Title: Burning Bridges
Author: remuslives23
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Jack/Gwen UST, Gwen/Rhys
Word Count: 1747
Summary: The time had come to decide which bridge he would cross, and which he would burn.
Notes: I'm trying to finish up the half-written fics on my hard drive and this is one of them. For the prompt: lace. Unbeta'd so please forgive any errors.
Contains: Angsting.
Episode References: Something Borrowed
Disclaimer: This fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by Russell T Davies. No money is being made and no offense is intended. Characters are of legal age for sexual situations.

'Why, Jack?'

Jack spun around, his hand already on the butt of his holstered Webley before the familiar voice registered. He let out a sharp exhale of nervous laughter. 'Gwen,' he said, shaking his head and letting his hand drop. 'I didn't hear you coming.' He frowned when he realised she was in just a thin satin nightgown with something lacy covering the cleavage the V neck revealed. 'Looking good, but aren't you cold?'

He shrugged off his coat, with the intention of offering it to her, but she shook her head, her hair slapping across her face like dark fingers in the grey gloom of the early morning. 'I wanted to see you before you left,' she said, her voice low as her eyes darted about the driveway of the quaint country B&B where, just hours earlier, she'd sworn her love and fidelity to her now-husband. 'Where is everyone?'

'Tosh and Owen took Tosh's car home an hour ago,' he told her, strangely transfixed by the fluffy pink slippers she wore, the comfortable, 'night-in' shoes incongruous against the seductive slither of the satin and lace of her negligee. 'And Ianto is finishing up inside.'

Gwen brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes as she moved in closer. 'Jack,' she said, her eyes wide and pleading, her voice begging for answers. 'You could have stopped me.'

Jack sighed tiredly and looked away, watching the entrance of the hotel for any sign that Ianto was returning. The other man was dead on his feet after a night of cleaning up the mess Torchwood had made and he didn't need to be witness to the scene Jack knew was coming. 'I know,' he said softly.

Gwen shifted, moving into his eye line and forcing him to look at her. 'Then why didn't you?' she asked, her voice low and tremulous. 'Jack, if you'd just toldme, if you'd just said...'

Jack inhaled slowly, deeply, through his nose then slowly released the breath through his slightly parted lips. The wind picked up again, making Gwen's robe flap about her legs and her hair dance wildly around her face. Oh, she was beautiful. His body stirred at the thought of pressing her against the SUV, those breasts heaving against his chest, her legs wrapped around his hips as he thrust inside her wet warmth.

He closed his eyes against the images, shaking his head. 'Go back to your husband, Gwen,' Jack said blandly, turning back to the SUV and clicking the locks shut on the case that held the big gun he'd used to kill the Nostrovite. 'That's where you belong.'

'Jack!' she almost shouted, her voice breaking painfully on his name. 'Please...'

'Because you wouldn't do it,' he snapped, whirling around to glare at her, his breath coming faster. 'Because you didn't have the courage to take what you wanted for yourself. You wanted me to rescue you. You wanted me to sweep you off your feet, but you wouldn't risk what you had for me.'

He reached out and cradled her face carefully between his hands. 'I'm not who you think I am, Gwen. I... I adore you. I would be less if you weren't in my life, but I'm not what you need.' He smiled tightly. 'And you're not what I need. I can't be your knight in shining armor, sweetheart. My suit is all rusted and banged up. And as much as I love you, you're not my saviour, my redemption. We can't be what we wanted each other to be.'

'I could have been! If you'd told me,' she whimpered, clutching his shirt. 'Jack, if you'd told me what you wanted, I would have given him up and...'

'... you would have regretted it every day for the rest of your life,' he finished, his tone kind but firm. 'Because I can't give you what you need, no matter how much you want me to. You made your choice, Gwen, and it was the right one. Rhys is a good man.'

He kissed her lightly on the forehead, feeling her lean into his touch. He breathed in the flowery scent of her hair for a moment, smelling the musky undertone of sex and men's aftershave, the perfume of consummation, then pulled away far too easily for this to be a mistake. He was relieved; his heart finally having closed this particular door. 'This needs to end now before we hurt the people we love more than we already have,' he said softly. 'You are one of my best friends, Gwen Cooper Williams, and I wouldn't have it any other way.'

'You wouldn't?' she asked, a tear streaking over her cheekbone as she blinked up at him, an unmistakable lilt of hope still threaded through her words.

Jack's smile faded and he held her gaze. 'No,' he said gently, but firmly. 'I wouldn't.'

Gwen's face collapsed and she brushed the moisture from her face with an impatient gesture. 'And Ianto? Is he the reason...?'

