Satelite 5

Martha rolled over and snuggled closer to her fiancé as the soft light of dawn filtered through the curtains. As soon as they walked into the house it was obvious who’d been in charge of the redesign; stark white walls were brightened with posters and art deco paintings, stencils in bright primary colours danced up the walls of the stairs and furry beanbags and throws furnished the living room. In the main bedroom, where Martha and Tom had slept, the walls were a soft pink, whilst the curtains and bed spread were a warm orange. Strangely enough, it worked, but it wasn’t the best thing to wake up to at this time of the morning.

She groaned slightly and tried to pull away without waking Tom up, but gave up quickly. This moment wouldn’t last, but it could last just a little while longer, please?

Half an hour later she felt Tom squeeze her gently and nuzzled against his chest in response. He laughed slightly and pushed gently so that he could look down at her, suddenly serious, although he was still endearingly fuzzy-eyed, “Your friends need us.”

She nodded and rested her chin on his chest, gazing up at him, “What do you think?”

“About the disappearance?”

“About anything. You don’t live this weirdness, you’re not as close to them as I am, I can’t be objective.”

“Well…” He gazed at the ceiling, “Jack’s besotted but professional. He’ll break sooner or later, but not when anyone’s relying on him. I think with the team he has around at the moment, it’ll probably be sooner, because you’re all ready to pick up the slack for him. Especially Jasmine…”

“Hmm, you noticed too?” Martha asked with a soft smile

“She fancies Jack, she’s trying to impress him.”

“They used to be together, a long time ago, and she hero worships him.” She agreed quietly, “But she’s damn good at her job, she’ll catch both Torchwood and him when he falls.”

“So the world won’t be resting on his shoulders any more.” He mused, “It must be such a lonely existence.”

“Yeah, just each other to hold on to. And…”

“And?”

She frowned slightly, “And the Doctor. I wonder…”

Tom sat up and swung his legs off the edge of the bed, “Have you called him about all this?”

“No, that’s what I was just wondering.” She mirrored his actions and pulled on jeans and a blouse hurriedly, “But I don’t know if Jack would want him here.”

“I’m not sure I want him here.” Tom confessed, “But if it’ll help get your friend back…”

She came round the bed and stood on tip-toes to kiss him gently and possessively, “You have nothing to worry about, really.”

“I know, but it doesn’t stop me worrying.” He trailed kisses along to just below her ear and then pulled away, “I’m dumb, I know.”

“I’m not complaining.”

John was sitting at one of the temporary stations filling in a report about a Weevil that he and Jazz had captured that morning and looked up as the cog door discharged Martha, Tom and PC Andy. It was a welcome distraction from the hated paperwork so he smiled warmly, “Morning; if you’re after breakfast, Jazzy’s in the kitchen.”

“We’ve eaten.” Martha came down to look over his shoulder, “Weevil hunt?”

“Yeah. Please do the report for me?” He begged; English wasn’t his first language of course, and when he spoke he used a translation device and writing it was extremely difficult for him, so Andy took pity on him.

“Be glad you’re not having to write it in Welsh.” He teased him.

Martha leant on the desk to watch them, “How’s Jack doing?” she asked quietly

“Could be better.” A softer than usual American drawl replied to her question from the doorway leading down to the lower levels and their eyes all flew to the enigmatic immortal watching them with sad eyes. “Any news?”

They all looked to John and Jasmine, who had been around all night, “Nothing, no rift activity. Just a weevil sighting last night.”

He sighed and looked that little bit more broken, but seemed to be holding together, “The rift’s quiet at the moment, we should have a look into if there’s a reason for it or if it’s just a holiday.”

“You mean apart from that storm, Jack?” Jazz pointed out with a yawn over the top of a glass of cola, “Wish for chaos and the universe will present us with it, you know that.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.” He looked miserable but shrugged, “I just…”

“Need something to occupy your mind?” He nodded, “Read a book Jack. There’s nothing to do around here, and worrying isn’t going to bring him back.”

John nodded in agreement and ticked facts off on his fingers, “We don’t know where he is, we don’t know how he got there, we don’t know how to get him back. All we can do is wait for more information and then act on it.”

Jack’s hands formed fists and he fought back tears. “I can’t just do nothing!”

“You can’t do anything Jack.” Jazz whispered, “We can’t do anything. We can just…”

“Wait.” He rubbed his hands across his face, “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Martha shook her head, “We all understand, and as soon as we can do anything we’ll be with you.”

They made their way up to the kitchen and demolished a pile of bacon butties, Jack only managed a slice of toast, and discussed the night’s Weevil hunt (“And I thought only Jack could come back from an actual Weevil hunt completely naked!”) the new Lotus (“Still not as pretty as Martha” from Tom and Jack) and one of Jack and Jasmine’s past adventures with the Doctor (“You think he’s jeopardy friendly now!”). It was pretty much anything and everything apart from their missing friend and his distraught lover.

