When he got back to the team, Tosh hugged him right away and he awkwardly patted her back after two minutes as she seemed to refuse to let him go. Gwen also hugged him, which was weird, especially considering how he had behaved the two previous days – she never liked it when Ianto was using his power to suppress hers – and Owen even nodded in his direction, though he looked like he hadn't slept in a month and was clearly avoiding any eye contact. Ianto went to Jack's office as soon as he could, and closed the door behind him. Jack was working on paperworks, but forgot about everything when he looked up. His face lightened up and a happy smile appeared on his tired face. He almost jumped on his feet and jogged to Ianto who laughed despite himself. Jack kissed him on the lips as a greeting then put his arms around him to hug him as the others had done. Lots of hugs in a very short time, Ianto thought, noticing he liked Jack's embrace more than anyone else. He closed his eyes and put his arms around his waist and his face on his neck, enjoying the moment.

Jack pulled back when Ianto started to cry. He took his hand and dragged him to his chair, but Ianto protested and shook his head.

"What is it Ianto?" Jack asked, not understanding his behaviour. "I'm just trying to help..."

"I... God it hurts... Do you have any painkillers? Anything? I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize. And what hurts?"

"My back," Ianto admitted in a whisper, wiping the tears away from his face. Since they had rushed to Rhiannon's last night, his back was hurting him. It happened sometimes, as if his scar suddenly woke up to make him suffer. He usually just let it pass, not knowing what to do, and refusing to talk about it.

Jack froze, and Ianto knew he would have to talk about it, one day. He had asked him only once, but his eyes were wondering every time he caught a glimpse of the huge scar that ran down Ianto's spine. But Jack just nodded and let him go to disappear from the office. He came back with a lot of things in his hands, and Ianto frowned.

"Take your shirt off."

"Jack I..."

"Please. Let me see if it's okay," Jack begged, concerned.

Ianto sighed and obeyed, taking his shirt off, turning his back on Jack and resting his hands on the desk. He flinched and hissed when Jack put a careful hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry."

"Your hands are cold," Ianto nervously laughed.

Jack kissed him on the shoulder and he relaxed a bit, only shivering when the hand returned to his back. Soon enough, he didn't mind the cold any more, and the feeling of Jack running his fingers on his back was relaxing. He clenched his fist but said nothing when Jack finally stopped avoiding the scar and touched it. He closed his eyes, trying to fight back the memories.

"Can I just ask one question?" Jack asked with tears in his voice and Ianto had to turn his head to look at him just to be sure. He didn't say anything when he saw Jack crying but nodded. Jack took a deep breath. "How old were you?"

Ianto stilled and waited a long time, then breathed out, a bit too quickly and harshly, and turned his head so Jack couldn't see him. Jack didn't press him, and Ianto turned again when he heard him opening something.

"It's just some cream. I'm not sure it can help, but it's worth a try," Jack said when he noticed Ianto's tensed shoulders and his alarming look. He relaxed again and looked away when Jack put his hand back on his body.

"I don't really know," he eventually said. Jack stopped for a second, but quickly resumed his work. "It was at the beginning, I must have been eleven."

This time, Jack stopped but it took him more time to keep going. Ianto hissed as Jack was being rougher than before, and Jack apologized in a whisper.

"You never had the intention of telling me, did you?" He asked after a while.

"I don't know," Ianto said with honesty. "I didn't want to talk about it."

"But now you want?"

"I... I don't know. Maybe. But it's not... It's not something you want to know," Ianto admitted, ashamed. Jack stopped again, his hands disappearing from Ianto's back. "I'm sorry I'm such a mess, and causing problems. It's just... a lot to bear sometimes. I wish I could talk about it, but you really don't want to hear everything and..."

"Stop talking," Jack snapped even if he was trying to sound casual.

Ianto stopped, surprised by Jack's order. He gasped when a hand grabbed his wrist and turned him around, maybe a bit too harshly, but Jack was too angry and sad to control his emotions. Ianto had never seen him lost control, and it was confusing.

"I don't want you holding back. Ianto I... I care about you, more than you probably realise. If you need to talk, I'm here to hear. And nothing will ever be too much for me, I can take it, I can listen to your story. I just... I l... I just need you, okay? I need you to be happy 'cause seeing you happy... It's what makes my day, okay?"

Ianto stared at Jack, not knowing what to do or say. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out and he closed it again. Jack did everything, taking him in his arms again.

"I won't put any pressure on you," he whispered against his ear. "But please, I'm here. Don't do this to yourself, I... I make probably much worse scenarios in my head than what truly happened. And I know what they could do, trust me," Jack added.

He pulled back after a minute and ruffled Ianto's hair with a childish smile, so the moment would lose a bit of its emotion. Ianto opened his mouth again, but he still didn't know what to say, so he instead crashed their lips together, trying to say everything he couldn't put words on with that kiss. And Jack responded the same way. And if Ianto had once had doubts about Jack's true feeling, their kiss couldn't lie.

"Okay, that was something," Jack laughed when they parted, their lips still so close Jack was almost kissing him when talking.

Ianto smiled in response and kissed him again. Jack eventually stepped back and cleared his throat, taking a good look at Ianto's bare chest.

"Hm. Okay. We should probably get back to the team. They'll think we're doing weird things in there."

"Aren't we, though?"

"Nah, that's not weird. We're just kissing."

"Sure. You know I could feel you against me, right?"

"Well you didn't put much of a fight, did you? Anyway, why don't you head off there first, I'll be right behind you. Go see Tosh, she'd like to help, and I was on some paperwork, you distracted me enough!"

Ianto laughed and nodded, putting his shirt back on – and maybe putting a bit on a show for Jack – and took the pills Jack was holding as well as a bottle of water. He kissed Jack one last time to thank him and disappeared from the room.