The Oblivious

Saturday

Sandra Smithies and her husband Iain were queuing at the checkout in their local supermarket. Sandra was flicking through a magazine and Iain was looking at the very pretty checkout girl and having an idle fantasy about her.

Neil Davies and his partner Dylan were struggling though the entrance to their building with a flat pack book case when someone held the door for them. 'Thanks Ianto' puffed Neil. Ianto rode up in the lift with Neil and Dylan and opened the door to their flat for them and then, with a shy smile and a wave, headed off down the stairs. Neil watched him go with mild interest and turned to Dylan, 'Cute' he remarked, 'I wonder if he has a boyfriend. We should invite them to the flat warming'.

Bethany Hughes was sitting in the pub with her boyfriend. Steve was at the bar buying more drinks when Bethany's attention was caught by a good looking bloke across the room 'very nice' she thought to herself. 'I bet I could have some fun with him'

Anna was walking in the park with her husband Dave when a truly beautiful young man jogged towards them, bare-chested, long glossy hair blowing in the breeze. 'ooh' she thought he's lovely'

A secret fantasy life is something every human being has in common; idle thoughts, never to be shared or acted upon; thoughts that partners and loved one are oblivious to, and for good reason. By the end of the week, Iain, Neil, Bethany and Anna would share something else in common.

Sunday

Dave bought in the bedtime tea. 'Are you alright' asked Anna, 'You've been very quiet all night'

'Giving you time to think about that toy boy you saw in the park I suppose,' Dave sneered,' You're old enough to be his mother – it's disgusting'

Despite herself Anna blushed 'I don't know what you are talking about' she said

'Oh drink your tea'

Monday

Steve and Bethany were having a row and for the life of her Bethany didn't know why.

'I saw you' said Steve, 'I saw what you were thinking, you slut'

You saw what I thinking? That doesn't even make sense' Bethany turned to walk away

'Don't,' cried Steve' don't leave me. We belong together.'

Bethany never even saw the knife

Tuesday

Iain Smithies was soaking in the bath when he heard Sandra come into the room. 'Oi' he said, 'walking in on a man in his bath!'

Sandra had a funny look on her face, 'suppose you were thinking about that little tart in the supermarket' she said dreamily

'What?'

'Oh I know what you were thinking' said Sandra, ' I can't live with knowing you have thoughts like that…and neither should you'

She held Iain under the water until he stopped struggling then she plugged in her hair dryer and got into the bath with him.

Wednesday

Neil poured another glass of chilled Chablis and took it out onto the small balcony of the flat. Looking into the street below he could see Dylan chatting to a man in a long black robe, who had his hand on Dylan's shoulder, 'odd' he thought. A short time later he heard a key in the lock and turned with a welcoming smile. Dylan stood in the doorway with a face like thunder,

'Where is he' he snarled

Neil was confused, 'Where's who?'

'That bastard from downstairs, the one you secretly fancy'

Neil shook his head, 'I don't know what you are talking about' he said

'Yes, yes, you do' cried Dylan, 'I saw you looking at him when he held the door for us at the weekend and you said wanted to invite him to our flat warming'

'You mean Ianto?' laughed Neil, 'He held open the door we could get the bookcase through is all. We haven't spoken more than two or three words to each other either before or since. He is cute – we both agreed that but he's not my type, you are'

'Really?' said Dylan, picking up the glass of wine that Neil had poured ready for him,' and I suppose this is for me is it?'

'Yes' said Neil quietly, 'it is'

Dylan threw the glass at Neil; it hit the wall and shattered. 'You must think I'm so dense' he shouted 'do the two of you sit up here laughing at me, you and bloody Ianto Jones?' Neil made a move towards him, Dylan began to cry 'Oh God Neil, I love you so much, I can't live without you'

'You stupid sod, you don't have to' Neil attempted to reassure him.

Dylan looked up 'No, I don't do I' he said. Then he rushed across the flat, sweeping Neil up in his arms as his headlong rush carried them both over the balcony rail to smash into the street below.

It would take someone who knew him as well as Jack did to notice that Ianto was even quieter than normal. Jack found him down in the archives sorting despondently through some old files. He went up behind him and put a light hand on Ianto's back 'everything Ok?' he asked softly.

'Yeah' said Ianto, 'just feeling a bit sad today, that's all'

Gently Jack turned him around and pulled him into a hug, 'tell me.'