An hour or more later, Jasmine collected together the plates and was surprised when Martha offered to help her and suggested that the others should go and monitor the rift and get out from under their feet. The trained alien hunters amongst them went to the board room to monitor scans and prepare for the day, and Tom and Rhys went up to the arcade on the second level to try out the Wii that Ianto had installed not long before Tosh and Owen died.

The two women washed and dried in silence for a while, each lost in her own thoughts. When she finished, Jazz turned to lean against the sink and watched her friend, “You’re think what I’m thinking?”

“Depends on what you’re thinking, doesn’t it?” Martha pointed out, “I’m thinking about what could be happening to poor Ianto, how awful it must be for Jack, what we could do to help, how bad it feels to be unable to do anything.” She didn’t look up, concentrating instead on finishing off drying the last couple of plates.

“Wondering who might be able to help?” Jazz asked with a soft smile, “Do you think we should call him?”

“We need to do anything we can.” Martha dried her hands and put the plates away, “But what will Jack say?”

The blonde’s eyes were worried, “I’m not taking no for an answer from him, he won’t want to go to him for help, but we need help, we need Jack and he needs Ianto and we need the Doctor. I’ll make the call… maybe later though.” She added as he rift alert blared, “Jack got his wish.”

They raced down to the Hub where fervent and organised activity was already under way. The commander swung into control immediately, barking out orders, “Rift shower, five locations. Jack take Tom, Gwen with Rhys, Mickey and Atraxet, John with Martha and Andy you’re with me. Scout the location out, contain if necessary and radio in. If it can be arrested or collected safely then do so, if you need backup call for it. First pair to get finished are on run-around, second are back here to control. Any questions?” There was a busy silence as everyone kitted up and grabbed weapons, “Good, fall out people.”

Andy followed close behind Jasmine as she inched forwards to the spike site; it was all quiet, almost suspiciously so he would have said, but he knew he was on edge and expecting the worst. She was relaxed, or as relaxed as was safe, and it reassured him… Slightly. Jazz suddenly let out an unexpected sigh of relief and moved forwards more confidently, scanning once around the area before she approached something that looked like a gun on the floor, “Projector, I think, but I’ll have to check later. This is definitely the location, and I don’t see anything else.”

“Jazz, we’ve contained a visitor, as yet unknown species. We’re heading back to the Hub with him.” John’s voice came across the coms and she nodded decisively

“OK, well we have what I think is a projector. We’ll contain it securely in the car and go on response, you’re on control. Anyone else in position?”

Gwen checked in first, “At location, no sign of anything come through though.”

“Thanks Gwen, hang about for a moment, yeah? Mickey?”

“Nearly there Zee, could do with some back-up here by the looks of things though.”

“Gwen, you’re closer.”

“On it.”

“Jack, how are you doing?”

“Could do with backup here as well Jazz.” He admitted, “We have shots being fired.”

“OK, Andy and I are on our way.” She was already in the car as she spoke and just waited for Andy to get his door shut before she roared away, “Don’t engage it Jack, and keep Tom safe.”

Martha’s voice agreed with her, “I’m counting on you Jack.”

“I gotcha. Hurry Jazz.”

She floored the accelerator and concentrated on the traffic. It was still only mid morning, so the traffic wasn’t quite rush hour levels, but it wasn’t good. “Come on!” She growled, letting her irritation out before flicking her coms to open. “Jack, keep me posted.”

Tom’s voice was the one that reached her, “He’s dead. They got him, he got them… Will he…”

She sighed, “He’ll be back, stay close to him and don’t be scared when he comes back, or at least try not to show it. It can be a bit…”

“Weird.” Martha supplied for her, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, situation contained. Both dead, although one only temporarily.”

“OK, we’re two minutes away. Martha, make that call.”

Jack dragged himself back to life and clasped onto the thing closest to him, which happened to be Jasmine’s hands. He gasped painfully and let her pull him closer, leaning heavily against her and squeezing his eyes tight shut. It was a few minutes before he felt ready to move again and let them pull him upright and then another minute before he could walk to the car with help.

Now he was sitting on the sofa in the Hub with a mug of hot chocolate and a headache, staring unseeingly into the middle distance. He knew the others were watching him in concern, but he’d given up caring the moment he woke up alone nearly four days before. God it was a long time. It was the longest he’d been without his lover since he returned from the year of hell with the Doctor, and it felt twice as long as that separation had been.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t recognise the sound at first, but when he did he looked up in shock as a blue police phone box appeared in the middle of his Hub. The doors swung open almost immediately and a tall, scrawny figure in a suit peered out for a moment before he emerged fully, his eyes fixed on the figure now standing up from the sofa in shock. “Doc?”

“Hello again Captain.” He turned to Martha, “You called?”

Jazz walked towards him and hugged him, “We have a missing person, it’s Ianto.”

“And you thought I might be able to help?” He smiled at her

“You can, just be being here.” She confessed

Gwen ran towards the TI office and put in the security code as fast as she could, only to practically run into Jack standing in the middle of the empty office. Tears were streaming down the captain’s face as he stared at the empty desk, rooted to the spot, shaking and sobbing silently.

