I wrote this in... five hours. This is a new style to write and yet again it was a plot bunny that wouldn't let go. I don't own anything and I'm not making money out of this.

I hopes it's not too complicated.

--

Jack leaves and Ianto doesn't cry.

He is the comforting shoulder to cry on for Gwen and he makes Tosh his special coffee for two weeks. He lets Owen mock him without a word of resistance and arranges the leaflets in the tourist information centre. He practically lives in the Hub to do Jacks (and Owens) paperwork. He makes sure that the UNIT and government stay informed about them. He calls Torchwood two to tell that Captain Jack Harkness is out of the Earth and Gwen Cooper is the leader of Torchwood three. That's not officially true actually because Owen took the position as the leader but everyone knows who is really holding the team together. So Ianto concentrates on keeping Gwen alright, helping her to pull the strings in the shadows.

He doesn't think about Jack.

X

"Do you think he's okay?" Tosh asks her eyes fixed on Ianto who is currently writing a mission report with furrowed brows.

"Of course. Just few bruises. Teaboy has survived a lot worse injures" Owen comments playing with his scalpel absent mindedly.

"I didn't mean the bruises Owen and put that thing down before you accidentally kill yourself! I mean… you know. The thing with Jack."

"The thing with Jack? You mean the thing where Jack kissed him in front of everyone - which was totally unnecessary by the way - and then dumped him with a full blown Harkness grin because of a blue bloody box? Naturally teaboy is fine! Never been better if you ask from me" Owen answers sarcastically leaving the scalpel to table (thank god).

"He doesn't talk about it. It bothers me."

"If it comforts it's very unlikely that he has another cyberchick in the basement."

"Not funny Owen" she glares.

"Yeah. I know. Just… don't worry about it too much. Ianto is a big boy and he can look after himself."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right" he scoffs.

Tosh snorts.

X

When the team goes to Himalayas Ianto stays behind to take care of Cardiff and the rift. Glasgow offers him some help but he refuses politely. It's hard job and too much for one and by the end of everyday he's so exhausted that he barely gets out of his clothes before falling to dreamless sleep on Jacks bed.

Many things happen - bad things and then even worse things - and one day Tosh doesn't call, Owen doesn't answer and Rhys storms to tourist office to ask where the hell his fiancé is. Ianto knows that they are all dead but he tells Rhys he doesn't know anyone called Gwen and tries to sell Rhys tickets to Millenium Centre.

He still doesn't think about Jack.

X

"There is still one left of Torchwood three. Apparently they left someone behind."

"Who?"

"Ianto Jones, the archivist and general support. Mostly harmless."

"Get him. I want him alive."

"Yes Master."

X

They are all dead and no one knows the codes to doors when they are on manual so Ianto knows that whoever trying to get in can't be a friend. His blood is rushing in his ears, heart beating so hard that he thinks it might jump out from his ribcage and his right hand is squeezing the gun, knuckles white. He has seen the news, he has seen his own face on a wanted poster next to Martha Jones. He knew it was only matter of time when they - whoever they are - would come to get him. He doesn't know why exactly this is happening; of course he is Torchwood three now but there must be something more to get his face plastered next to Martha Jones.

The cog door whines when it's forced to open.

He hurries to computers to activate an emergency program he wrote right after Tosh stopped answering. It's a virus - the best he could do - to wipe out everything on the computer, to delete all the accounts and files and then delete the deletions if he did it right. Tosh would kill him if she knew. But she doesn't because she's dead. He pushes the button. The cog door starts to creek open and he can hear voices - thanks to gods they're all human. He quickly pushes another button - another of his new emergency protocols - to release the weevils. That should buy him some time. Hopefully it's enough to get him out of here to a car.

X

"You know Jack I have a surprise for you!"

Jack closes his eyes to avoid seeing the crazy, sadistic grin on Masters face. That grin never promises any good and the fact that Master used his actual name instead of the usual Freak means something especially nasty. He doesn't need nasty right now. Dislocated shoulder, broken fingers and barely healed marks from a whip on his back are just enough for now.