Ianto buried his face into Jacks shoulder. 'Two people from my building died last night' he said, 'it looks like a murder/suicide – they were nice guys, I- I liked them'

'Any idea why it happened?' asked Jack as he tenderly ran his fingers through Ianto's hair.

'No, Dylan came home and just grabbed Neil and jumped. No reason, no note, nothing'

'There's more to it isn't there?' said Jack.

Ianto nodded, 'Two things actually. One of the policemen mentioned that this was the fourth murder/suicide in the last 4 days...'

Jack raised an eyebrow 'that seems quite excessive' he noted, 'maybe we should look into this. What else?'

Ianto pulled out of Jack's arms and looked down at the floor, 'it was more the attitude of everyone else,' he said, 'they seemed to just dismiss the whole thing, I heard a few people suggesting that this sort of outcome was only to be expected when two men...well, you know...'

'C'mon Ianto, you've never come across this sort of attitude before?'

'Yeah' admitted Ianto, 'but it made me really want to find out why Dylan did this, he and Neil were a great couple, I-I can't understand it. They deserve better'

'Alright' said Jack, 'Come on then'

Ianto bought coffee into the boardroom and spread four files out on the table, 'Sandra and Iain Smithies, Steve Jackson and Bethany Hughes, Dave and Anna Field, Neil and Dylan. All couples in stable relationships, different ages, different jobs, different sexual orientation, they all lived in different parts of the city, no previous history of violence or mental illness, poisoned, drowned, stabbed and blunt force trauma. If there's a pattern here I can't see it' sighed Ianto

'Tell me about Neil and Dylan' invited Jack

'They were just a nice quiet couple, Dylan was a graphic designer, Neil was a web developer.' said Ianto, 'We'd say hello when we met on the stairs, take packages in for each other – that sort of thing. Neil invited me to their flat warming party'

'Did you go?' asked Jack with a little spurt of jealousy.

'It was next month' said Ianto sadly, 'I had told Neil we would be there though'

'Were you in your flat when they died?'

'Ianto thought back, 'Yes' he said, 'I had just got in, I was opening the windows because the flat was stuffy and I saw Dylan in the street. I waved to him but he was talking to someone and he didn't see me. Then I heard raised voices from up stairs. I thought…I thought I heard Dylan shout my name. Then running footsteps and terrified screams from Neil and…' he looked down and swallowed. 'I'm sure I heard my name, God, Jack you don't think this was my fault do you?

Jack shook his head, 'absolutely not' he said firmly.

'Then why?'

Jack thought hard, 'who was Dylan talking to in the street?' he asked.

'Dunno' said Ianto 'I couldn't see the guys face'

Jack stood up and held out his hand, 'C'mon' he said

'Where are we going?'

'To talk to your neighbours and see if anyone could see who the mystery man was'

Gwen took a irritable bite of her pasty and turned back to her monitor, typical of those two, she thought to herself, they go Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson-ing round Cardiff whilst I'm stuck here looking at CCTV footage. This more than sucks! She was looking at all of the CCTV footage she could find of any of the four dead couples. She'd started as soon as she had got into work and had been at it about five hours. Her eyes were sore and her back was hurting. She stood up and stretched and wandered down to Ianto's butler's pantry to make herself a sneaky instant coffee.

'Good to see you hard at work', she hadn't even heard Jack and Ianto come in.

'Is that instant?' It was clear which, to Ianto, the greater crime was.

'Actually, gentleman' said Gwen, 'I have something to show you both.' She ushered them back to her work station, 'Ianto saw Dylan talking to a black robed man in the street, now look,' she pointed to three CCTV images, 'Steve Jackson talking to a black robed man in the pub car park, Dave Field talking to a man in black robes in the street when he was walking the dog and Sandra Smithies at the supermarket talking to…'

'A black robed man' said Jack and Ianto unison

'Ok' said Jack, 'this is a good lead, well done Gwen. So, now we know that this black robed person spoke to all of our killers' only minutes before they murdered their partners. It's a link between all the victims that we didn't have before. This guy is preying upon couples. We need to draw him to us – who do we know in a long term relationship?'

'Oh no!' said Gwen as she realised that Jack and Ianto were both looking at her, 'I can't! I won't put Rhys at risk. What about you two?'

'Us?' said Jack, 'but we're not a couple'

Ianto looked wounded. Classy Jack, thought Gwen. 'Jack' she said patiently, 'Answer me these questions, what's Ianto's favourite indie band? When's his birthday? What is his ideal place for a holiday? Where is his favourite restaurant?'

