Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Ianto, Jack, OCs

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 6,592 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 239 - Bar

Summary: Ianto and Jack are finally getting around to their first official date. As expected, nothing goes quite how they imagined it.

Ianto picked nervously at the cuff of his woolen jumper, removing a piece of balled up lint. He shouldn't be this nervous. He saw Jack every day, and he'd lost count of how many times they'd slept together. Yet, this whole promise of a proper first date had his stomach twisting in on itself in knots of anxiety.

It had been a couple of weeks since the invitation, and strangely, after many months of Jack being gone, things had settled back into familiar old patterns, just as if he'd never been gone at all. It was nice in a lot of ways, just to go back to the ways things were, but it also took something away from the rest of them, as if they'd become diminished by Jack's presence. He didn't meant to take away responsibility from them, only that they'd grown in the time he'd been missing, presumed never to return. They'd made Torchwood into something that was theirs, and now Jack was back at the helm, leaving them all in that unknown space between what had been and what could have been had things continued in their natural progression. Still, he couldn't deny that he was glad to have Jack back, and even gladder that Jack's interest in him hadn't waned in the time he'd been gone, which by all accounts, was a lot longer than what they themselves had experienced.

In fact, it was quite disturbing to think that he'd lived and experienced a whole period of time that he couldn't now recall, because as Jack had explained it to them, it had technically never happened. The present he was living now was a rewrite of one that had occurred before. Jack had been sketchy on the details of what they'd been doing, claiming not to know. Ianto knew perfectly well, as did the rest of them, that Jack was intentionally withholding the truth, as he so often did, but that doing so was meant to protect them in some way. Perhaps one day they'd find out, but for now the present as it currently stood was fine by him.

He stepped out of that car, parked in a side street in the middle of the city centre, checking his phone again to make sure he had the address and the instructions of how to get there correct. He thought he knew every nook and cranny of this small city, but it turned out there were still hidden spaces and unknown locales that he was yet to discover.

He followed the map directions, heading down a one way street, and then left into an access lane that ran perpendicular. He scrunched his nose at the smell emanating from the dumpsters strewn haphazardly along the narrow strip. This didn't exactly bode well for the place Jack had asked him to meet, some bar where Jack had insisted the drinks were good, and the atmosphere one of a kind.

It wasn't quite how he pictured a first date starting, but then again, he imagined Jack wasn't the type to turn up at your door with flowers, either. How did guys do first dates? Perhaps this was how, he thought, coming to the end of the lane and finding the inconspicuous entrance. He leaned across and pressed the intercom, attempting to speak the password Jack had given him. 'It's an exclusive kinda place,' he'd said.

Exclusive was an understatement. He could barely wrap his tongue around the word, which was definitely not of Earth origins. A private joke of some kind, no doubt. Perhaps it was something really dirty and inappropriate. That would be just the sort of thing that might amuse him, forcing Ianto to speak something entirely outside of his usual restrained vocabulary. Jack had a lot of contacts around the city and might have set this up especially, though it was a lot of effort to go to. He hoped Jack hadn't booked the venue out. As awkward as he felt about being out in public with another man, it seemed easier to blend into a crowd than be left alone in case everything went badly.

The reason Jack had picked this place, and the necessity for all the cloak and dagger passwords became readily apparent as he stepped inside. It may have looked and sounded like any other bar in the city, but the clientele were most definitely not locals. Well, not the kind Ianto was used to. He recognised some of the alien species, but a good number left him staring dumbly and hoping he wasn't offending by looking. If anything, he felt like he was the one out of place. He assumed they probably didn't get a lot of earthlings in here. Instead he directed his gaze around the bar, looking for his date, finding Jack nestled at a table on the far side. As Ianto approached, Jack spotted him, standing up to greet him. The peck on the cheek and the hand that rested gently on his waist was unexpected but not entirely unpleasant.

'Glad you found the place okay,' Jack said, resuming his seat. 'You look amazing,' he added approving of the deep green sweater and dark jeans that replaced Ianto's usual suited attire.