She rested a hand on his shoulder and he blinked rapidly, covering it with his own but not turning around. He sighed heavily and visibly collected himself, then took her hand silently and led her down into the Hub.

As they set systems and scans running, every scan they could think of, more people joined them. Mickey was the first to arrive, as he’d dropped Gwen off and gone to park the car, and he joined them immediately at the computers. Not long afterwards, Rhys’s arrival surprised them but Jack said nothing, just nodded at him gratefully and accepting it. This, more than anything else, worried them. To this day he still didn’t like Rhys coming to the Hub, because it was symbolic of him crossing the line from protected to protector, it was one more person he cared about who could be in danger any moment, but today… Today it was like he hadn’t really realised, hadn’t considered it, hadn’t thought. They watched surreptitiously and with horror as he shut down, the worry and anguish fading from his eyes to be replaced with nothing. Cold emptiness.

Gwen looked up as the cog door rolled open again and stared in shock at the sight of a blowfish in drag. “Bloody hell Rax! What the…”

He pouted at her and posed for a moment, “I got Jasmine’s message, came straight here.”

She groaned and gestured for him to use her computer to keep in touch with Jazz over in Vegas, “Let us know if any messages come in from her, OK? Mickey you get her station set up ready.” She ran through a mental checklist and cast another nervous glance across at Jack. He met her gaze for a moment and nodded again before turning back to the computer screen, concentrating once again on whatever means he was using to try to find his lover.

“Jazz is back at the crime lab waiting for John. Should be with us soon.” Atraxet called across to her.

She nodded, “Thanks Rax.” Her phone buzzed and she flipped it open, hurrying to what had been Owen’s station when she’d read the message, “That was Martha, she’s coming over as soon as she gets off duty.”

Jack looked up at her with a dry, strained chuckle, “Is there anyone Jasmine hasn’t mobilised?”

Gwen stood up again and took her station back from Atraxet, “No. We will find him Jack.”

He said nothing, just staring bleakly at the screen in front of him for a moment before their attention was distracted by a sound like ripping fabric and a yell as Jasmine and John arrived in the middle of the room with worried expressions matching everyone else’s.

Jack managed a very weak smile in greeting but didn’t get up. His ex-girlfriend took one look at him and practically ran across the room to hug him, but he hugged her back only briefly before holding her at arms’ length again. “OK people.” He stood up, “What have we got?”

They gathered in the boardroom and Gwen used the big whiteboard to write everything down. Jack started, stating the facts whilst gripping tightly onto Jasmine’s hand, “We went to bed at about half past eleven, I think I went to sleep at about one, maybe a bit later.”

“Was Ianto asleep by that point?” Gwen asked calmly, having taken on the mantle of investigator

“No, at least the last thing I remember he was awake.”

“Was he having trouble sleeping, or was that normal?”

“Fairly normal I suppose, but you know our sleeping patterns. I think the fact that we’d actually slept in the same bed for seven days on the trot may have thrown him a bit. Also we had coffee, really strong coffee, just before we went to bed.”

“Was anything worrying him?”

“No. Gwen, tone it down a bit, please? You’re starting to make me feel guilty.” He refused to meet her gaze, instead staring fixedly at a point on the table.

She sighed and reached across to squeeze his other hand apologetically, “I’m sorry Jack, but we need to know.”

“I know.” He sighed, “I know, but…”

Jasmine squeezed his hand tighter, “Jack, focus for the moment. Are you certain that Ianto did not leave the house voluntarily.”

He blinked fiercely and held her gaze fearfully, “I’m certain, there isn’t a pair of his shoes missing, his keys are still there... He didn’t leave the house.”

“How many sets of keys are there for your house, and who has them?” Gwen asked

He leant back and retrieved his hand to count out on his fingers, “Mine, Ianto’s, yours.” He pointed at Jasmine, “The Doctor has a set, God only knows why, and there’s a set here.”

“And that’s where it belongs?” Jasmine asked Mickey

He nodded, “The keys haven’t been accessed today, I checked both sets of records, twice.”

“OK, so no one got into your house who shouldn’t have been there, we assume. I’ll check later, just in case, but I can’t believe it wouldn’t have woken you.” Jazz ran her fingers through her long hair nervously, “Has there been any tech activity anywhere?”

Mickey and John snorted, “Cardiff, remember?” John pointed out

“Yeah,” Mickey agreed, “constant alien madness, but nothing in that area, no rift activity all night.”

Everyone in the know breathed a heavy sigh of relief, “So he hasn’t been taken by the rift.” Gwen wrote the word ‘rift’ on the board and crossed it out with red pen.

“Basically…” Jack commented in a small, quiet, lost voice, so unlike the captain they loved that their hearts broke, “We have no idea where he is, or how he got there.”