"Really?" he says under his breath.

"Remember me telling you about your beloved team, all dead and frozen so far from home?"

"Yeah" he hisses.

"Well it turns out that one of your gang missed the plane to Himalayas" Master whispers.

"Yeah?" he asks forcing his voice to stay flat and emotionless.

Inside his heart is racing and the long lost feeling of hope is blossoming again.

"I'm sorry what happened to your base though. Pretty depressing place but it had it's own style. Sadly it burned down. The medical bay even exploded. Everything on computers was deleted. Pity."

Toshiko. Toshiko would've done that, made sure that the attackers wouldn't get the amazing amount of information and the results of her sheer brilliance. Maybe she's still there. She is a smart woman. Maybe she would find Martha and help her.

"Ianto Jones. Currently somewhere in countryside outside the Cardiff. Got shot also but is still going. Admirable strength from such a scrawny kid. But we will catch him. I plan to bring him here actually to say hello."

"No!" Jack shouts and no matter how hard he tries to stay calm he knows from the happy look on Masters face that he let the desperation show.

"Ooh" Master coos. "Know him well then?"

"He worked for me. Nothing else."

Ianto and his warm lips smiling against his. Those same lips whispering the dirtiest things to his ear a moment later while those gorgeous ink stained hands from hours of writing reports scratched up his back to sink into his hair. Ianto pulling him even closer and the breathless chuckle ending to a low, keening sound when he bites that delicious, white, Welsh neck.

"Your mouth tells one thing and your eyes the other and I will find out the truth soon. And Jack, I'm very sure he worked well under you."

"I hate you" Jack hisses his voice full of venom and rage carrying the undeniable undertone of pure horror.

"Your Ianto will say the same after I'm done with him."

X

Ianto is stumbling trough the forest. He lost the sense of time and direction long ago. All he knows that maybe a day before this the tires of the car he stole from a back alley were shot and he ran away with a bullet wound on his shoulder. The bleeding stopped many hours ago, it's just a flesh wound, but the fact is that it hurts like hell and he simple can't go on like this much longer. He might be stronger than he looks but he has his limits. He knows that it might be paranoia to hear steps behind him and seeing persons with rifles on the trees but they - whoever they are, he still doesn't know - must be close. He is tired and wounded and they are fast with tracking devices.

One step at the time, he tells himself because there is no one else to encourage him anymore. The gun is comforting weight in his hand and he hopes he would've packed some extra ammunition too.

They catch him when the sun rises. He has made it to small hill and everything looks so much like Breacon Beacons that his stomach twists and the pain in his shoulder from a bullet momentarily shifts to pain from a baseball bat. The only warning he gets is another bullet hitting the stone near his leg and sharp pain in his shin. Shit. He turns around to notice that there are too much of them. They could've killed him many times before but they didn't so the logical reason left is that they want him alive.

Well that is not going to happen, he thinks. You're not going to get me.

He places the gun under his chin with a wild grin pulls the trigger.

X

"I brought you a present!" Master shouts giddily and one of his thugs unceremoniously dumps a pathetic heap to the cell floor.

It's finally the day that Jack has feared. It's finally the day when Master will break him.

"I tried" Ianto whispers and his voice is hoarse and he's bleeding.

"Yes he did!" Master says clapping his hands together like an excited child. "Poor Ianto almost blew his brains out but luckily I had my best snipers on the hunt. Shot the gun right out of his hands."

"I'm sorry" Jack says silently. "I'm so sorry Yan."

X

Ianto cries when he sees Jack on Valiant.

It takes him a moment but he cries because he didn't see this coming. If he had known that the reason why he was on wanted posters next to Martha Jones was that he was a way to hurt Jack even more he would've ended this much sooner in the Hub. He would've exploded with the autopsy bay. He cries because what is left of his immaculately tailored suit is cut off with knives. He cries because Master sticks needles to him and he has this irrational fear of needles (Owen never got bored of teasing him because of that). But most of all he cries because Jack is crying.

