A/N Just a little one-shot Janto fun. After Adrift, before Fragments.

Not my characters.

"IANTO!" Jack's voice bellowed out of his office and down into the hub.

Ianto prepared Jack a cup of coffee before heading up to the office. He was walking through the door when Jack started again.

"IANto. Oh, I need you to make some reservations. We're going to London." Jack sat back and gave Ianto one of his flirtatious smiles.

"What for Jack?" Ianto crossed the room and placed the coffee in front of Jack and walked around the side of the desk to stand beside Jack. He leaned back against the desk and crossed his ankles.

"I have to meet with the Prime Minister on Wednesday and UNIT on Thursday. You know how much better things go when you come along. I can deal with the Prime Minister, but you know how I get in a room full of UNIT officers. Sometimes things get said that shouldn't have been said. You have that diplomatic touch to smooth over some of my impulsiveness. Besides, we can go out for a nice dinner and stay somewhere nice and…" Jack raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Spending time away with Jack did sound nice, but it would be in London. Ianto still found it difficult to go to London since Canary Wharf. Meeting with UNIT would probably make things even worse. He knew he needed to work more on moving past Canary Wharf, but he had hoped to do it in his own time. He didn't want to be thrown into it because he had to be there for a meeting with some of the people he still considered partially responsible for the tragedy.

"I'd be happy to make reservations for you Jack, but I don't think I will be going. I have so much work here. Flatholm needs some supplies and attention. Now that the others know, I can take care of some of that during the week instead of using my weekends."

Jack looked dejected. "Come on Ianto. Let Gwen take care of Flatholm. She needed to know, let her deal with it. I was hoping you and I could spend a little time away from all of this." He made a broad reaching motion with his hand.

"It's not just Flatholm. I am behind with the archiving and there are at least six reports waiting to be written." Ianto couldn't bring himself to let Jack know the other reason he didn't want to go.

Jack sighed. "Okay. Don't blame me when everything goes haywire in the UNIT meeting."

"I have confidence in you Jack. You will handle it just fine." Ianto turned to leave the office.

"Ianto, can you get ahold of Martha Jones for me? Maybe she'll be available to go to dinner while I'm there."

"Of course. Anything else?"

"No. That'll do it."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

When Wednesday arrived Jack decided to get an early start. It was barely 6:00am but Ianto was already at the hub, preparing Jack some coffee. Jack entered the kitchen area and moved in behind Ianto. Leaning forward he whispered in Ianto's ear. "It's not too late. You can still come with me."

Ianto was melting. Jack could so easily set him all a quiver. He nearly folded and gave in before the screams from Canary Wharf echoed through his head. Pulling himself together, he put on his best resolve face and turned to look at Jack.

"Things don't get done if I don't do them."

Jack's bottom lip jutted out in a pout. "Oh, alright. But just so you know what you're missing…"

He grabbed Ianto around the waist and pulled him in close before pressing his lips against Ianto's. He parted his lips and ran his tongue over Ianto's upper lip. Ianto's mouth immediately granted him access and the kiss deepened. Ianto's hands had inexplicably come up around Jack's neck and he found himself pressing his hardening erection into Jack's equally firm arousal. A lack of oxygen caused him to finally pull away. He struggled to clear his mind but finally came back to himself.

"Very tricky Jack."

As innocently as was possible for Jack, he replied, "What? I was just trying to show you another 'thing' that wouldn't get done if you didn't do it."

Ianto tugged down his waistcoat and straightened his tie in an effort to compose himself. Turning back to the counter he grabbed the vacuum flask with the freshly made coffee. "Here you go. I've already put your baggage in the SUV."

Jack took the flask. "Thank you Ianto. I guess if I can't have your company some of your amazing coffee will have to do."

Ianto retrieved Jack's great coat and helped him into it. "Good luck with the meetings."

"No guarantees, Ianto, no guarantees." Jack flashed him his trademark smile and headed out. Before he had made it all the way Ianto called after him.

"Jack. Be careful."

"No worries Ianto."

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Jack started the long drive to London. Just Jack and his thoughts.

He had really hoped Ianto would come with him. Yes, Ianto was magic at smoothing things over with UNIT when Jack stepped in it, but that wasn't really the reason he had wanted him to come. And it wasn't the mind blowing sex. Okay, that was part of it, but more than anything he had come to want and need Ianto's companionship.

Jack had spent many years carefully erecting a wall around his self emotionally. Yes, he cared for, even loved his team and the many teams that had come before them, but he had learned several lifetimes ago not to let them in. No matter what he did or how he felt about them, he would always go on and they wouldn't. The downside of immortality that no one else could truly understand was the heartbreak. He could handle the pain and torture of being killed over and over again, but the pain of heartbreak was infinitely more unbearable. But damn if he wasn't going to have to face it again. Ianto and permeated that wall and seeped into his heart. He may as well face it: he was in love with Ianto Jones.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Ianto busied his self with archiving the artifacts that were in a box marked simply "G". How anyone had ever found anything before he came along he would never know. As he sorted through the box, he picked up one that had a yellow sticky note attached to it. The note read, "This one's fun," followed by a smiley face. Ianto recognized Jack's handwriting and found he was smiling, thinking about Jack and what he could possibly do with the artifact. He sighed, laying the artifact down on his desk.

He was now beginning to regret not going with Jack. Maybe he should have gone with Jack; maybe it would have made it easier to face some of his demons. It undoubtedly would have been nice to spend time with Jack away from their "regular" lives. Here in Cardiff everything kind of bled together: life, work, relationships. Sometimes he wished he could spend more time with Jack away from the hub, away from their duties and not just shagging. It wasn't that he didn't thoroughly enjoy the shagging, but sometimes it was difficult to really believe that he was something more than a part time shag as Owen had said. The more he thought about it the more he realized it didn't really matter. He had fallen in love with Jack a long time ago and had resigned himself to having anything Jack would give him, even if it was just his body.