Ianto brushed off the compliment, thought it made him tingle in the inside that Jack thought he looked nice. 'What is this place?'

'The Star Bar. Nice little place where you don't have to fit in.'

'Obviously,' Ianto said, giving another look around the room. He'd never felt less like he fitted in. 'Has this place been here long?'

Jack shrugged. 'Fifteen years, twenty. I lose count. Helped give them their first business loan and it's been paying me back in kind ever since.'

Of course Jack would have to be involved. He was probably the only one who knew the alien community that lived in secret amongst the general citizens. How they kept it a secret when the rest of Torchwood was such a badly maintained front was anyone's guess. 'Well, I suppose they're entitled to a pint at the end of the day just as much as the rest of us,' he replied.

Jack downed the remnants of his glass. 'What can I get you to drink? They do a mean vodka and tonic.'

'That's okay,' Ianto said, already extracting his wallet. They may have been on a date, but he could still pay for his own drinks. 'You can buy the next round,' he added.

'Oh, sounds promising,' Jack replied, giving him a wink and a smile. 'Get me one of those V and Ts and tell them to hold the ice.'

Ianto leveled his gaze at Jack. 'You don't drink.'

'Of course I drink, Ianto,' he replied. 'Just not while I'm on the clock.'

He gave Jack a withering look. 'You're always on the clock.'

Jack chuckled at the comment. 'You should've seen me in my partying days in the Vegas Galaxy. I could drink five hypervodkas and still walk a straight line.' He gave a cheeky little grin. 'Not that there was anything straight about those places, if you know what I mean,' he added, waggling an eyebrow at him, that familiar white smile breaking down his defences.

Ianto resisted the urge to groan. They were on a date after all. Perhaps just this once Jack had decided to dispense with his usual beverage of choice. As he stepped up to the bar he was about to ask for a pint of light ale and then changed his mind.

'One vodka and tonic, no ice, and a scotch. Neat.'

The barman gave him a salacious up and down look, himself dressed in tight black jeans and a tighter shirt, the tips of his hair bleached blond. He could have almost passed for human, had it not been for the place green skin and the little fins that stuck out of the side of his neck, which fluttered flirtatiously at him, or so he thought.

'I haven't seen you in here before. Where are you from, love?' The barman had a smooth voice, with that hint of camp that had always made Ianto feel uncomfortable, like he was being checked out as a possible date.

'Um, Earth, actually,' Ianto replied, suddenly feeling out of place in a bar full of aliens. He remembered Jack's stories about how the rest of the universe wasn't quite as strict in its sexual preferences.

'Well, wonders never cease,' the barman replied. 'With the Captain tonight, I see?'

'First date.' He hoped he wasn't blushing as he said it, but feeling the heat creeping up his neck and into his cheeks.

The barman tutted, casting a gaze across at Jack who was looking the other way, watching a the few beings swaying on the small dance floor. He leaned over the bar, resting his elbows on the polished surface. 'Look, you seem like a nice fella, so I should warn you he's been here a while.'

'That would be a first.' Jack on time for anything was a miracle. Early was virtually unheard-of.

'I don't think you get my meaning. He was flirting with someone else before you arrived.'

Ianto snorted at that. 'Jack flirts with everyone.'

'Oh, no, it wasn't just that.' The barman leaned closer, still keeping one eye on Jack. 'He took them upstairs.'

'Upstairs? What's upstairs?'

'Rooms, darling ! You know, for a little bit of quiet time?'

Oh, Ianto thought. That kind of upstairs.

'Now, don't get me wrong, I love him to bits,' the barman insisted. 'He's done a lot to keep this place under wraps and overflowing with customers, but he's a serial upstairs-er if you know what I mean.'

