And So It Begins... Again: Part 1 (4/10)
Title: Part 1 - Calm Before the Storm
Rating: 15
Characters/Pairings: Team; Jack/Ianto
Spoilers: S1, 2x01
Warnings: Mild violence; M/M relations
Summary: The sex is over and Ianto's getting down to business...
[ The 'And So It Begins... Again' Saga ]
Disclaimer: The team and location belong to RTD and the BBC, so does any dialogue that may appear.
Author's Note: Same as the last chapter really - sorry it's late, but work load etc has it's limits on my time in tight control... But I still got this to you!
I quite like this one, I hope you do as well! The real drama starts tomorrow >=D
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CHAPTER 4
Jack lay on his back and stared at the ceiling of his bunker with a vacant grin on his face. His hands were tucked behind his head and the bed clothes were draped haphazardly across his midriff, leaving only one leg and his torso exposed to the cool air.
He enjoyed the sensation of the differing temperatures and sighed contentedly, wiggling his toes a few times experimentally.
He lay like that for a few minutes before looking towards the hatch up to his office, wondering what Ianto had got himself involved in.
The morning had gone pretty well so far. He’d ‘woken up’ with Ianto in his arms, a weight off his chest and a warm glow deep inside. Then the sex had come. The passionate, lusting sex that he’d waited so long for, and it had been sweeter than ever before knowing it was Ianto who brought those sensations to him.
He stretched a little and was about to sit up when Ianto’s legs emerged. Jack was a little disappointed to find him wearing his underwear and t-shirt again, but didn’t dwell on it for too long. Instead, he chose to watch Ianto carefully, waiting for the young man to say something.
“Right then.” That wonderful welsh accent hung around the words deliciously and Jack smiled despite himself. “I’ve made you a list.”
Jack was confused. A list? For what? Ianto was taking his turn to smile at the bewilderment on his lover’s face and chuckled a little when it failed to clear. He bent his head down and kissed Jack gently on the lips before drawing back out his reach.
“I’ve made you a list.” He repeated his last words with a hint of triumph in his eyes, a challenge glittering in them. “You might find it interesting.”
Ianto handed Jack a piece of folded up paper, smiled, then returned to the office, starting to dress himself again in his impeccably neat style, his clothes already upstairs so he wasn’t there when Jack read what he’d written down. It was more fun that way.
Jack unfold the paper and scanned it quickly, the confusion turning to shock and then to disbelief as the contents sunk in. He leapt up and stuck his head and shoulders out of the hath, finding Ianto sitting behind his desk, dressed in a three piece suit with a magenta shirt on, matched wonderfully with a deep purple tie.
Jack took a moment to appreciate the sight before glowering at him and shaking the piece of paper in his hand in Ianto’s general direction.
“A list?!”
Ianto sat perfectly still, his elbows resting on the desk with his fingers meeting in arches in front of his face. A thrill of triumph flashed through his mind at the look of abject disgust on Jack’s face. He raised his eyebrows at the man and kept a calm face as Jack hoisted himself up into the office.
“Is there a problem with anything on there, sir?” His voice was immeasurably calm and docile. Inside, he knew that nothing would come from Jack’s rage as he held the key to Jack’s confidence.
Well, one of the keys.
“Why is there a list?” Jack had planted his hands down on the desk in front of Ianto and peered intently into the young man’s eyes.
“You owe me… Big time. That list is the road to an even ground.” He met Jack’s stare with a level confidence, knowing he was going to win this time. “I suggest you get dressed, sir, and make a start on it.”
Leaning back in the chair, he studied Jack’s face for any signs of acceptance… There!
That steely glint in his eyes had disappeared. Ianto grinned from ear to ear. He continued to smile as Jack turned around and disappeared back into his bunker. He emerged several minutes later, wearing a clean t-shirt and underwear. He climbed back up the ladder with a look of resentment and Ianto held out a pile of folded clothes.
“There’s a clean shirt and you trousers, sir.” Jack’s eye twitched and he grabbed the clothes from Ianto’s hands, pulling them on roughly and buttoning his shirt up, leaving the trademark buttons undone at the top. He pulled on his trousers and shoved his shirt into the waistband. Finally, he reached down to slip his suspenders over-
Suspenders?
Ianto was still watching him intently, the annoyingly smug smile still on his beautiful features.
