Ianto shows yet another hidden talent ... (My thanks to Orion Lyonesse for the original idea for this story.)

"You got something to tell me, Ianto?" asked Jack standing at the door to the office leaning against the doorframe.

The Welshman looked up quizzically after placing Toshiko's coffee on her desk. "No, I don't think so." He moved on to hand Owen his mug.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes." Ianto frowned as the blue and white striped mug was transferred from his hands to Jack's.

"What you on about, Harkness?" Owen had spun round in his chair and was looking from one to the other of them. "Spit it out."

"You really want him to do that?" Gwen had walked over from her desk to stand by the office, cradling her coffee mug in her cupped hands. "You know what these two get up to, might be something we don't want to know."

"It's in the paper, Owen," said Jack conversationally, ignoring Ianto who had retreated to stand at the entrance to the medical bay, still frowning.

"Gawd, you been doing it in public now?" complained Owen in disgust.

"Oh." Ianto's voice was soft and his expression cleared as comprehension dawned. "That."

"Yes, that." Jack looked at him with eyebrows raised. "When were you going to share this tidbit of information?"

"Actually, I wasn't."

"And why is that?" Jack demanded.

As she listened to the conversation, Toshiko turned to her PC and tapped a few keys. Her face changed from consternation to happiness as she smiled brightly. "Congratulations, Ianto! I knew you'd win."

"Win what?" Gwen was moving to look over Toshiko's shoulder.

"You mean to tell me Teaboy's won something?" laughed Owen. "What could he possibly win?"

"That's not fair," drawled Jack, taking a couple of steps closer to the Welshman. "He could be the best dressed man in Cardiff." He reached out and stroked the lapel of the other man's suit jacket. "Or king of the coffee baristas, he'd definitely win that."

Ianto grinned at Jack's suggestions and removed his boss's hand where it had moved to squeeze, and then rest on, his arse.

"Yay, well done, Ianto!" exclaimed Gwen after reading the online edition of the South Wales Echo. She bounded over and gave him a brief hug.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Will someone please tell me what's going on!"

"Ianto is the best new DJ in Cardiff," reported Toshiko. "You know, from last week," she clarified.

-ooOoo-

The week before

The radio in the SUV was capable of receiving transmissions on all known wavelengths and hundreds of others not dreamt of by man. It could track the source of those transmissions back to their origin, whether they were in the city of Cardiff, the UK or thousands of light years beyond the Milky Way. Late this Thursday evening it was tuned to Red Dragon FM, a local station, and in particular to a two hour slot running from ten to midnight which had been given over to new radio talent. Each evening, a local had been given the opportunity to play his or her own choice of music to the listening city and to live their dream of radio stardom.

"And now, Old Blue Eyes with his arrangement of a classic dedicated to Jack from his work colleagues." The soft rumble of the presenter's voice receded and the first strains of You Make Me Feel So Young issued from the speakers.

"Nice one," came from the back seat with an accompanying chuckle. Owen Harper slouched down even further in his seat, arms folded across his chest as he listened.

"Shhh," hissed Jack Harkness, sitting in the driver's seat with his eyes half closed as he beat time to the music on the steering wheel and mouthed the words. He was enjoying the selection of classic love songs almost as much as the sultry tones of the presenter.

Gwen Cooper, sitting half turned in the front passenger seat exchanged an amused glance with Owen. "This is one of my nan's favourites," she said quietly still smiling. "Must be a generation thing."

Jack ignored her, reached out and turned the radio up a notch and then settled back in his seat humming along to the song. His companions stayed silent. It was almost time for action and they were enjoying the quiet moment. Gwen checked her handheld PDA ensuring it was tuned to the correct wavelength. When the moment came there would not be time to waste. She rested her head on the seat as the song came to an end.

"Well, lovers all over the city, this is your time. Make your partner know how much you love them this Thursday evening by calling me, Ianto Jones, with a dedication for your loved one. Just call 029 2094 9494, text 80974 or use the website. And here's one from Rhys Williams of Riverside for his fiancée, Gwen, who is working tonight. Rhys is missing you, Gwen, and hopes you will be home soon. And for you, we have this from Whitney Houston. The title says it all, Gwen." The music changed to I Will Always Love You.

"Rhys the romantic," said Jack, grinning broadly, "isn't that sweet?"

"Ianto made it up," protested Gwen, sitting upright and staring furiously at the radio. "I'll get him for that."

"He said he didn't have to, had loads of people ringing in," pointed out Owen. They had spoken to Ianto just before he began the show, forty minutes ago. "Must be more fools out there than I thought."

"You not sent one in then?" asked Jack as Gwen's mobile rang.

"No I bleeding haven't."

The two men listened to Gwen's one sided phone conversation. It was obviously Rhys on the other end, checking to see if she was tuned in to the radio. They were giggling like schoolboys at Gwen's attempts to sound pleased at the dedication while scowling at them both.

"All right, you've had your fun," stated Gwen, putting the mobile away. "Silly bugger thought it would be funny as he knew we were listening."

Jack cocked his head on one side and gazed at her. "And how does he know that, Gwen?"

"Because I told him." She met his gaze fearlessly. "He worries about me when I'm out late, so I told him this was an easy one."

"I'm going to be sick," came from Owen. The others ignored him.

"Let's hope it is," said Jack, finally looking away. "Tosh, you still there?" he asked into the comms.

"Uh-huh. I think it's nice of Rhys," she said from her seat in the radio station's technical booth.

"Thanks, Tosh." Gwen's expression was smug as she checked the PDA again.

"Anything on the Syssess?" asked Jack.

"Not so far. I've been transmitting the signal, piggybacking on Ianto's show as agreed. He's good, isn't he?"