'Blue Gillespie, August 19th, Tibet, that French restaurant in town, the one by the monument – what's your point, that's the sort of stuff that anyone would know, I bet you knew all that' Gwen had to admit that she did

'OK' Gwen tried again, 'We'll go for something really personal, something only someone who is half of a couple would know. Do you know how and when Ianto lost his virginity?'

Ianto made a small uncomfortable noise

Jack smiled wolfishly, 'Hell yeah, all of 'em' he winked at Gwen and raised his eyebrow, 'wanna know how many were down to me?'

Oh God, thought Gwen, what on earth was I thinking? That's a mental image I'll have some trouble getting rid of

Looking mortified, Ianto buried his head in his hands. He was obviously blushing, the back of his neck and even his ears were bright red

'Oh please let's discuss that' he said in muffled despair. 'Just pretend I'm not here and carry on'

Smiling at Ianto fondly, Jack took pity on him and stopped the teasing. He ruffled Ianto's hair and slipped an arm around his waist 'OK, then two couples, twice the chance of catching this guy'

For the next thirty-six hours, Ianto at least was a very contented man. Jack had moved some things into his flat and the two of them were living as a couple. Ianto was happily wandering round the supermarket with Jack, buying ingredients for dinner. Jack was trailing after him with a dangerous look in his eye that, had he been paying attention, Ianto would have recognised could mean trouble if not addressed. Whilst Ianto was tutting over the quality of the coffee on offer, Jack's attention had been grabbed by a young man who was stocking the shelves. Grinning happily, Jack leant against the wall and watched the young man bending down to fill the lower ledges.

'Jack…Jack' Jack dragged his attention back to Ianto, 'if you can tear yourself away from the fancy goods section, I'm ready to leave'

Jack pouted, 'I was just starting to have fun'.

From the doorway a black robed figure was watching Ianto's face.

Gwen and Rhys were having a rare night out together. Gwen had managed to get them a free bottle of wine by flirting with the waiter. 'Nice going, babes' said Rhys.

Gwen smiled, 'Just a little something Jack taught me' she said

The smile slipped from Rhys's face 'Bloody Jack Harkness,' he said, 'can't we for once have an evening out without that sodding man being mentioned every five seconds.'

Outside the window of the restaurant a black robed figure was watching them.

Jack had gone on ahead with some of the shopping leaving Ianto to lock the SUV. As he turned toward the entrance to the building he felt a soft hand on his arm. He turned to face dark cowled figure.

'You are one of The Oblivious, I can enlighten you' the figure reached a claw like hand and touched Ianto on the forehead.

Pictures flooded into Ianto's head, images of what Jack had been thinking when watching the shelf stacker, they were graphic and innovative. 'You see, what his mind is like' said the creature, 'He lusts after everyone' Ianto received a very clear image of what Jack would like to do with Gwen, 'you love him but he does not love you; he will never love you. He is not a faithful lover,' an image of Jack and Sir Justin Fanshaw in the bed Jack usually shared with Ianto, doing things Jack usually did with Ianto 'If you died he would not mourn you nor would he miss you – you would be replaced without thought; he would see you die and just carry on his life, after a year he would not even remember your name.' Ianto received another unambiguous mental illustration of what Jack would be doing to take his mind off of Ianto's death; he seemed to be enjoying himself

'Who…what are you' whispered Ianto

'We are The Enlightenment; we save the Oblivious and punish the Faithless. We harvest souls to feed our God.'

'How do you do that?' asked Ianto

'You can cleanse him and save yourself with by two simple acts; violence and self destruction – kill him, destroy yourself and eternal peace will be yours'

The eyes of the stranger seemed to glow with a fierce golden light, 'Yes' murmured Ianto, 'yes; cleanse Jack, gain eternal peace.'

The evening had not been a success. Gwen and Rhys had got through their meal with barely concealed hostility and driven home in silence. Rhys dropped Gwen off at the entrance of the building they lived in and drove down the street to park the car. As he trudged sadly back in the drizzling rain and dark figure stepped out of the shadows.

'Great!' said Rhys, 'If you are gonna mug me mate, best get on with it. I've had a shit evening nothing you can do will make it worse.'

The dark figure moved closer to Rhys, 'You are one of The Oblivious, I can Enlighten you'

'Enlighten away' said Rhys, patting the figure on the shoulder.

Ianto let himself into his flat. Jack was prowling around like a cat in a new home. 'This is a really nice place you have here' he said

'You've been here before' pointed out Ianto coldly

'Yeah but...you were a woman…and naked…and wet…I wasn't really paying attention' Jack laughed.