Ianto knew exactly what he meant. Jack came here to shag. Frequently, it seemed. The thought gnawed at him. Had he been coming here in the months before he left with his Doctor? The months when they'd been sleeping together on and off? Sure, they were nothing official, and it wasn't what you'd call regular servicing, but it still hurt a little to think he was just one of many. Worse still was the thought that he'd been invited here tonight on the premise that Jack wanted to make things official, and yet five minutes beforehand, he'd been screwing someone else.

'I'm sorry, love,' the barman said, seeing the mixed emotions playing across his face. 'I only thought it fair you knew.'

'No, thank you,' Ianto insisted. Better he knew now when it was likely to hurt less, though he wasn't sure how it could hurt more than it already did.

The barman pushed the two glasses across the counter. 'On the house, love. I think you might need it.'

By the time he reached the table with the drinks in hand, he'd almost forgotten what he'd just been told. There was something in the way Jack was looking at him, slowly undressing him with his eyes that made Ianto's brain turn to mush.

'I've nearly finished that report for UNIT,' he said, setting the drinks down, not sure where to begin. He took a large swig, letting the scotch burn all the way down to his empty stomach.

'That's good,' Jack replied, though sounding semi-disinterested. Ianto tried to find something else to say. Work was really the only thing they had in common. He'd never been much good at smalltalk.

'You seem nervous, Ianto,' Jack observed, easing back a little as if to give him space.

'I'm not very good at first dates,' he confessed.

Jack gave a little wave of nonchalance. 'We're not strangers.' He slowly sipped his drink. 'Tell me something I don't know about you.'

Ianto couldn't be sure if it was the alcohol or the way Jack's eyes bored into him with such intensity, hanging going on every word, but he was soon telling him all kinds of things. Most of it was inane stuff, memories from years ago, things about his life growing up in the estate, family holidays they'd taken over the summer, the part time job he'd had making coffee at a cafe in London. All stupid, trivial things that bore no relevance to anything. He hadn't even realised he'd done most of the talking, Jack merely adding comments here and there. Jack would ask him about what were the most interesting things he'd uncovered in the archives, the strangest things, and the things that frightened him the most, or that simply confused the hell out of him.

Soon his earlier anxieties were a distant memory, as was the idea that Jack was interested in anyone but him. He hadn't so much as looked at another patron the entire time they'd been there. Perhaps the bartender was jealous, an old flame embittered by Jack's latest beau, or maybe he'd been trying to garner Ianto's own interest. Whatever it was, it began to feel irrelevant. Ianto was enjoying himself, not even realising that Jack had given up very little of himself in the exchange. It didn't seem to matter. Jack was full of outlandish stories and never shy about regaling them to everyone. It was actually nice to have someone ask Ianto about himself, as if they cared.

Somewhere along the line, his empty glass had been replaced by a fresh one, but all he could recall was watching Jack's outline saunter over to the bar, moving in time with the beat of the music and admiring the figure he cut. It didn't matter that the bar was full of strange creatures he'd never seen before. He only had eyes for one, dressed in that familiar grey coat.

'You want another drink?' Jack asked, looking down at his now second empty glass.

'I kind of thought you'd suggested dinner and a movie. I assumed this was just a way to ease into things.' Or perhaps to loosen up Ianto with a few stiff drinks. He couldn't deny he'd felt like he needed them. After two, he felt fine, and not at all tipsy. Well, maybe just a little.

'You know, Ianto? I'm not really that hungry anymore. What's say we take this upstairs, instead?'

Something inside Ianto went snap, like he was being woken up to reality. They way Jack had suggested it was too smooth; too well practised. He remembered the barman's warnings. It sent off alarm bells. 'Upstairs?' Ianto asked, playing dumb.

'You know, somewhere private where we can entertain ourselves. Alone. Just the two of us.'

'Oh, you mean like the person you were entertaining before I arrived?'

Jack's expression darkened momentarily. 'How do you know about that?'

'So, you don't deny it?'

Jack squirmed uncomfortably, before straightening. 'Of course not.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'No, of course you don't. Why should any of us think we have exclusive rights?' He went to stand up and leave, but Jack grabbed him forcefully by the wrist.