'My relationship with Ianto has nothing to do with this,' Jack told her, turning away to slam the boot of the SUV shut.

'Jack...'

'I don't have any regrets, Gwen,' Jack said abruptly, turning to look at her with a stern expression. 'I'm happy for you, and I'm happy for me.' His face broke into a grin. 'We both have the love of a good Welshman and that's something special.'

'You...' Her voice hitched. 'Do you love me, Jack?'

'Don't,' he said softly. 'Don't make me say it.'

'Do you?'

'Yes,' he snapped in frustration, suddenly starkly reminded of all the reasons he'd never asked her to give Rhys up, of why he'd always hesitated to act on their attraction. 'I love you.' He stepped closer and gripped her upper arms, the fabric of her gown cool and slick under his palms. 'But not like I wanted to love you, like you wanted me to love you. Not enough to fight for you like Rhys would.'

He bussed a painfully platonic kiss across her forehead. 'This is a new start, Gwen. Let it go now. I have.' He took a deep breath and moved away, refusing to be moved by the flash of pain in her eyes. 'Now get back to that great hunk of a husband of yours or I might try and steal him from you. He looks pretty good in a tux and I'm sure I could convince Ianto to make me the filling in a Welsh sandwich.'

Gwen bit her lip then nodded, blinking hard as she backed away. 'See you in a week then,' she said tremulously, and Jack smiled.

'Have fun in your honeymoon,' he said, leaning against the vehicle. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do.'

'God,' she said with a soft bark of forced laughter. 'That leaves plenty of scope, doesn't it?'

Jack chuckled, and Gwen's smile quavered. She gave him a little wave then whirled around, hurrying back to her suite as the sun peeked over the horizon. Jack sighed and let his head fall back, hearing it hit the car with a dull thunk.

'If your head dents that door, I'll be most displeased.'

Jack smiled to himself and turned to peer around the side of the SUV, admiring the way the trousers stretched over Ianto's arse as he reached across back seat. 'Will you punish me?' he asked flirtatiously.

Ianto straightened, tugging his jacket into place then closing the car door before looking at Jack. 'Until you're begging for mercy.'

A shiver juddered through him, and Jack stepped around the car, sliding his arms around Ianto and pulling him in tight against his body. 'Sounds like fun,' he murmured, nuzzling his cheek against Ianto's prickly jaw then registering the tension in Ianto's stance. 'You okay?'

'You tell me,' Ianto said quietly, and Jack realised that Ianto's well-practiced stealth had beaten Jack's keen Ianto-sensors once again.

'How much did...?'

'Does it matter? I didn't hear anything I didn't know.'

Jack frowned, trying to find the words he thought Ianto would want to hear. Ianto raised an eyebrow at the long hesitation then stifled a sigh before turning on his heel. 'Let's go,' he said shortly. 'You said yourself that this is the middle of nowhere, and I'm tired. It's harder being the wedding fairy than one might think.'

'Aren't you going to ask me if I love you?'

Ianto froze, his hand on the handle of the SUV. 'Why would I do that?'

'Gwen did,' Jack murmured, watching Ianto's knuckles turn white as he gripped the door handle.

'I'm not Gwen.' Ianto's voice was low, almost a growl, and Jack's breathing quickened in a completely inappropriate Pavlovian response to the grating tenor.

'True,' he managed to choke out. 'No mistaking it from this angle. Your arse is better, although she beats you in the chest...'

'She's braver than me.'

Jack frowned, puzzled, and cocked his head, trying to catch a glimpse of Ianto's face. 'How so?'

'Because she had the courage to ask. Because she wasn't afraid to hear the answer.'

Jack considered leaving it there, considered dragging Ianto in the backseat to show him everything he just couldn't verbalise. But he didn't because after tonight, after everything Ianto had seen and heard, he deserved answers to the questions he wouldn't ask. 'What are you afraid of hearing?' he asked.

'Honestly?' Ianto inclined his head so his face was turned towards Jack, but still hidden by shadows, so that he could see Jack from the corner of his eye, but Jack couldn't make eye contact.

Jack considered the question then gave the only appropriate answer. 'Yes.'

Ianto shrugged, closing his eyes as he exhaled tiredly. 'I don't know. I don't know if I'm more afraid to hear you don't love me and that I've been fooling myself that this is more than it is, or that you do love me and that, one day, I'm going to break your heart.'

There was a long moment of silence in which Jack marveled at the fact that this simple human being from this backward century always managed to surprise the hell out of him then he wound his arms around Ianto's waist and buried his face in the crook of Ianto's neck. 'One day,' he said roughly. 'You're going to break my heart, Ianto Jones.' He pressed his lips to Ianto's throat. 'But it'll be so worth it.'

fin.