Jasmine pulled her chair out and crouched in front of him, hugging him tightly. The others watched in pity and despair as the man, usually so strong and confident, broke down in completely, drowning in terror and grief. After a moment to contemplate the horror facing them, they escaped the now claustrophobic boardroom and left the two immortals clinging to each other, both of them now crying for him, letting go of their emotions for a brief moment before they would have to shoulder the façade they bore every day.

John hurried to join Mickey at the computers, running yet more scans and fielding calls and emails with him. The pain on losing Jack to Ianto bit hard at him again, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he didn’t feel as strongly about the man as Jack did about Ianto, or as he, John, felt about Jasmine.

With a sigh he pulled himself away from the computer and indicated that Atraxet should take over, then made his way down towards the archives. On his way there he passed Gwen and Rhys, working quietly and brushing touches against each other more often than was unnoticeable, reassuring each other that they were still there, that they were safe. He realised with horror that all they knew was that a young man had vanished in the middle of the night without warning, for all they knew it could happen again to anyone.

Gwen looked up and caught his gaze, smiling tightly at him, “Not good, is it? Are you going down to the archives?”

“Yeah, looking for any similar occurrences, have you checked recent police reports?”

She shook her head, “Andy’s coming over soon, he’ll have all the information we need. Can you get Ianto’s file for me please whilst you’re down there?”

“Sure thing.” He escaped to the archives, as Ianto had so many times before and rested his forehead against the wall once he was out of sight. But he couldn’t stay there long, they had a job to do, a friend to find. “Come on Ianto, where are you?”

Jack clung to Jasmine tightly, trying and failing to hold himself together. The worst thing, and God did he know it; the worst thing was that he didn’t know what had happened. He could be anywhere, he could have been taken by anything, it could strike again at any moment and take anyone else. Any… Any…

The young woman in his arms pulled back slightly to kiss his forehead. For the first time since he’d broken down, maybe quarter of an hour before now, she spoke, “Jack, we will find him. I know it, I can feel it.”

“I’m so scared Jazzy, what if I never see him again.”

“What was the last thing you said to him?” She searched his eyes deeply

“I told him I loved.” He responded quietly

“Well then,” She smiled and stood up, “You’ve got something to cling on to, haven’t you? Come on, we’ve got a Welshman to find.”

“And possibly something odd to stop, this is what we live for, isn’t it?” He stood up and studied the board, “What do we know, really know?”

She sighed softly and leant back on the desk, “That Ianto’s gone, and we don’t have a how, where or even a when maybe.”

“You mean we don’t know anything.” He scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, “Maybe the others have found something?”

“John’s gone to the archive, Mickey and Rax are running scans, let’s get down and see what they’ve got, yeah?”

They left the room and leant side by side on the railings to watch the proceedings for a moment before Jack called out, “Anyone got anything?”

John looked up, “Quite a few unexplained disappearances over the years, emphasis on unexplained. Recently we’ve not had anything though. There’s nothing we can go on, no indications of… of anything. Sorry Jack, I’ve found lots and nothing, all at the same time.”

“OK… Anyone got anything?” Jasmine ran her fingers through her hair, “Andy?”

“Nothing similar recently Jack.”

Gwen picked up a pen and span it in her fingers, “The good news is that it’s not the rift, it’s not any alien tech that our systems or John can detect, and he’s strong and can look after himself.”

The captain leant his elbows on the rail and buried his face in his hands for a moment, before clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them, “Did I mention that he’s probably naked?”

There was a pregnant pause before Rhys cleared his throat, “We should have figured that one out, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes, yes we should.” Gwen agreed, her mind replaying an image of the two men, then another, and another. “I’m amazed you’re ever clothed actually.”

Jack smiled at that, tipping her a wink that was almost his normal, “Well when we get him back I’ll consider it.”

“Please no.” Mickey feigned shock and horror

“Yeah, you’re hard enough to resist when you’re clothed.” Jasmine teased, “OK, so we have an impossible task, a bunch of misfits, lost of high tech… tech.”

“And a science fiction novel.” John smiled, “There’s no way we can fail.”

Jack’s eyes emptied again and he twisted the ring on his finger, pain ripping through him again, “I hope you’re right, I really do.”

“So do we Jack.” Gwen gripped Rhys’s hand tightly and leaned into him, “So do we…”

The four Torchwood team members threaded their way through the bar to their usual seat by the window where their friends were waiting. Jack did the introductions, “Boys and girls, this is Mickey Smith. Mickey, here we have PC Andy Davidson. He’s Gwen’s opposite number in police liaison and her former beat partner from her days with the police. Next we have Rhys who, as you had probably guessed, is Gwen’s better half.” The former PC, who had settled in against her husband, pulled a shocked and offended face at him, “And last, but by no means least, we have Atraxet. I have no idea what he’s doing here, but he’s a blowfish, don’t worry about it.”

“Nice to meet you all.” He nodded a greeting, “So what have I let myself in for?”