'Don't go.'

'Why not? I'm sure you can find someone else to shag tonight. There's plenty of choice,' he said, looking around, trying to pick the most likely candidate. He didn't know why it would make him feel better to know what they looked like. He knew Jack's type. Young, attractive, multiple appendages probably preferred.

'Wait,' Jack pleaded. 'You think I was having sex up there?' He burst out laughing, seeing the confirmation etched on Ianto's face. 'Ianto, I was doing business. Torchwood business.'

'You were,' Ianto said, the skepticism clear in his voice. 'That's not what everyone else seems to think.' He nodded towards the bar and gave Jack the eyebrow.

Jack let out a little groan. 'Ianto, sometimes the easiest way to hide something is to let everyone think that you're doing exactly what they think you are. It helps if they think I'm here for the quick shag on a regular basis. It certainly makes it easier to grab intel, and you don't have to hole up for the entire night before going your separate ways. In and out in under an hour. Job done.' He pulled Ianto down to sit back down next to him. 'I know I might look like the unfaithful type, but believe me, beneath all the flashy confidence I'm no different to you.'

Ianto doubted Jack was anything like him, but it was also true that they were both more complicated than first met the eye. He gave Jack the benefit of the doubt. 'Okay, then. Lead the way.'

Jack took him by the hand and expertly weaved him through the Thursday night crowd. Ianto realised should have asked more questions about the aliens sharing the space with them, but he supposed there'd be time enough for that later, assuming things went well.

Jack drew them up the narrow concrete steps to the floor above, listening as the music faded to a jumbled hum. 'This is us,' he said, coming to a stop in front of the door, marked only by the number three. He slipped a key card from his coat pocket and slipped it into the door. Once they were inside, Jack flipped the lock on the door. 'Don't want any interruptions, do we? As much as we'd likely put on quite a show tonight, that's reserved just for us.'

'Same room as before?' Ianto asked.

'My business is concluded, if that's what you're wondering. He won't be troubling us tonight. The only thing left on my agenda tonight is you.'

'Well, don't let me hold things up, then,' Ianto said, feeling that rush just before they came together. Jack wrapped him up in his arms and kissed him deeply, letting the young man reciprocate.

As Jack tortured his mouth, Ianto breathed him in. He smelled different tonight. It was spicy, with a hint of vanilla, heady but alluring. Perhaps he'd splashed on a little something extra for their date. Whatever it was, he could get used to that smell. It and the two glasses of scotch were proving to be an intoxicating combination. If he'd had any hunger pains from the lack of dinner, they were quickly forgotten as he plundered Jack's mouth, looking to fill it in other ways.

After ten minutes of relentless kissing and caressing, Jack pulled away from him, leaving him feeling bereft, even if it was a fleeting thing.

'There was one other reason I chose this bar,' Jack said. He reached into his pocket and held up a little vial of something clear and electric blue.

'Party drugs on a first date?' Ianto queried. This was definitely not like any first date Ianto had ever been on.

'Well,' Jack said, looking nervous for the first time tonight. 'I kinda think we're past first base.'

'Apparently,' he replied. He narrowed his eyes at the vial between Jack's fingers. 'What is that supposed to do, exactly?'

'Just shifts everything up a few gears.'

Ianto resisted the urge to scoff. Things with Jack were never far from full throttle as it were. Did they really need something that would take it to another level? What would that even be like? He had a feeling he knew already. Intense beyond anything.

'You trust me, don't you?' Jack said it with such sincerity that Ianto nodded instinctively.

He slowly reached for it, his fingers brushing Jack's as he took the vial, a fluttering in his stomach as they touched. 'How's it taste?' he asked.

'How it tastes isn't important,' Jack replied.

Ianto gave an awkward little toast. He unscrewed the silver cap and had it halfway to his lips when there was an almighty crash of something forcing its way through the door.

'Don't drink that!' came the sudden yell.