“That would be the deposit, returned on completion.” Ianto said, gesturing to Jack’s frozen arms, still in position to flick the missing elastic over his shoulders.
He suddenly stood up and walked over to his lover, taking his chin and kissing him hard on the lips before turning away, hands in pockets, and walking out of the office, leaving a stunned Jack standing alone.
*
Ianto was sitting comfortably behind Jack’s desk again, feet propped up on the surface, a good book in his hands. It had been a long time since he’d been able to sit down and read a book like this and he was really enjoying himself. He didn’t look up as Jack stormed into the room, a tea towel draped over his shoulder, a moody glare on his face.
“Number five, cross it off. Now.” He wasn’t amused. Not one bit.
Ianto smiled at him and pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket, crossing number five out neatly.
He could guess that Jack hadn’t had a particularly fantastic time sorting out the dishwasher. He’d unloaded it and reloaded it with a fluent stream of curses flowing from the direction of the kitchen. A particularly loud and violent curse had alerted Ianto to the fact that the dishwasher’s door was broken… again.
“That counts for number seven as well, I think… General Maintenance?” Jack had an almost pleading look in his eyes and Ianto took mercy, pleased to have some degree of power over the older man. He pulled the list towards him and moved the pen to hover over the paper, letting it pause for a few moments before crossing number seven out as well.
Silently, Ianto was also pleased that Jack was concentrating on something other than his horrific past year. That had been his main objective for the day and this was just one way of killing two birds with one stone. Jack was doing well, he had already done half of his tasks, but had several more tedious ones left, which would probably take him the rest of the day.
Ianto smiled as he threw a clip board at Jack, who caught it smoothly in one hand. He turned on his heel and stormed from the room, heading out into the hub. Ianto leant back in the chair again and watched Jack on the CCTV reel being played through one of the small television screens beside him.
The older man was studying the list, memorising it then processing it. He looked up to one side, a thoughtful look on his face and Ianto waited for his head to pop round the door.
“These are all my clothes…” The anger from his face had faded as he looked inquisitively at Ianto. He simply nodded, meeting Jack’s eyes.
Without another word, Jack gathered together the clothes on his list, shoved them in a military issue duffle bag and headed out of the hub. Some of the triumph had drained from his head at Jack’s expression, but it made him smile non the less. He was learning.
*
Jack had returned a few hours earlier, and Ianto had ordered in two pizzas for them as it was closing in on three in the afternoon. Jack had sat, almost silently, in the board room as they ate and disappeared down to the archives soon after. It seemed he was in a hurry to finish his list - or rather, get to the last point on it.
Ianto had sat in Jack’s office all afternoon and listened to some jazz on Jack’s old record player, reading his book. At some point, he’d relaxed enough to remove his suit jacket and loosen his tie a little.
At around 8:30 pm he looked up at the CCTV again and saw Jack sitting with his back against the wall in one of the archives, a surprisingly small pile of paper left to go through. Ianto smiled again, closed his book and ventured down to his usual haunt, ignoring the small tug of anxiety he felt at the thought of someone else doing the filing.
When Ianto got to the room, he entered and sat down on the floor next to Jack, looking straight ahead. Jack sighed heavily and pulled himself to his feet reluctantly. Ianto watched as he pulled open a drawer - the correct drawer at that - and filed the papers in his hand neatly away. Turning round, he looked at Ianto, his hands on his hips and a triumphant grin on his face.
“That’s two left now, sir.” Ianto smiled affectionately at Jack and got up, waiting by the door for Jack to make his way out of the room, following him as he left. They made there way to the cells in a comfortable silence, Jack slightly ahead of him.
They rounded the corner and Jack swung himself into the room that contained Janet’s cell, Ianto choosing to take the more conventional route of the stairs. He stood facing the cell, leaning on the Perspex door of the cell opposite, watching as Jack retrieved the hunks of raw flesh from the cooler at the end of the room. His nose wrinkled, but his eyes had a hard determination in them. Concentrating hard, his brow furrowed as he opened the door and slowly met the eyes of the swaying weevil before him.
Ianto felt his heart beat a little faster and his throat constrict in sympathy as he watched Jack in the cell. They were still for a long time, Jack knowing that he had to get closer before he could put the food on the floor, keeping it away from the door so that Janet could get all of it without damaging the perspex.