Ianto picked up the device with the sticky note and put it back in the "G" box. He picked up the box and placed it back on the "To Be Archived" shelf. He went up to the main area of the hub and approached Gwen.

"Gwen, I need you to take care of some things at Flatholm for me. I need to go to London to assist Jack with the UNIT meeting tomorrow."

"Sure Ianto, no problem."

Ianto went over what needed to be done with Gwen and bid farewell to his teammates. He drove to his flat and threw some things into a bag before hitting the road for London. He figured he would get there by about ten.

Not long after he started his mobile rang.

"Hello."

"Ianto?"

"Hi Jack."

"How are things going back at Torchwood? You getting everything that was so important taken care of?"

"Of course Jack. You know I don't shirk my responsibilities. How was the meeting with the Prime Minister?"

"It actually went quite well. It's tomorrow that I'm worried about."

"Jack, you'll be fine. You've been handling these things for well over a hundred years, I'm sure you can take care of it."

"I guess we'll find out! Well, I'm off to dinner with Martha and Tom. I just wanted to make sure you, eh, everyone there was okay."

"Thanks Jack. Everything is fine. Enjoy your dinner and give Martha and Tom my regards."

"Night Ianto."

"Goodnight Jack."

Ianto smiled to himself as he hung up the phone, glad that he had made this decision.

A few hours later the valet was parking his car and he was sitting on a sofa in the hotel lobby reading the paper. He dropped the paper down into his lap and watched the people coming and going from the hotel. As he watched the people dressed to the nine's from every walk of life he had a stark realization: Jack could very well be bringing someone back to his room with him.

Black spots appeared before his eyes and he struggled for breath as panic overtook him. He desperately tried to loosen his tie to get some oxygen. "Oh Gods, what am I doing here?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Outside of the restaurant Jack once again congratulated Martha and Tom on their engagement.

"We expect you at the wedding Jack."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Martha. Give the family my love."

"I will. And Jack, you can bring a date to the wedding. We would love to see Ianto."

Jack kissed Martha on the cheek and shook Tom's hand before heading towards his hotel. As he strolled along he thought about what Martha had said. Bring Ianto as his date to the wedding. He would like nothing better but he doubted he would get Ianto to agree. As he walked he began berating himself.

"Come on Jack, why don't you just tell him. Not telling him doesn't make it any less true. What are you afraid of?"

He knew exactly what he was afraid of: that Ianto wouldn't feel the same or wouldn't want to stay with him because of his immortality. He talked himself into quite a depression on his walk back to his hotel and didn't even lift his head as he walked through the lobby, right past a flustered Ianto and into the hotel bar. He sidled up to the bar and ordered a scotch. He sat, shoulders hunched over, staring into the amber liquid as he swirled it around in the glass.

In the lobby, Ianto was beginning to get his breath back after seeing the billowing RAF coat go by, alone. Good, he was still alone. Ianto tried to compose himself before entering the bar. Pulling himself together he walked up behind Jack at the bar. Maybe he would see what Jack was really interested in. Summoning his best Cockney accent, he leaned in near Jack's ear.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Jack remained hunched over his drink and didn't look up as he replied, "Sure, but I'll tell you now that it's not going to go anywhere."

Shocked at his response, Ianto continued as he slid onto the stool beside Jack. "Is that right? You got something better at home?"

"Yeah, actually, I do." Jack finally pulled his head up from his drink to look at the man seated next to him. His heart skipped a beat and it was all he could do to keep from wrapping his arms around the Welshman but he quickly regained his composure and decided to play along.

Ianto continued. "You sound pretty sure of yourself."

Jack turned on his stool so he was facing Ianto and looked him in the eye.

"Mmmhmm. He is a gorgeous Welshman. He's got this dark hair that curls up a little on the ends at the back of his neck. And he has the most beautiful blue eyes; like pools of water. That Welsh accent when he says those beautiful vowels drips like honey. His body is amazing and fits with mine perfectly."

As Jack spoke the two men had unconsciously moved in closer to one another. Ianto was trying to swallow around the lump that was building in his throat as he listened to Jack speak.

Jack raised his hand up and and ran his thumb over Ianto's bottom lip and continued talking.

"He has soft, pink lips and oh, what he can do with that mouth."

Ianto couldn't believe how turned on he was getting listening to Jack talk about him. He struggled to get something out.

"If the only thing you get from him is a great shag, I can give you something you won't be disappointed with."

"Mmmm. It's much more than the sex. He's bright, resourceful, dependable..."

"Sounds like a butler."

"Oh, he's much more than that. He accepts me for all of my many, many faults and supports me when no one else will but he also is willing to call me on my shit. He knows what I need better than I do most of the time and will do anything to make sure I get it. He has a wicked sense of humor and I trust him with my life and can't imagine not having him in it."

Jack hoped Ianto understood what he was saying since he still couldn't bring himself to say those three little words.

Ianto's emotions swelled as he listened to Jack. He knew that for now, this was as close as Jack could come to saying it so he took every bit he offered.

"Oh, and he looks better in red than anyone I have ever met!"

They both broke into smiles as their lips crashed into one another in a sloppy, wet, wanton exchange. When they finally broke the kiss, their foreheads rested together.

"Come up to my room with me?"

"Won't your friend at home be disappointed?"

Jack stood, grabbing Ianto's hand and pulling him along. "Somehow I think he will understand."