Ianto spun, something or someone knocking the vial from his hand, where it tumbled to the floor, the contents spilling across the timbers and soaking in to leave a stain. Ianto frowned in confusion as he saw Jack standing there, gun raised at him. He quickly turned his head to see Jack behind him as well. Bloody hell. There were two of them. But which one was the real one?

'Who the hell are you?' Jack demanded, coming up from behind Ianto and placing his arms protectively around his lover.

'That's what I'd like to know,' said the Jack who'd burst in through the door, keeping his Webley trained on the pair of them.

The Jack standing behind Ianto gripped him by the arm, halting any movement. 'You should be dead,' he said.

'You did a good job, but not good enough,' Jack replied. 'What you didn't count on was my inability to stay dead.'

'Jack?' Ianto asked, confused, but getting the feeling that the real Jack was the one who'd gatecrashed their date, rather than the one he'd spent the past hour with. 'What's going on?' He cast his eyes down at the floor, where the bottle lay useless and empty. 'What was in that bottle?'

'Truth serum. An awfully powerful one at that. If you'd drunk that stuff, you'd have been spilling your guts about everything you knew,' Jack replied. 'He'd have extracted every Torchwood password, access code, hidden cache, the whole kit and caboodle. And you'd have been happy to do it. Those serums make it impossible not to want to comply. And afterwards, when you were no longer useful, he'd have had you make yourself disappear.'

The other Jack rolled his eyes. 'Please, give me some credit. I'd at least have suggested he have a nice hot bath first. Then he could slit his wrists in it. A sad, tragic end for the man who discovered that his lover had been cheating on him. Heartbroken and unable to carry on. Sad because he's so pretty. I planned on getting my money's worth out of him before then. I'd have done the same for you if you hadn't struggled so much. We could have rekindled some of that passion from that night we spent or Vardax Five.'

Jack gave a nervous little chuckle, his expression turning dark. 'Oh, so it's you.'

The other Jack bowed, a proud little smile on his face. 'Took you long enough, Jack. Or should I say, Agent 158?'

Jack scowled. Ianto finally managed to wrestle free of his impostor's grip and spin around, stepping backwards until he was standing slightly behind his own Jack, watching as the gun was no longer pointed at him, but continued to be held steady against his date. As he looked at this stranger, his facade seemed to move and shimmer. Where he'd moments ago been Jack in every respect, right down to the strong muscled arms and that tousled brown hair, now stood a man of a much more wiry build, shorter by a foot at least. His hair was jet black, and extremely short, curled tight against his scalp. His clothes were equally black, tight leather pants and jacket, with just a hint of silver glistening from rings on his fingers and studs in his ears.

'Arcanus Stettler. Former Time Agent,' the man said, taking a bow.

'Dishonorably discharged,' Jack interjected. 'Better known as an all round crook.'

'Entrepreneur, thank you very much. And a successful businessman at that.'

'Who ran with the biggest mob this side of the Nevara Intergalactic Date Line, until you tried to double deal on them. The mob are like a family, and you went and slept with their youngest daughter. Not a good way to ingratiate yourself.'

'I didn't hear you complaining when it was you I was sleeping with.'

'It was one night. We all have lapses in judgement,' Jack countered. 'I'm amazed you're still alive. Last time I saw you, you were hightailing it from the Demesne Cluster just as fast as you could, with ten bounty hunters all vying to be the one to bring back your head.'

Arcanus smirked at the pair of them. 'They aren't as powerful as they like to think. I'm untouchable and uncatchable, and so long as I am, I intend to make the most of things.'

'So, why come here? Why all of this elaborate scheme to get inside Torchwood?'

'I heard a rumor,' he replied. 'One that placed you here, in charge of a cache of alien weaponry and other technology. I planned on doing a little shopping, but my first few attempts were foiled by some pretty neat security features you've got going on.'

Jack gave a satisfied smirk at the comment. 'My people are good at keeping unwanted guests out.'

'Of course, it didn't take long at all to find the weak link in your system, security or not,' Arcanus boasted. 'Never could resist a pretty face, could you?'