'No you wouldn't be would you?' The bitterness and pain in Ianto's voice was raw

Jack stopped and turned to face him 'Pardon me?'

Ianto moved closer to him 'I mean, why would you? I'm less than nothing to you, just a convenient fuck. God I'm so thick, I actually thought you might come to care a little bit for me but no…anyone will do for you, won't they Jack, anyone stupid enough or desperate enough, or lonely enough or grateful enough for your interest in them no matter how superficial'

'Ianto where is all this coming from?'

'Oh like you don't know' shouted Ianto, 'I'm just background noise to you aren't I – except when you fancy a shag!' Jack tried to take Ianto by the shoulders, but the younger man shook him off in fury, 'It's only me because you can't have Gwen isn't it? I know what you would like to do with her, I've seen it. Not like you to settle for second best is it Jack? But then I'm just so bloody grateful all the time aren't I, why wouldn't you?'

'Ianto, you need to calm down' said Jack urgently

Ianto had started to cry, 'I was happy with Lisa and Torchwood took her away. Then you came and you made me…' he gestured inarticulately 'now I don't know where I fit or what I am. I love you Jack but you don't give a shit about me do you?'

With one eye on Ianto, Jack took his phone out of his pocket and speed dialled Gwen. 'It's working' he told her, 'keep an eye on Rhys'

'He's parking the car' Gwen's voice came over the line clearly to Ianto who was enraged. 'Christ I'm trying to tell you how I feel and you are talking to that bitch' he snarled snatching the phone out of Jack's hand and throwing it out into the street. 'What do I have to do to get your full attention Jack?'

Over her phone, Gwen could hear Ianto raging at Jack, and then, suddenly, the call failed. She could hear Rhys's key in the lock and she stood ready. Rhys stormed into the flat. 'Gwen' he yelled, 'I have something to talk to you about'

Gwen came out from behind the door, stun gun at the ready. 'I love you Rhys' she told him as she stunned him and he collapsed to the floor at her feet. The she put a pillow under his head, covered him with a blanket, cuffed his hands and waited for him to recover.

Ianto had snatched up a knife that had been left on the kitchen counter. 'This is the only way 'he said as he advanced on Jack, 'I can't lose you and it's the only way to keep you, the only way to know you will be mine and only mine. For ever'

Jack tried to make eye contact, 'Ianto' he said, desperately 'if I have to die to prove what you mean to me then fine, I'll do it but please, please don't hurt yourself, I'm begging you'

Ianto gave a sobbing laugh, 'Living without you would hurt me, so we'll go together. First you then I'll finish myself. Make this agony stop – eternal peace' He drew his hand across his throat in a distressingly explicit gesture

'No! Please' pleaded Jack, 'not like that, I couldn't bear that to be my last sight of you. There must be a different way, please Ianto, please. If you love me at all, do that one thing for me'

'I do love you, I just want you to love me' said Ianto and lunged at Jack plunging the knife straight into his heart.

Rhys woke up puzzled. He looked up at Gwen who was sitting on the floor beside him drinking tea and reading Heat. 'Er, Gwen love' he said, 'if this is some sort of bondage game I think we're playing it wrong'

Gwen smiled and kissed him. 'Did you do it?' she asked

'Yes' said Rhys, 'God, Gwen it was horrible, all these thoughts he put in my head but they were more than thoughts, they were like memories. Like I knew you had done these things, like I'd seen you do them and knew you would do them again. And the rage and the pain…it was obvious what I had to do to make it all stop'

Gwen knew she would never ask Rhys what he had seen. 'Did you plant the tracking device?' she asked

Rhys nodded 'As ordered Ma'am' he said.

Gwen kissed him again, 'well done Rhys'

Rhys shifted uncomfortably on the floor, 'Er Gwen, do you think you could un-cuff me now'

With a gasp and a surge of pain Jack came back to life. Ianto was lying across to him in a slowly growing pool of blood; he had his head on Jack's shoulder and one arm across his chest. Gently, Jack turned him over and gave a quick sigh of relief; the blood was from fairly superficial horizontal wrist wounds; he quickly bound them up to slow the bleeding and, using Ianto's phone, dialled for an ambulance.

A few hours later and Gwen, Jack and Ianto were back in the Hub. Ianto, sporting bilateral bandages where his wrists had been dressed, was looking very subdued and unhappy, for some reason he wouldn't look at Gwen at all. Jack was fussing around him like a mother hen.