Suddenly, both lunged forwards, Jack depositing the bucket of meat squarely in the centre of the floor and retreating. Janet had lunged for Jack’s throat and Jack hadn’t quite been fast enough on drawing back.
He yelled and Ianto rushed forwards, slamming the door closed Jack dived to safety. He turned around to see blood dripping down Jack’s arm and felt a wave of guilt as he realised this could’ve been avoided if he’d stopped the game a little earlier.
“It doesn’t even hurt.” Jack said lightly, though he was breathing heavily, gripping his arm tightly to stop the flow of blood. He looked up at Ianto, grinning in his usual boyish manner.
“Come on, Jack, we need to get to Owen’s stash… Lets get you cleaned up.” Ianto smiled tightly and hoisted Jack to his feet, steadying him as they walked back through the hub, his arm around Jack’s shoulders. He had to concentrate on letting him go when they’d made their way to the autopsy room.
“Right then, shirt off.” His smile relaxed as Jack chuckled, unbuttoning his ripped shirt and throwing it in Ianto’s face playfully. “Okay then, not too deep, so you won’t need stitches.”
Ianto leaned in and started to wash the gash in Jack’s upper arm, near his shoulder. The bleeding had steamed a little, but there was still a large amount trickling over his skin.
“Since when were you the doctor here?” Jack’s voice was soft and playful, his mouth only inches from Ianto’s ear as the young man bent down to study his arm closer, washing and cleaning it so carefully that he couldn’t feel anything other than a dull ache that came with every good cut.
“Every Torchwood officer has to take a first aid course, in case something should happen to the medic on duty.” He knew that Jack was aware of his first aid skills as it was Jack himself who’d offered to be the resuscitation dummy all those many months ago.
He carefully taped the gash up with butterfly tape and covered the whole thing with a patch of self adhesive gauze. When he was finished he stood back to admire his work.
“You know, there’s no need to do that. I heal like that,” He said, snapping his fingers in front of Ianto’s face, the young man just raising an eyebrow as he smiled.
“Of course, Owen should give you a tetanus shot tomorrow, just in case.” Ianto said seriously before he laughed at the momentary horror on Jack’s face, well aware of his fear of needles. He grinned as Jack’s face slipped back into a moody scowl and leant forwards to kiss the captain lightly on the lips, his hand tilting Jack’s face up slightly.
Without warning, Jack’s hands flew to Ianto’s neck, holding the young man in place, kissing him harder as the longing that had been building throughout the day broke its restraints. He sighed happily, smiling against Ianto’s lips, his tongue running over Ianto’s even teeth.
Eventually, after a blissful few minutes, Jack let Ianto go and wrapped his arms around his waist, staring him straight in the eyes. They stood and watched each other carefully before Jack took hold of Ianto’s hand again, dragging him through the hub for a second time and into his office before directing him down into his bunker.
“Right, lets get this list checked off and finished.” He leant forwards again, capturing his lips in another blistering kiss, his hands deftly unbuttoning Ianto’s waist coat. He had the young man pinned against the wall behind him and Ianto couldn’t even move his arms. He didn’t need to. Jack knew exactly what to do.
*
For the second time that day, Jack found himself completely naked, the bed sheet thrown over him and Ianto. The young man’s arms wrapped around his waist, his own draped over Ianto’s shoulders. Neither had talked for most of the day, but they’d spent the last hour so close that words were irrelevant now. Jack was pleased with himself.
Ianto was pleased with Jack as well. He suspected that his captain would now be a lot more wary when it came to abusing the machinery in the hub, and more careful when eating doughnuts. He now knew the horrors of trying to get jam stains removed from his shirts. He tightened his arms around Jack’s waist and looked up, finding Jack’s attention already on him.
“I had a good day today, Jack.” Ianto could hear the vulnerability in his voice and Jack leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. He closed his eyes and smiled, feeling safe in Jack’s familiar embrace. “By the way, your suspenders? They’re in that drawer.”
He lifted an arm and pointed to the bottom drawer in his dresser. Jack looked from the drawer to Ianto and back again, a look of incredulity on his face.
Ianto took advantage of the momentary drop in Jack’s defence to kiss him again, taking in the sweet taste of his skin before Jack came to his senses and things got a lot less romantic.
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TBC - thanks for reading!
Chapter 5A