Everything goes hazy pretty soon though, thank god. He's bleeding a lot and sharp pain is numbing to constant bone deep ache. Jack is begging mercy for him. He's probably begging himself because he tastes the salt and desperation of his tears in his mouth and running over his lips and he is talking something - he doesn't know what but probably begging. When Master finally grows bored and cuts open the femoral vein he sobs from relief.

But before dying he remembers to apologize from Jack once more. And tell that he loves him. Last thing he hear is Jacks wordless mumbling and Masters delighted laughter.

X

"You sure they won't remember a thing?" Jack asks shifting nervously as he watches nighttime Cardiff.

"Yes. No one here remembers. Time shifted back to its rightful place. Last year never happened" Doctor replies slowly.

"He never died" Jack whispers so silently that the Doctor barely catches the words.

"No he didn't."

"You think… you think that he loves me?"

"He loved you before. He was tortured and murdered because of you but he still loved you. Now when nothing has happened to him and he's safe why would it be any different?"

"Before I had a reason to be gone. Now I just… left."

"He will understand" Doctor says laying a comforting hand on his companions shoulder.

"Of course he will" Jack chuckles. "He's Ianto."

X

Ianto stayed behind when the team went to Himalayas. Few weeks later he had to listen Owen complaining about the wild goose chase for ages and admired how the Torchwood doctor managed to blame him for everything that happened there from snowstorms to frostbites. They trained him for fieldwork. Yes, he did get bruised, few broken ribs and dislocated joints but he did well. Even Owen had to admit that and when they got a report of some kind of a blowfish stealing a sport car and driving like a maniac around the city he jumped to the backseat of the SUV with Tosh like he had done it hundreds of times before.

Loading a gun and pointing it to a living being doesn't feel wrong or strange anymore. He welcomes the rush of adrenaline in a good hunt and accepts the distractions of rift spikes greedily. They sometimes say that he might want to be little less eager to jump at aliens and Owen has reminded him several times that wrestling with weevils is doomed to end badly. He knows they have a point but the moment when he's not quite sure what will happen next is worth it. He feels alive. He feels like he can do this on his own. He feels like he can handle this.

Later Owen will complain but it doesn't work on him like it used to. Now he has no one to defend him and he has learned to answer Owens biting sarcasm and mocking words with his own and like Tosh always likes to say: Ianto 6 - Owen 0. He wears brighter shirts from electric blue to pink and sometimes at mornings Owen says that his head hurts when he looks at his suit chose of the day. He doesn't care about those comments anymore. He's stronger now. He's more confident and experienced.

He doesn't think about Jack though, he's still not strong enough to face those emotions.

X

"Hey kids, did you miss me?" Jack asks with a wide grin.

The first thought Ianto has in his mind is simply: fuck, I'm wearing pink. The first move he makes is pushing past Jack making sure that he shoves the other man in process without saying a word. Right now at this moment Jack doesn't deserve words, doesn't deserve the return he probably acted out in his head several times (Iantos enthusiastic agreement to his question possibly accompanied with passionate kiss and a quick shag on the backseat of the SUV). He feels Jacks eyes on his back but he doesn't turn and slams the front door shut being aware that he acts like a five year old.

"I didn't miss him. I did fine on my own. I don't need him to do this to me again" he mumbles aloud.

The words sound pathetic because he doesn't believe them.

X

Ianto says yes when Jack asks him out on a date. He had this noble thought of resisting and finding a nice girl who doesn't just take off and return year later like nothing happened but when Jack asks so nicely looking all boyish and babbling like he's really nervous those words just flow out. He is curious after all, he wants to see does Jacks 'dinner and a movie' mean chocolate syrup and cheap porn or will he be treated like a fine man for once.

Jack appears on his door that same night (much sooner than he expected) dressed in dark trousers and refreshingly white button down shirt without braces and Ianto who was just spending a relaxing night in front of TV feels totally undressed in his sweatpants and age old rugby t-shirt. Jack doesn't seem to mind a lot though, eyes scanning him are definitely pleased of the image and blush heating his cheeks makes Jack grin even more.

