Yesterday there was a light pink shirt, and he was quite fond of that shirt, but today he could go with purple, it looked dashing but serious, a bit detached. Ianto laughed at that thought, he was all but detached right now. He didn't even care that rest of them would notice his mood; hiding seemed like such a waste of energy, he'd done enough of that.

As he exited his apartment he thought about his and Jack's fling, it went in wrong order. Full hard sex was first, all play and hardness, or was it first betrayal, deceit and cheating? After that came thoughtfulness, then abandonment, just to be replaced by kissing, some almost modest making out, and fully clothed sleeping. And now they are about to go on their first date. If he wasn't careful they'd end up introducing themselves, but maybe that wasn't a bad idea. They never really just talked; last night was a glimpse of what that talking might look like. Ianto liked it; he would like to be able to express himself, to just say what's on his mind, which would be a welcomed change. He decided he would do just that. He'd just stick with what he decided yesterday that he wouldn't have any kind of fling with Jack if it meant he'd have to stand aside and pretend everything was alright while he quite obviously hurt. Jack might be fun and taste great, but Ianto just wasn't the kind of person that could overlook his deeper emotions that were always on the verge of pain.

Ianto tidied up tourist office area aware that they had just rushed out moments ago competing with a bomb. It was a convenient side effect of time paradox, Hub wasn't abandoned over night, and everyone got good night sleep.

"Oi Tea boy, finally! Were your dreams great, cause mine weren't" Owen scowled at him. "Turning off your phone was such a great idea; I wish I thought of it." He rubbed his neck and Ianto was battled for a moment.

"Wasn't it the point? Going home to get some sleep?" Ianto rolled his eyes and decided to ignore him.

"That is just wishful thinking" grumbled Owen "anyway I'm done with him, you can move him down to the morgue."

"Who?" Ianto was disconcerted.

"Wish you didn't unplug your land line, huh?" Owen grinned. "Make my coffee extra strong." He rushed out."

"Oh, sweetie" Gwen patted him on the shoulder. "You were the lucky one tonight, pleasant dreams, I hope?"

"Why do people even own a land line these days" Tosh mumbled under her breath "it's not like we're in a time paradox every day, I wouldn't remember to use it. When my phone rang I jumped in the air thinking it was the burglars' alarm. Tell me Ianto did you unplug it from your wall or just unhooked the headpiece, does it still makes that annoying sound, cause I can't sleep with it."

Ianto opened up his mouth but nothing came out, what should he say? His phone didn't ring at all last night, and it was regularly in use because Rhiannon preferred to stay behind technology and take her time to adjust.

"We should have tried the mobile" Gwen smiled "just to see which Ianto would pick up."

"And just how would you tell the difference?" Tosh was thoughtful.

"Or we could have just stopped by and fetched him, an extra pair of hands would have been helpful" Gwen mused further and Ianto felt burning in his cheeks.

"I'll take you all had an eventful night" Ianto finally decided to cut through "I take it that Jack was unreachable?"

"Why in the hell would we willingly go out after day like yesterday to fight an alien that would have passed unnoticed if left alone?" Gwen said with her sweet voice "Of course that it took our beloved leader that was missing to take us out," her voice was full of sarcasm "he dragged us out from beds without a second of explanation and threw us at that thing. You were in luck, he hadn't had time to go and fetch you."

Ianto frowned; he wasn't in the shower that long and he could have easily fetched him anytime.

"Then you were awfully quick in overpowering him." He said turning towards coffee machine.

"Maybe but it felt like hours;" Gwen sighed "all that dragging through the mud and hanging from a tree."

"You all are clean" Ianto turned towards them "did Jack get the mud part?" he smiled hoping he would understand soon.

"No" Gwen laughed "lucky bastard went unscratched like he knew every move the alien would take, I was the muddy one, I've cleaned up. Oh look at the time, its morning already, I'll be right back." She rushed out. Ianto tried to make sense of it.

"Don't beat yourself about it" Tosh spoke up "its additional day anyway, Jack got to use us twice at the same time, and nobody can pay that. He sure can't make it like you skipped day."

"Rise and shine" Jack appeared at that moment. "You look stunning." He grinned widely all fresh and new and Ianto finally got it and as it all fell together he felt anger rising up.

So, any thoughts on this one?