“Madness” Rhys returned his nod

“Danger“ Atraxet supplied with a thrill lover’s grin

PC Andy took a sip from his drink and smirked, “Weird shit and spooky dos.”

“You mean my life since my girlfriend ran off in a phone box?” He asked with a wry smile, dropping into the seat next to Atraxet, leaving Jack and Ianto the booth seat together.

“Yeah, except you get paid for it.” Jack pointed out, sharing the smile of someone who’d lived that life and given it up

Ianto checked his watch and smiled secretively at his partner. They had volunteered to be the designated drivers for the night, whilst Gwen and Rhys had offered Mickey somewhere to stay for the night. The others had gone not long before, and the newest Torchwood member and his host family were quite merry. The captain laughed at Mickey’s impression of a Slitheen and nodded in agreement to Ianto, standing up with a friendly but firm smile, “Ladies and gentlemen, the designated drivers are now going home. If you want a lift, you should probably come with us.”

“Oh Jack!” Gwen moaned, her eyes wide and pleading, but slightly unfocused, “Come on, it’s early yet.”

“Good, you can be in early in the morning then, can’t you. Come on, some of us have somewhere to be.”

“And where might that be?” Rhys asked with a knowing smirk

Jack just winked at him, “Are you coming then?”

They stood up with good-natured groans and followed him out into the street, calling out good nights to the regulars and bar staff as they went. Once outside the cold hit them and Gwen scowled, “Bloody hell it’s cold, can’t we go back inside where it’s warm?”

“Gwen, in.” Ianto chided playfully, ushering her towards the back door of the SUV and hurrying round to get into the driver’s seat before Jack could. The older man pouted but with a laugh, and proceeded to distract his partner all the way home with a hand on his thigh. Cheerful banter passed backwards and forwards without a single reference to aliens, weird shit or spooky dos, as Andy always so eloquently put it.

They pulled up outside Gwen and Rhys’s apartment and the three in the back got out, waving to Ianto and Jack as the SUV pulled away again. Gwen led the way up to the door and let them in, wandering across to the kitchen area to get a bottle of wine and some glasses whilst Rhys and Mickey flopped down onto the sofa and an armchair, respectively.

“So Rhys, you’ve never been tempted to join the madhouse down at Torchwood then?” Mickey asked as Gwen returned

Rhys laughed, “Helped out a couple of times, now and again, and of course there was the wedding. Put me off for life that did.”

“Your wedding?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?” He accepted a glass off Gwen and sat up in interest.

Rhys rolled his eyes and pulled Gwen closer to him, “Well this one, of her own volition I am led to understand, went out on a hunt the night before the wedding and got bitten by a Nostrovite…”

“Those shape shifters that get you pregnant with a bite?”

“That’s the one. So yeah, as you’ve probably guessed, she ends up pregnant on our wedding day with the alien Mummy chasing after her and of course she’s mega hormonal so she insists she’s going through with the wedding. I ended up threatening an alien posing as my mother with a chain saw!”

“And punched Jack.”

“And punched Jack.” He agreed ruefully

“Something we all wish we could do.” Mickey grinned

“Oh yes.” Gwen grinned, “So how do you know Jack Mickey?”

“Long story.” He sighed and leaned back, “I had this girlfriend, Rose Tyler, who ran off with an alien in a blue police box. She was missing for twelve months, thought she’d only been gone twelve hours, stuff like that.” They nodded in understanding, “Anyway, I got a call from her, saying they were coming to Cardiff, so I jumped on the first train there. By that time, Captain Cheesecake was travelling with them and, let’s just say that he and I didn’t see eye to eye. But he was cool, I was sad to hear that he’d died, then the thing with the Daleks happened, I got back here from my parallel universe and he’s alive and offering me a job. I told him where to stick it and took him up on it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Rhys pointed out

“Ah well, you see, I turned him down before I’d really looked at Cardiff as an option and before I realised that I don’t really have a life left here anymore. I was missing, presumed dead!”

“So what did they think when you turned up again?”

“After Daleks in the sky? I told them I was abducted by aliens, believed me no problem.”

Jack closed and locked the door, took his boots off and hung his coat up before he followed his lover through to the kitchen. Once he found him he approached from behind and wrapped his arms around the slim waist, nuzzling gently at the young man’s neck, “You know, if you make coffee that strong we’ll be up all night.”

He poured the coffee out with a wicked grip, passing Jack a mug before pulling him close, “Not complaining I hope, sir?”

Jack groaned as their hips bumped together and cupped the back of Ianto’s neck to bring their lips together, plunging his tongue into his mouth to taste the strong, bittersweet first sip of coffee that Ianto had taken. When they finally parted they were both breathing heavily and their eyes were dark with lust. He stroked the younger man’s cheek gently with two fingers and gazed into his ocean blue eyes, as deep and powerful as any ocean and, to Jack at least, as dangerous too. “Perfect.” He whispered, “Always perfect.”

