Out of Place Chapter 14

[galadriel1010]

John leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, aware that Jack hadn’t moved off yet and was watching him closely, “A guy died in there. Death by Weevil and incompetence. I want to shut it down as soon as we can.”

Jack sighed and started the engine, “We’ll get the plan in place, draft Liberty Towers in and shut the place down tomorrow night.”

“Good.” They travelled in silence for a while. John opened his eyes and glanced across at his companion, noting the tense jaw and the hard eyes, “I would have pulled him out of there if I’d thought he was in any danger, you know that.”

“He was well over the limit when he got back.” Jack pointed out, “Hypervodkas?”

“I was trying to culture an impression, I took a calculated risk.”

“With my boyfriend.” Jack sighed as John started to defend himself, “I’m sorry John, I know you’re just doing your job and… It’s been a long night.”

“I should never have taken him, of all people.”

The immortal shook his head, “No, he was the right man for the job and I accept that. I might not like it, but sometimes, sometimes I have to let him out of my protection. And no matter how much it hurts, I can’t keep him safe forever.”

John touched Jack’s shoulder in reassurance and turned hurriedly to watch the strip go past, “Have you seen him since he got back?”

“No, Jazz sent him straight up to get some sleep. I’ll join him once we’ve gone over your report.”

“Jazzy’s still up?” Jack nodded, “Then you go straight up to Ianto, that’s where you need to be. Jazz can do my report with me.” John could see how much Jack wanted to agree with him, so cut across the immortal’s half-hearted protests, “All I need is a translator, and Jazz has the authority to sign off on my reports and pass them along to Liberty Towers. We’ll tell them to expect instructions and have a team ready. And in the mean time you can snuggle up with your nice warm Welshman.”

Jack glared at him sidelong and sighed, “So we’re raiding tonight?”

John rolled his eyes at the change of subject, “Yeah, yeah. The sooner the better.” The former time agent frowned in thought, “But we’ll need to check with Jazzy’s schedule at the crime lab.”

“We can do it without her more than easily. All we really need is us.”

“She won’t be happy.” Jack raised an eyebrow and John barked out a laugh, “Fair point.”

---

Jazz checked out of the window as a car pulled into the driveway and smiled involuntarily when she recognised it. She poured out three mugs of coffee - one into a blue and white mug, one into a black mug with silver stars and one into a curvy rainbow striped mug – and set them down on the table to await the arrival of her friends. The door opened and closed and two sets of footsteps came through the living room, stopping for a while to take off shoes and boots, then continued on more quietly to the kitchen.

The Torchwood commander was crossing back to the sink when arms wrapped around her waist and lips nuzzled into her hair, “Heya baby!” She turned in John’s arms and kissed him softly, then unwrapped him from around her and pushed him back slightly, “Coffee.”

“You little star.” John sank into a chair and pulled his young lover into his lap. He looked up as Jack shook his head fondly and picked his own mug up, heading out of the room, “Sleep well Jack.”

“I’m sure I will, have a good night you two.” He raised his mug in a salute and climbed the stairs, drinking slowly from the coffee. Not as good as Ianto’s, but definitely drinkable.

He stopped in the doorway of their bedroom to watch his partner sleep. Ianto had got in in the middle of the night and forgotten to close the curtains; now the soft light of dawn was filtering through the window and falling across the bed, casting shadows across Ianto’s softly sleeping face. Jack’s breath caught in his throat as he gazed at his too young lover, tracing the curve of his shoulder, curving in over his body as though protecting himself from the light. His gaze moved down, over the plane of his back, up over the rise and soft curve of his hip, then back up again, lingering on the rise and fall of his chest as he finished his coffee.

When he finished it he set it down as quietly as he could on the bedside table and pulled off his shirt and trousers near silently, folding them neatly and placing them on a chair. He hesitated a moment longer, just watching his partner, then pulled the covers back enough to slide under. Ianto murmured softly as Jack wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer so that the younger man’s back was flush against his chest. He held his breath and smiled in surprised happiness when Ianto rolled over to curl against him without waking up. Yeah, life was good.

The immortal played his fingers gently through Ianto’s hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “Love you Yan.” He whispered, although he knew that Ianto couldn’t hear him, it still made him happy to say it.