Jack flexed his hand around his Webley, casting a sideways glance at Ianto.

'Why couldn't you just poison Jack with your truth serum?' Ianto asked, trying to play catch-up. 'You obviously had him detained somehow whilst you were busy pretending to be him.' Ianto suspected Jack had passwords and access codes to things even he didn't know about. Why go after him, when he could have Jack?

'Time Agents are inoculated against chemical weapons like that,' Jack responded. 'He knew it wouldn't work on me, any more than he could probe my mind with neural inquisitor technology.'

'I needed a susceptible target, and you were so perfect,' Arcanus replied. He gave a lazy smile. 'I got the feeling you'd tell me anything, even without the serum. Quite besotted with you, Jack, this one.' He sighed. 'Not much else to live for, I suppose. I could have pretended to be you for weeks, stripping your secret base of all its delicious technology. There's a market for everything, and the right buyer will pay me good money for what you've got, if all the rumors are to be believed.'

'And I'll bet killing me was a bonus,' Jack seethed.

'You really think I'd pass up the opportunity? You who was always the golden child of the Agency? You who got the pick of assignments and a few other dispensations as well. Everyone hated you. All high and mighty, never putting a toe out of line, schmoozing up to the commanders. No other agents stooped so low as to go after the corrupt ones, only you. Even when you screwed things up they looked after you.'

Jack scoffed. 'Looked after me? Is that what you call losing two years of your memories?'

Arcanus shrugged at him. 'So, you went rogue afterwards, big deal. We all wondered what it would take to make the untouchable Agent 158 crack. So much for all those high moral values. In the end you were just like the rest of us. A chip on your shoulder and a vortex manipulator that could take you anywhere.'

Jack scrunched up his face in anger. He regretted each and every one of those years he'd turned his back on the Agency, opting for crime over justice. It would take a long time to make up for the things he'd done, starting right now. 'Well, your little plan is officially scuppered,' he announced. 'The way I see it, you have two choices. Leave now or die.'

Arcanus laughed, the movement causing his jewelry to catch the light. 'You won't shoot me. I heard you cleaned up your act. Got yourself a merry little team of do-gooders. It's not in your nature anymore. Pathetic.'

'You don't know the half of what I'm capable of,' Jack replied, angered by the insinuation. 'Ianto, hold my gun,' he commanded, holding it out for his companion. 'If he moves, you have my permission to shoot him.'

Arcanus chuckled again. 'Getting the pretty boy to do your dirty work now, eh Jack? Is that how soft you've gone?' He turned his gaze to Ianto. 'Are you a killer, Ianto? I don't think so.'

'You don't know what I've done,' Ianto replied, his own anger rising. He felt used and dirty. He'd knew this man had tried to kill Jack. This man who would have poisoned him and left him to die. That incensed him. Who knew what he might do if someone pushed him hard enough. He'd killed before. He kept the gun trained on Stettler but watched as Jack raised his arm, flipping open the panel on his wrist strap, pressing buttons. 'What are you doing?' Ianto asked.

'Enacting option two.' Jack's gaze flicked up at Arcanus for a brief moment. 'Maybe I'm not the tough guy anymore, but I still have a lot of contacts. I've just sent out a signal that will advertise your whereabouts to every ship, planet and way station within fifty parsecs of here. I imagine there might be a few people interested to know you're in the neighborhood.'

Arcanus glowered at him. 'You're bluffing. You wouldn't.'

Jack returned his look. 'I just did. You've got about ten minutes to triangulate yourself a course to another place and time before this place is swarming with all kinds of folk who might not be as restrained as we are.'

Ianto readjusted his grip on Jack's Webley, its feel unfamiliar in his hand, and heavier than his own semi-automatic, its wood covered grip smooth and warm in his hand from decades of use. 'I'd start working on that exit strategy if I were you,' he said. 'If there's one thing I've learned about Jack, it's that he doesn't make idle threats. Neither do I, as a general rule.'