Ianto smirked playfully, “And how’s the coffee?” Those eyes he loved crinkled with laughter and he couldn’t resist, leaning forwards he claimed Jack’s lips for a tender, almost chaste kiss. Before he broke it he’d slipped his free hand down to Jacks and laced their fingers together, stroking the band on Jack’s finger once before he tugged gently to lead his partner up to the bedroom.

Jack unclipped his braces and removed his shirt, dropping both on the chair as he crossed the room from the window, where he’d just closed the curtains, to the bed where Ianto waited for him, his warm smile practically lighting the whole room.

He settled onto the bed and pulled the younger man carefully into his arms, mindful of the still half full mug of coffee he cradled. They rested against each other and discussed the day’s events, the Formula 1 result, anything and everything that came to mind. Now was their chance to be a normal couple, to love each other and live for each other and, although it was never mentioned explicitly, this was when they strived to create the memories that Jack could treasure for all time.

Ianto set aside his empty mug and snuggled further into Jack’s side, smiling involuntarily when the older man’s arm tightened to hold him closer, as if he would never let go. He slipped his hand under the older man’s T-shirt, relishing the feel of soft, warm skin and hard, defined muscle under his fingers. The captain sighed happily, causing his stomach to rise and fall under Ianto’s hand. A shift and a change in the tension of the muscles indicated that Jack had finished his coffee and set it on the bedside table. Sure enough, nimble fingers were soon unfastening the buttons of his shirt and strong, gentle hands turned him so that he was lying on his back with his shirt open and Jack leaning over him, trailing a finger down his chest lazily.

“God Yan, you are so beautiful.” Ianto’s breath caught at the intensity in Jack’s eyes; they were caught, drowning in each other, oblivious to the rest of the world, the pressures and horrors of their job temporarily forgotten.

He reached down and tugged at the bottom of his lover’s T-shirt, pulling it up over his chest and holding him up so he could slip it over his arms, then continued to support him with one arm whilst he curled the other hand around the back of his neck, twining his fingers in soft, silky hair as he pulled him closer. They maintained eye contact for as long as possible, gazing at each other for long moments until their noses brushed against each other. Jack hesitated a moment longer before he closed his eyes and the distance between them, pressing their lips together gently.

The kiss intensified as Ianto slid his hand down Jack’s side to plunge his fingers under the waistband of his trousers. Jack groaned into the kiss and the younger man took the opportunity to slip his tongue into his mouth, coaxing his tongue into slipping against his own gently. Groaning himself at the warm, tender contact he slid his free hand back up Jack’s back to press him down, bringing them closer and leaving Jack to sink gently onto him so that they were in contact along the length of their bodies, their legs tangled together. At Ianto’s urging, Jack lifted his hips to allow the younger man to remove his trousers and boxers, then rolled them so that he could do the same.

Ianto used his position of power to break the kiss, trailing his way down the older man’s chest with tongue and teeth. He smirked and took his lover into his mouth, growling with pleasure when Jack twitched in his mouth and fingers wound into his hair tightly.

Before very long Jack was a quivering mess, crying Ianto’s name incoherently and begging for more, aching to feel his lover inside him. Ianto pulled away, amused at Jack’s mew as he did so, and slid up the bed to kiss him again, reaching behind him for the tube from the bedside table drawer. He prepared his lover gently, careful not to push him too far too soon, and had soon buried himself equally carefully and tenderly.

They paused again, both acclimatising to the familiar feelings before they moved and Ianto knelt up fully, pulling Jack into his lap to hold him closer and fill him deeper. Then they moved together, eyes closed, breathing in each other. Ianto kissed Jack’s chest, relishing the tense muscles as he tasted him and recognised sweat, cotton, fifty-first century pheromones and coffee.

Gentle hands lifted his head up and Jack’s lips met his softly as Jack sank onto him again. “Ianto!” He hit that secret spot and the immortal threw his head back, crying out as he spiralled out of control. Ianto registered the tightening as he came himself, gasping Jack’s name against his chest and holding on for dear life.

When the world righted itself, Ianto, still breathing heavily, pulled carefully out of Jack and reached for a tissue to clean them up, then pushed Jack back against the pillows, resting his head on his chest and draping a possessive arm across the older man’s waist. “I love you.” He whispered softly

“I love you too, so much.” Jack pressed a kiss into his hair and smiled when Ianto’s arm tightened across his waist. He was still smiling when sleep claimed him shortly later.

Author's Note: It's November. This means it's National Novel Writing Month, and I'm clinically insane and aiming for two. This means (hopefully) I will be uploading two chapters of this, each of at least two thousand words, every day. Except that I didn't get any done yesterday, so erm... Four chapters today, here we come. I hope you enjoy it, and I apologise for the padding (which will probably involve smut and comedy, because it's easy)

A dark coat billowed in the wind that blew its owner’s hair into his eyes, but he didn’t seem to notice either. His eyes were fixed far out in Cardiff Bay, but seeing something far beyond this world. Only one man saw him this late at night, the one man who saw almost everything the first one did. He sighed lightly with a fond smile and approached silently, slipping his arms around his waist from behind and resting his head on his shoulder, following his gaze out to see.