Jack smiled but did not reply. It had been his suggestion that Ianto take the role of DJ for the evening, sure that those lovely Welsh vowels would resonate over the airwaves. And he had been right. Ianto's voice, slightly deeper than his normal speaking voice, was like strong liquid coffee and very sexy. Toshiko Sato was the station's engineer, the team having arranged for the normal guy to be ill with stomach troubles, and was using the equipment to hide the recall signal.

The song came to end. "This next song is Lady in Red by Chris De Burgh and it's been requested by Bunnikins for Pussy-Wussy." Ianto's tone was neutral but to those who knew him well the distaste was evident. Jack laughed and Gwen grinned widely.

"Saddos," was Owen's pithy comment.

"Whatever rocks your boat," was Jack's laconic comment.

He glanced at the dashboard clock: 22.48. The Syssess should have heard the signal by now. It had been hanging around Cardiff for the past couple of weeks, not doing any harm but frightening unwary citizens who had seen it. It was its bad luck that it looked ghastly to human eyes. Seeing the luminous skeletal body that resembled a cockroach - but half a metre long - hovering at eye level was enough to make the strongest man run, especially as it was nocturnal and appeared out of the gloom. And yet it was completely harmless, a lost soul trying to find its way home but unable to make anyone understand. It had taken the Torchwood team a while to realise what the nightly reports of strange insect life represented and to come up with a plan to attract it. The signal now being transmitted would bring it to them where they'd be able to take it into custody and return it to the colony at the Afan Argoed Country Park between Neath and Maesteg.

Ianto's voice came from the radio again. "And now two Cole Porter songs sung by the great Ella Fitzgerald. We'll begin, appropriately enough, with Begin the Beguine which will be followed by Let's Do It. These are dedicated to Sarah from Ryan, Peter from Jill, John from Scott and Stacey from Gavin. Enjoy."

"So he played them after all," commented Gwen, hitting Jack lightly on the arm. "Your favourites." Jack had been pestering Ianto all day to include the songs.

"Great songs and a wonderful singer," he agreed with a smile, listening dreamily. "So many memories, so many."

"Gawd, he remembers them when they were in the top twenty!" Owen knew how to spoil the moment.

"And what's wrong with that?" Jack had twisted in his seat to glare at Owen behind him when Gwen sprang into life.

"It's here!" She was reading the PDA screen while opening the car door. "Ten metres that way."

She hared off, Jack and Owen scrambling to catch up. They were holding the large containment box between them and left the SUV doors open so could hear Ella's velvet tones all the way to the side of the car park where half a dozen cars awaited their owners, the unlucky workers in the Red Dragon Centre. Gwen was standing transfixed staring at the Syssess which hovered in front of her, a look of horror on her face; pictures did not prepare one for the reality. Owen also halted, mouth hanging open, until Jack's continuing momentum on the other side of the containment box pulled him forward once more.

"Quick," shouted Jack, getting into position. "Gwen, stay put."

The Syssess was trying desperately to communicate with her, the only human who had not – so far – run away from it. For her part, Gwen couldn't have moved if ordered to, she was revolted and fascinated in equal parts. With the creature stationary, Jack threw a net over it and, with Owen's help, brought it down to the containment box. They wrestled with the Syssess as it realised what was happening until finally getting it inside and securing the lid.

"Bloody ugly thing," said Owen, sitting on the box.

Gwen shivered and came out of her immobility. "No wonder people thought it was a monster. It's horrible."

"Do you have it?" came from Tosh over the comms. She had been listening to some of the exchanges.

"Yes, you can stop the signal now. We'll get it back to the Hub while you and Chris Evans keep playing music to smooch to," he added with a grin.

"Oy!" protested Ianto, able to listen in while the records played. "More like an upmarket Chris Moyles, if you don't mind."

Jack laughed as he walked back to the SUV leaving the others to heft the containment box between them. "We'll have to see what your listeners say to that. You might come bottom." Votes were being cast for each novice DJ and would be totalled up at the end of the week.

"Impossible. Oh, gotta go." The record was about to end.

-ooOoo-

The present

It was late and Jack was in the office working through some reports. The rest of the team had been gone an hour or so and the place was quiet until the internal comms system crackled into life and the strains of Mona Lisa sung by the unmistakable voice of Nat King Cole flowed into and around the Hub. It was a beautiful sound and Jack smiled until he recalled that he was the only person there and had not put it on. Rising from his chair, ready to investigate, he halted when he heard …

"Sit back and relax while we listen to some golden oldies." The music swelled once more.

Settling back in his chair, Jack abandoned the paperwork and leant back, feet on the desk. Those Welsh vowels were also unmistakable; it seemed Ianto, Red Dragon FM's most popular new DJ, was giving a private show. Over the next half an hour more classic songs and a few new ones filled the Hub. The one-person audience closed his eyes and listened with a smile on his face, enjoying the music almost as much as the DJ's links. His particular favourites appeared: Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers, giving rise to images of Ianto and him at a potter's wheel; You're the Inspiration by Chicago; The Power of Love by Jennifer Rush; My Way by Frank Sinatra; and the final track, Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye by Ella Fitzgerald.

As the strains of the song died away, Jack felt a stirring in the air and opened his eyes to see Ianto standing by the side of the chair wearing nothing but a smile and a spotted bow tie. The Welshman pushed Jack's feet off the desk and straddled him.

"You're wearing too many clothes," Ianto said huskily as he pushed the braces off Jack's shoulders.

"Easily rectified." Jack's hand were roaming over the other man's bare back and gently pulled him close for a deep kiss which led to much, much more.

I'm closing this collection of short stories here. As and when I have any more, I'll post them under another title. Many thanks for reading and reviewing - Jay.