'And for future reference,' Jack added, 'this planet is under my protection. Come here again and I won't hesitate to kill you. That's a promise. Of course, that's assuming someone else doesn't find you and kill you first.'

Arcanus glared at them, rushing forward. Jack sidestepped, letting him pass by, headed out of the room.

'Don't let the door hit you on the way out,' Jack said, hearing the heavy footfalls disappearing down the stairs.

'We're really just going to let him go?' Ianto asked.

'If you knew the kinds of people who've just abandoned whatever they were doing to follow my signal, you'd run too.'

'But he's got a wrist strap like you, doesn't he? Can't he just go some other place or time?' He didn't like to mention it, knowing that Jack's own non-functioning strap was a sore point. It still did a great many things as he'd come to learn, but the key thing it had been designed for was broken, unable to be fixed, so Jack said.

'Out of the frying pan and into the fire,' Jack replied, taking back his Webley and settling it back in its holster before shoving his hands into his pockets. 'Guys like him have enemies wherever they go. He'll be running for a good long while.'

Ianto swallowed hard, letting out a deep breath of relief. 'So, are we expecting anyone else from your past to make an appearance?'

Jack frowned at him. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, things always come in three's, don't they? John Hart, Arcanus Stettler...'

'The Doctor,' Jack finished. To Jack's mind, that settled the matter. No one else from his prior incarnations was coming back to a haunt him. Not if he had any say in it. He wanted all of that well behind him, so that he could focus on who he was now, and the people who cared about the person he'd become.

Ianto watched the curious expression on Jack's face. He looked torn, or perhaps undecided about something. 'You never really explained what the Time Agency was. How did so many people who worked for it end up like him and Hart?'

Jack seemed pensive, trapped in memories of long ago. 'The Time Agency did a lot of good work,' he said. 'But it also bred arrogance and a sense of entitlement. If you could go anywhere in space and time, what was to stop you from taking advantage of historical events? Sure, the Agency tried to police misuse and put strict rules around it all, but when you give that much power to someone, it's going to corrupt you.'

Ianto studied his commander, trying to read between the lines. 'What about you?'

'I wasn't immune either. Don't think I was the exception that proves the rule.' He turned to look at Ianto in earnest. 'But I'm not that person anymore. I'm doing everything I can to undo all of the bad things I did.'

Ianto didn't question him further. He didn't want to hear about the things Jack claimed to have done. He didn't know who that person was, and didn't want to know. He knew Jack could be cold and heartless at times, but beneath it all, he meant well.

'Come on,' Jack said, pulling him from his thoughts. 'Let's get out of here.'

They made their own exit, Jack taking them out though a back door and back out into the narrow lane way. Outside it had begun to drizzle, casting a wet sheen over the ground and everything around them. 'I'm parked two blocks away, Jack said. You don't mind the walk in the rain, do you?'

'I'm Welsh,' Ianto said, as if that answered all of life's questions. It didn't mean he didn't wish he'd brought a coat, but complaining was beneath him. He could always pick up his own car tomorrow.

They began their walk in silence, the streets having fallen equally quiet with the turn in the weather. Only the sound of car tyres zipping across the wet roads broke the peace.

'Jack?'

'Yeah?'

Ianto pondered how to phrase the question that had been bugging him. 'Earlier the barman told me that you come here often. That you take people up to those rooms and-'

'Sleep with them?' Jack finished for him .

'You apparently put up a good front if you're not,' he said, unperturbed by Jack's pointed response.

He heard Jack stuck in a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'In a town like this, in the line of work we do, trading in favours is the only way to do business,' Jack replied. 'But I never trade my body.'

'Really?'

Jack frowned, halting mid step. 'You sound surprised.'

'Well,' Ianto stuttered, 'I mean, you flirt a lot and you're very, uh, tactile.'

Jack laughed. 'There's a big difference between flirting and having sex. But you know that.'

Ianto blushed. He'd certainly done his fair share of flirting and banter with Jack as they danced around the mulberry bush, before he'd finally just gone after what he wanted.