“It’s all still here.” He nuzzled his lover’s neck with his cold nose and chuckled when Jack started away from the sudden chill, “Sorry, is my nose cold?”

“It is rather.” He turned and pressed a kiss to Ianto’s nose gently, “How long have we been out here?”

“Hours. Staring at it isn’t going to make it suddenly different you know. It’s not going to change any time soon.”

“I know, I know.” He slipped his arm around Ianto’s waist and looked back out at the horizon briefly before turning and walking with him back to the TI office. “I just have trouble believing that it’s all real, that it’s here. That we’re back and we have tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, it’s a sort of magical never, never land isn’t it?” The young man mused as he leant over the counter to let them down into the Hub, “And if it comes again we can go home. If not, we’ll have to make the most of tonight here, won’t we?”

Jack tugged him close as the door swung closed behind them, cupped his chin and kissed him deeply, hard and passionate, “Dear God Ianto I love you. I really, really do.” He kissed him again, more gently and so full of tenderness and love that Ianto’s knees went weak and he melted into Jack’s arms completely.

Gwen scowled as the proximity alarm jarred her hangover and dropped her bag onto her desk, flopping into the chair behind it to cradle her head in her hands and glare at the grain of the wood as if it had personally offended her. When she realised the ridiculousness of this she laughed, but then regretted it. Her coffee mug appeared in front of her, filled with Ianto’s special ‘morning’ blend, the aroma completely individual and already starting to emulsify the sludge of her brain. Still, it took a few moments for her to work out what had happened and reach out for the coffee, taking a first tentative sip to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. “Ianto, you’re an absolute darling!” She called out gingerly, her head already clearer but not so clear that the mistake didn’t cost her.

The administrator descended the stairs with his own coffee and leant on her desk so that he could talk to her quietly, “I do my best. Good night last night?”

“Everything hurts.” She fixed him with her widest doe eyes and an ironic half smile, the most she could manage for the moment, “Head, back, arms, legs, hair…”

“Sounds like a good night.”

“Oh yeah, haven’t had so much fun in…” She smirked, “Since that weevil hunt the night before last, but it’s an unusual life.”

“Tell me about it.” He laughed and glanced up to Jack’s office where the Captain was noticeable by his absence

When he looked back to Gwen she was smirking, “Good night last night?”

He smiled shyly, a mystified look in his eyes, “Always. He’s just so… So Jack, you know? He can make you feel better just by being there. And then he smiles, and nothing in the world can get me down.”

“And when he kisses you it’s only you and him in the world and the world is perfect, and when you have sex the distinction between you and him disappears?” She smiled knowingly over the top of her mug and it broadened into a wide grin at his surprised but simply mushy expression, “Read it described like that in a Mills and Boon last week, and, you know, I knew what she meant.”

The young man grimaced, “Yeah, and at this point I insist that I am a man and don’t do soppy and romantic. Well, I didn’t, never used to be able to do soppiness, but with Jack…”

“I wondered why my ears were burning.” An American drawl reached them from the door of Jack’s office and they looked up to see the captain smiling down at them, “You talking about me?”

“Yup, bugger off.” Ianto turned back to Gwen and smiled, well aware of what Jack would do in the circumstance.

Gwen watched in amusement and Jack tried to approach them silently, then became rooted to the spot when Ianto escaped with moments to spare and disappeared down to the archives without another word. She followed his progress until he vanished from sight and had to fight hard to suppress the laughter, but the laughter vanished when she turned back to Jack. He seemed to have completely forgotten she was there and was staring after Ianto with a lost, terrified, confused expression; after a few moments he cleared his throat and glanced at her before his gaze moved to the leg of her desk, which was apparently fascinating. “Did I do something wrong?”

She reached across and took his hand, squeezing it gently, “He’s just pulling your leg, probably hoping you’ll follow him…” He gave her one more look, this one still perplexed but lit with brilliant hope, then followed his lover.

The Welshwoman smiled into the last of her coffee and set it down beside her computer monitor, starting up her regular systems and scans. How those two had ever got this far she had no idea; Jack was terrified of losing Ianto in one way or another, to the extent that he tried to push him away at every opportunity, whilst Ianto had hated Jack at one point and was now scared of hurting him. Add on to that the fact that Jack was generally perplexed about twenty first century dating customs and Ianto refused to talk about his feelings (used to, at least) and their relationship was an absolute miracle.

Almost absentmindedly, she reached for her phone and pressed the speed dial for Rhys, her wonderful, anchoring, normal husband, who actually had a clue. Thank God for small miracles.

“Heya Gwen.” A smile danced across her face at his cheerful greeting and she span round in her chair, “How’s the head this morning?”

“Hey love, Ianto’s magic coffee sorted me out, I’ll be clear as a bell before long.”

He laughed, “Reckon I could get some off him, my head’s banging, isn’t it?”