He tries to asks what's the program for the night but Jack keeps telling it's a surprise. He changes clothes to match Jacks style - pinstriped trousers and red button down just to push Jacks buttons. He feels naked without a tie or a waistcoat but decides it's best to leave them out tonight. Jack whistles when he emerges from the bedroom which doesn't help at all. He shouldn't be this easy when there are still so many unanswered questions between them, so much hurt, distrust, secrets and lies.

But Jack looks like he wants to prove something. He takes Ianto to a fancy five star restaurant and after that they don't go to movie but to opera and Ianto has to admit that he is convinced. Good food, excellent wine, a brilliant opera and chaste kiss to his cheek on his doorstep. Jack doesn't even ask a permission to come in. Ianto doesn't invite him in either.

Next morning Jack arrives to take him to breakfast to talk. Their breakfast lasts seven hours and thirty six minutes. They end up taking a day off and watch Star Wars movies on Iantos couch.

X

"I love you" Jack whispers against Iantos bare shoulder.

"It's not enough, you know, just to love someone."

"Yan… I have explained this to you so many times. I came back for you. I could've traveled around the universe with the Doctor but I chose you. I…"

"… gave up the wonders of the universe and the shine of the stars just to see you smile. Yeah. You have told me that few times" Ianto says with a small chuckle.

"What else do you need?"

"You need to figure that out without my help Jack."

X

Jack does figure it out a week later and immediately gives them both weekend off and rents a lovely cottage from Brittany. Ianto doesn't want to leave because there is so much paperwork to do and some mysterious phenomenon happened in the archives messing up the G-I section completely. But Jack is very persistent and practically drags Ianto out of the Hub to the SUV and keeps driving like a maniac like he's trying to make sure that Ianto doesn't jump out. Jack keeps getting lost and takes at least eight wrong turns and their drive lasts three hours longer than it should.

But when they finally get to their destination Ianto has to admit that the cottage is beautiful in an old fashioned way and it reminds him of the summers he spent with his family ib Ireland when he was a kid.

Jack cooks (manages to burn down the pasta and almost half of the kitchen in process) and they drink age old red wine from Jacks secret stash in front of the fireplace. It's a perfect night really and it must be first one in many, many weeks when Ianto is so relaxed that he actually falls asleep against Jacks shoulder. He wakes up thirteen hours later to singing birds and Jack poking his side.

"I love you Yan and I'm also ridiculously in love with you" Jack whispers.

"Okay" Ianto sleepily answers closing his eyes again.

"Will you marry me?"

"Okay."

"Really?" Jack grins victoriously.

"Yeah… wait what?!" Ianto answers very loudly sitting up his sleepy brains finally catching up with the situation.

"No turning back anymore Ianto Jones" Jack laughs. "You already said yes."

"I was half asleep!"

"But you said yes."

"I said okay."

"It's the same than yes."

"Not really."

"Almost."

"You are impossible" Ianto murmurs.

"Will you still marry me?" Jack asks dead serious this time.

"I… Owen would get a stroke."

"Oh yeah. Just imagine his face…" Jack wistfully sighs.

"Yeah… okay. But just to see Owens face."

Jack has never been happier in his life.

Iantos weird nightmares about being tortured to death in front of Jack stop that day.

X

Owen does not get a stroke but it's possible that Tosh and Gwen get an aneurism because yes, they do squeal that loudly.

X

Next time the Doctor comes to Cardiff and takes Jack away Ianto leaves with them too. This time they do leave notes to Owen, Tosh and Gwen and Ianto personally makes sure that Gwen is officially in charge. He falls in love with the TARDIS and her seemingly endless supply of the finest coffees in the universe. The Doctor isn't so bad either. He treats Ianto carefully at first with odd kind of respect and Ianto thinks it's because he has a ring in his finger matching the one in Jacks.

He knows they are hiding something from him, something big but he doesn't ask questions. Jack would tell it if it's important. Jack would reveal everything when the time would be right but until that Ianto will enjoy the trip of a lifetime.

He thinks about Jack all the time.