'They wanted to keep him in for a psych evaluation.' Jack explained to Gwen, 'until I said he was my boyfriend, then they couldn't get him out of the place fast enough.'

Gwen tutted, 'sometimes it's like living in the 1950s, living in Cardiff' she said.

Jack nodded, 'so, what have we learned?' he asked

Ianto cleared his throat uncomfortably, 'He called himself The Enlightenment,' he said, addressing his comments to the surface of the table' he said I was one of the Oblivious'

Gwen nodded, 'They told Rhys that too'

Ianto continued, he still didn't seem able to look either Gwen or Jack in the face, 'he…touched me and suddenly it was like I knew, absolutely and without question that every little thing I suspected or worried about…about me and…Jack…was true. He showed me the things that I most feared. He showed me…everything, vividly, like I'd seen it happen. He took every small pointless jealousy, every trivial insecurity and made it absolutely and convincingly believable. '

Jack reached across the table, Ianto took his hand and held it very tightly, he still wouldn't look up. 'He told me that they harvest souls for their God, he told me I could save myself and cleanse Jack by…' his voice broke.

Christ thought Gwen, Ianto is losing it, what on earth had he been shown? She chipped in, 'Rhys told me more or less the same thing' she said. 'He said it filled him with such rage all he could think of doing was killing me then himself, it was the only way to get eternal peace, he said'

Ianto nodded 'Eternal peace – they said that to me too'

Jack looked at Gwen and Ianto 'The good news' he said, 'is that I found The Enlightenment on Tosh's database. They don't usually operate this far out in the galaxy; they must have used a rift surge to get here. They are a quasi-religious mystical cult who believe that a state of Oblivion is a sin that is perpetuated upon the Innocent by the Faithless. They believe that the Faithless should be eradicated, they call it cleansing, and the Oblivious enlightened and taken to paradise. They harvest the souls of the Faithless supposedly to feed their God, whilst the Oblivious, once Enlightened, live to serve him. They move into an area, work in groups of three with a target of souls to harvest, six couples, then they move on. If they default on that target their god takes them for what the ancient scrolls say is 'an eternity of endless torment'. The bad news is that we have no idea where these creatures are or how to stop them'

Gwen gave a modest cough and placed her PDA onto the table, it was beeping busily to itself. 'Score one for Team Williams' she said, 'Rhys planted a tracking device on the cult member who tried to "Enlighten" him'

Jack gave her a brilliant smile, 'Good work Gwen' he said, 'what are we waiting for'

Gwen stood up and prepared to follow Jack out of the boardroom

'Wait' said Ianto, quietly, 'if anyone faces the Enlightenment it should be you and me, Jack' Gwen was about to disagree when Ianto looked up, 'listen' he continued,' you said that if they defaulted on the souls harvest their God would destroy them yes?' Jack and Gwen nodded, 'well they really defaulted with us didn't they' he said, looking Jack in the face for the first time.

'Good point' said Jack slowly

'Also,' Ianto continued, 'they are still a couple short, they failed with Gwen and Rhys, they may well try to remedy that'

Gwen was already on the move, mobile out and heading out of the Hub, 'Rhys, stay where you are. I'm coming to get you. I don't think this is over'

Jack and Ianto looked at each other. It was the first time that Jack could ever remember an uncomfortable silence between then. Eventually he cleared his throat and said, 'well, bad guys to kill' and walked out of the board room, Ianto stood and followed him without a word.

Once in the SUV, things seemed a little easier between them as Ianto tried to focus on the readout from the PDA whilst Jack threw the vehicle around with his usual panache and disregard for passenger comfort.

'Jack' cried Ianto as Jack took a corner almost on two wheels. 'I can't give you directions with my head in your lap'

Jack grinned, 'last time you had your head in my lap' he said, 'neither of us need directions'

Ianto gave the first real smile Jack had seen from him in 12 hours. Then he said 'slow it down Jack, we're really close' Jack opened his mouth, then closed it again as Ianto gave him a mock stern look, 'to the source of the tracking signal'

Jack parked the SUV and looked around. They were on a deserted part of the old docks. 'Why do psychopathic aliens never chose to live in a nice neighbourhood?' he grumbled and he and Ianto picked their way over rubble and debris.