“Not for a while at least, he and Jack are…” She grinned, “Being their usual hopeless selves really.”

“Oh dear, are they fighting?”

“God no.” She turned back to the computer and started going through the reports, praying for a clean bill for Jack and Ianto’s sakes, “Just a lack of communication; Jack’s a bit protective and sort of scared. And Ianto’s rather too good at winding him up without noticing… It’s complicated, I don’t know what they’re up to.”

“They’re OK though?” He sounded worried, understandably so. He and Ianto were close friends, so close that he had been Ianto’s best man, and he knew how much the younger Welshman relied on his relationship with the enigmatic captain.

“Yeah, they’re fine, or will be. I think I’d better leave them be for a while, if you know what I mean.” She sighed and glanced at the clock, “I’d better get some work done and let you do the same. I’ll let you know what time I’m likely to be home, alien invasions permitting.”

“OK love, take care.”

“Love you.” She flipped her phone shut and pressed it to her lips with a broad grin, then put it down and put normality from her mind.

Jack pushed his hands into his pockets to keep them still and made his way down into the archives part annoyed, part scared and wholly confused. He paused just inside the entrance to the archives, out of sight of the former PC, to run a hand through his hair, a nervous habit he’d picked up off Ianto. The young man was his whole life; he’d faced down Abaddon with less fear than he’d felt when Ianto had been attacked in Switzerland and just now. Hell, he’d been less scared when he’d faced down Daleks; pick an occasion, any occasion.

With a deep sigh he advanced further into his partner’s domain and within a few seconds he was convinced he was lost. The only sounds were echoing computer beeps and drips of water, and his own breathing and loud footfall. He gasped and would later deny forcefully that he squeaked as strong hands grabbed him from a dark doorway as he passed and soft, familiar lips attacked his own. His breath all escaped in one sudden go but he paid no attention, returning the kiss desperately and clutching the younger man close to him. Unusually, but not unexpectedly, he was the one to break away for air and raised a hand to stroke the other’s cheek gently, drinking in the sight.

“Jack?” Ianto’s voice dragged him back gently and he kissed him softly, chuckling when the younger man tried to draw it out further and moaned when he broke contact again.

“And there was me thinking I’d pissed you off.” He chuckled, pressing his hand into the small of Ianto’s back to bring their bodies flush against each other.

“What gave you that idea?” Ianto whispered against his neck between kisses, nipping gently at the sensitive skin under his ear, “I could never be pissed off at you.”

The immortal moaned softly and grabbed Ianto’s arse tightly, “Evidently so. God Ianto, the things you do to me…” He was cut off as his lover’s lips found his and he moaned again into the kiss, hands scrabbling to bring Ianto impossibly closer, wanting to crawl inside him and disappear, so that they could never be separated or parted. An impossible dream for him; he couldn’t be with Ianto forever, but it didn’t stop him wishing.

His mind registered groggily that Ianto’s nimble fingers were working at the buttons on his shirt and that he was doing the same; the young man’s jacket was already discarded on the back of a chair and their shirts were untucked. “You were expecting me.” He realised, tugging gently on his earlobe with his teeth

“Timing you.” Ianto confessed with a gasp, plunging his fingers up under Jack’s T-shirt and pushing it up, laughing at the gasp caused by his cold fingers against the older man’s warm flesh. He traced the outline of well-defined muscles, moaning as Jack trailed his fingers down his chest and gasping as talented fingers pinched at a nipple.

Jack was fully prepared to lose himself completely in his young lover, but their version of real life cut across the moment in the form of a worried Welsh accent calling his name on the comms.

“Gwen? This had better be important.” He rested his forehead against Ianto’s, trying to steady his elevated breathing.

“Sorry Jack, but I think you’d better check this out. It’s in the reports that came in overnight. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

“On my way.” Ianto let him go reluctantly and they fastened their buttons up quickly, hurrying up to the main body of the Hub as they did so.

They had long ago given up pretending to Gwen that there was nothing going on between them and that when they were missing together they weren’t in a stationary cupboard or similar. The pretence had been dying ever since she’d walked in on them in the Hot House, and thoroughly dead since she’d kicked Jack’s backside (quite literally) into repairing their relationship following Tosh and Owen’s deaths.

The woman in question was on the phone and smiled nervously at them as they entered. Jack bounded up the stairs to take the readout and an inexplicable grin dawned on his face as he skimmed through it. As she hung up, and it became clear that she’d been talking to Andy, she stared at him perplexedly, “What are you grinning about?”

“What’s going on?” Ianto called down from the kitchenette

“So many questions so little time… We’ve been hacked.”

“And you’re grinning?” Gwen glared at him, she really hated it when he knew something she didn’t

“Oh yeah, cos I know who it is. I knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away from us for long. What did he look at?”

“The general archive, specifically about Daleks and Slitheen, and your personal folders mostly. Did he get an eyeful of porn?”

“Nope.” He laughed and pulled his phone out, “He found a job offer.”