Jack continued walking, letting Ianto fall into step beside him. 'It's true, though. I was here before our date, on Torchwood business. I was supposed to be meeting up with my contact. I came in, ordered a drink and waited for him to arrive. We went upstairs where he was going to pass along some valuable intel, but as soon as I turned my back he jumped me. It turned out my contact wasn't my contact at all. The same technology that made you think Arcanus was me, he used to convince me he was someone else. I tried to fight him off but I got hit with something in the neck, a drug of some kind, meant to paralyze me, then eventually kill me. I suppose he thought I was dealt with and he left me there in the room, ready to come back later to dump my body.'

'Well, I'm glad he didn't have time for that,' Ianto replied. 'You arrived just in the nick of time.'

'Luckily as I was coming down the hall, the owner of the establishment made a comment about you. How I should let you down gently because you weren't a one night stand. I put two and two together, realising you were still here. And if that was the case, then whoever attacked me, was probably coming for you as well. I had to break down three other doors before I found you. A little awkward for the bar's others occupants, but their privacy wasn't my biggest concern.'

'I'll admit I'm a little embarrassed I didn't pick it wasn't you,' Ianto confessed. Only now as he recounted the conversations they'd had did he realise Jack had pointedly not asked him anything he might already be expected to know. He'd asked Ianto to reveal new information, and to get a taste for what sort of things were lurking down in the archives. He'd kept away from talk about recent events because Arcanus wouldn't know. He'd well and truly been played. 'I may have kissed him. Er, a bit.'

'Stettler is as good a conman as any,' Jack replied, tempted to tease Ianto about the admission but choosing not to. 'He fooled me too, remember? He can slip into any skin and make you feel like you've known him for years.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Don't be,' Jack said, flipping the button on the key fob. The lights of the SUV flashed momentarily, unlocking the car as they got in, out of the persistent drizzle. 'He used me to get to you, not the other way around.' Jack didn't care what Arcanus has said. Ianto was not his weak point to gain access to Torchwood. He didn't want anyone on his team thinking that, least of all Ianto.

'So, we got lucky?' Ianto tried to picture what might have been if he'd succeeded. With Jack dead and Ianto appearing to have committed suicide, Arcanus could have easily slipped into the role of Jack, their teammates too distracted by the sudden shocking news to pay any attention to minor slip ups in Jack's personality or knowledge. If he hadn't been able to tell it wasn't really Jack, then what chance the rest of them would either? It was scary to think how close Arcanus had come to pulling it off.

Jack looked across at Ianto and sighed. 'Look at you. All dressed up for a nice night out, and instead you nearly get drugged by a vindictive son of a bitch from my past.'

'I hardly think you're to blame,' Ianto said.

'I really did want to do the right thing by you. I meant it when I said I wanted to take you out on a proper date. I shouldn't have mixed work and pleasure. Meeting here was convenient because it doubled as my rendezvous point.'

'And even if you hadn't, he still could have attacked you somewhere else,' Ianto countered. 'He could have turned up on my doorstep and I'd have let him walk straight in with the same result.'

'I'm sorry to be such a constant disappointment,' Jack apologised. 'These past few weeks...'

'I understand. I'm just happy you were still interested in me after everything.'

Jack chuckled. 'Ianto, how could I not be?'

In response, Ianto leaned across and grabbed Jack's cheek, kissing him long and deep. It may have been cliché given that was how they'd started things, but he didn't care. This time when he breathed in, he smelled Jack, just as he always was. It was so much better than before, because now he knew he had the real deal. Jack's scent was as unique to him as the man himself.

Jack eased back in the seat when Ianto finally relinquished his grip, staring out into the rainy night. 'Well, it's probably a little late to try and squeeze in dinner and a movie now. It's just postponed, mind you. That's a promise. However, I could definitely do with a drink.'

'Me too,' Ianto agreed. 'Coffee?'

Jack smiled. 'You read my mind, Ianto Jones.'