'Like Skypoint?' asked Ianto drily, gesturing to a warehouse, 'In there'

Jack nodded and burst into the building. Inside was a makeshift altar with three figures swaying and chanting before it. They were humanoid but clearly had reptilian ancestry and turned in alarm. 'Hello boys' said Jack cheerily, covering them with his gun 'bet you didn't expect to see us again'

'Impossible' snarled one, staring at Ianto, 'you were Enlightened and you...' he turned to look at Jack, 'you were Cleansed'

'Wrong on both counts' replied Jack, 'how unhappy is your God going to be?' He turned to Ianto, 'I reckon this is like waving a bacon sandwich at someone and snatching it away before they can take a bite'

The Enlightenment appeared to be immobilised with shock. Their eyes closed and, swaying once more, they began to chant in unison. It sounded like prayer.

'Uh oh' said Jack, 'I think they might be talking to their God, this isn't going to end well'

Ianto was watching The Enlightenment with a look on his face that Jack had never seen before. He realised that Ianto was furious, more furious than he had ever been in his life. Ignoring Jack's shouted warning to be careful Ianto strode forward in a towering rage and smacked each of the creatures, hard, breaking their concentration and ending their communion. He moved in close to them, 'You promised us to your God, as if we were nothing, as if we were incidental and unimportant' he said in a low voice, making sure that Jack couldn't hear him, 'you killed my friends – they were good people and you made them die in a horrible way. You showed me terrible things, you forced me to do and say terrible things; but you made four really big mistakes, you thought Jack could die – wrong; you thought I didn't trust him – wrong, there is no-one I trust more than him; you thought my love for Jack made me weak, a victim - wrong, loving Jack gives me strength I didn't know I had; but worst of all for you, you thought I was Oblivious – so wrong. You see, I know Jack, I know that he can potentially be all the things you showed me but I love him so that doesn't bother me, because, to me, that's what loving someone unconditionally means. I love him and I know he will never be mine. Yes, he is unfaithful from time to time but he comes back to me, he always comes back to me. And if he forgets me when I'm dead, that won't matter because I won't know, all I care about is that he remembers me now! You underestimated the power of my love for that man and that is what is going to destroy you'

The Enlightenment began to tremble and shake. Their bodies were outlined in a radiant glow and Ianto could hear their skin begin to crackle and burn 'Is your God a forgiving God?' he asked them softly, 'Because I think you have really disappointed him'. He looked into the stricken face of the aliens with a small smile. Then Ianto felt Jack grab him, pull him violently backwards and shield him with his body as the creatures exploded and a deluge of concrete rubble and seared flesh rained down upon them.

As they limped back to the SUV Jack called Gwen, 'Go home,' he said, 'Ianto has finished it'.

They were back at the Hub, Gwen and Rhys had long departed and Jack was showering bits of concrete dust and roasted alien out of his hair. Ianto walked in to the bathroom, 'I've seeded a cover story,' he said, 'chemical spill which floated over the city triggering psychotic behaviour in sensitive individuals. Neil and Dylan will be recognised as the victims they were not as a weird gay murder/suicide thing'

'Good' said Jack, 'Ianto, you were a good friend to them, even though they didn't know that'

Ianto was hovering, 'Jack' he said hesitantly, 'I'm so sorry'

Jack emerged from the shower and looked at Ianto quizzically, 'For what?'

'For everything I said, for believing what the Enlightenment showed me, for all those things I said to you and what I did to you. Neil and Dylan, they didn't deserve to die like that, in a blizzard of mistrust and hate and neither did you. I'm so, so sorry'

'You don't remember do you' Jack asked gently, 'We talked the whole plan through before we went out, we agreed, no recriminations, no apologies, we both understood the risks. The Enlightenment were very skilful, nothing that happened was your fault, nothing. Anyway you were in more danger than me. My biggest fear was that you would injure yourself and die before I revived to save you, that's why we left that knife out so conveniently; I didn't want you to put a bullet through your head, or throw us over the balcony. You trusted me enough…believed in me enough…to listen to me, even through all the poison the Enlightenment had fed you.'

Ianto gave a weak smile, 'I suppose after all this, you'll want to collect your stuff from my place won't you?'

Jack considered this, 'It was kinda nice there.' he said, 'nice to have a window for a change. Maybe I could leave some things there, just for emergencies?'

Ianto gave Jack another slightly bigger smile, 'Are we still OK then?' he said.

Still naked, Jack walked up to Ianto, He took Ianto's hand and folded it around his erection. Jack ran his nails over Ianto's nipples and smiled as he felt them stiffen against the crisp white material of Ianto's shirt. He leaned in a swiped his tongue around the edge of Ianto's ear and whispered softly, 'let me enlighten you,'