From the yelling reverberating around the Hub, it was clear that Jack and Gwen were arguing again. As Ianto cautiously emerged from the lower depths of the archives, he could hear Gwen's shrill tones occasionally interspersed with Jack's baritone rumble. Owen and Tosh were in the process of gathering their belongings and fleeing the building.

'What is it this time?' asked Ianto

'The usual' replied Owen, 'we need more people, why isn't the full team ever sent out into the field anymore, people are going to die, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda.'

'Oh' mumbled Ianto uncomfortably, 'what brought it on this time?'

Tosh held up her bandaged hand, 'got a little nip from a Mootalrian hunting cat' she said

'Oh gods Tosh' Ianto hugged her tightly, 'are you OK'

Tosh smiled, 'I'm fine' she said reassuringly, 'it was completely my own fault, it thought I was going for its kittens. Once I backed off it trotted back through the rift quite docilely'

'I should have been there to help' said Ianto miserably. This was an on-going bone of contention between Jack and the rest of the team, increasingly, when there was a call out, Ianto was left behind in the Hub either to act as information co-ordinator or just to have the coffee ready for when the rest of the team arrived back. He had tried talking to Jack about it but Jack refused to engage with him. Ianto assumed he was being left behind because his performance in the field was not up to the Captain's exacting standards; there had been that time with the cannibals where Ianto felt he had let the rest of the team down plus that incident with the space whale when his performance had been less than stellar. Ianto knew he was not much of a field agent, being out there terrified him if he was honest, but he hated the thought that his absence was leading to his friends being injured. He had hoped that he would be able to talk Jack into developing some kind of training programme to improve his fieldwork performance but Jack simply would not discuss it.

Ianto sighed, 'you two get out while you can' he said, 'I'll see if I can calm those two down'

Tosh put her uninjured hand on Ianto's arm. 'This is not your fault, Ianto' she said gently, 'who goes on missions is Jack's call, not Gwen's and not yours.'

Surprisingly Owen was nodding, 'co-ordination from the base is essential,' he added, 'and, although I hate to say it Teaboy, you are extremely good at it.'

Ianto dredged up a smile, 'well, I do know everything' he said as he turned towards the kitchen.

In the five minutes it had taken Ianto to craft two perfect coffees, the row had clearly escalated. Now it was Jack's tones that dominated and Ianto guessed that Gwen had pushed him to the point of genuine fury. With a wry grimace, he tapped on the door of Jack's office and opened it without waiting for a response.

Oblivious to his entrance Jack and Gwen were facing each other over Jack's desk. Hands flat on the desk surface, arms locked glaring into each other's eyes. Ianto gave a polite cough but neither of them acknowledged his presence.

'It's not fair' Gwen was saying loudly, 'we go out on every call, put ourselves at risk every day and that's fine, we don't mind that, it's what we signed up for'

'That's right' snapped Jack

'BUT' continued Gwen as if he had not spoken, 'why is it when we are clearly going into situations that need all of us, one person, the same person is always left behind?'

'Are you talking about Ianto' enquired Jack icily

'You know I am' shot back Gwen, 'it needed all of us out there today Jack but, as usual, the Teaboy is left safe and cosy in the Hub. Tosh got hurt. OK it was minor this time but what happens if someone dies?' She calmed slightly and ran her hand up Jack's arm, 'what happens if I die' she asked him softly.

Ianto felt a coldness settle around his heart. Typical, he thought to himself, this is not about being shorthanded in the field this is about Gwen forcing Jack to admit how he feels about her. This is where he tells her how much he wants her and loves her and I will be redundant. He could feel the prickle of tears under his eyelids and his throat felt hot and tight, he forced himself to tune back into the conversation.

'You won't die' said Jack flatly

'But are you willing to risk me?' asked Gwen, laying her hand on Jack's cheek

Jack drew back, 'I am'

Like lightening Gwen's caress turned to a slap, 'but you won't risk Ianto Jones' she snarled

'No. No I won't' replied Jack firmly

Gwen was incensed, 'why?' she shrieked, 'what is so special about him? Is he that good a shag? Why do you protect him like this? What makes him more important than the rest of us? Why is he more important to you than me?'

'I love him' shouted Jack, and then looked horror struck at what he had revealed

There was a brief moment of stunned silence and then Gwen snorted, 'no you don't Jack, you love his tight little arse and how compliant he is in your bed. I'm the one you care for, I'm the one that you love.'

'No' Jack was looking past Gwen to where Ianto stood, frozen, in the doorway trying to assimilate what he had just heard, 'no I love him, I'm in love with him and I won't risk him because he is the most precious thing in my life.' Jack smiled, stepped around the desk and, brushing past Gwen as if she didn't exist, took the tray holding the coffee from Ianto's nerveless hands, placed it on a convenient table and pulled him into his arms. He looked deep into his young lover's eyes and whispered 'I love you Yan. I can't keeping pretending that I don't or can't or won't, I love you and I want to keep you safe so that I can have you with me for as long as I can. I'm sorry, I know that makes me selfish but I am a very selfish man where you are concerned.

With a smothered sob of joy, Ianto brushed his lips against Jack's ear and whispered softly, 'I never thought it was me. I thought…I thought it was Gwen'

Jack snorted derisively as he nuzzled into the crook of Ianto's neck, 'it's you, Yan. It has always been you. It's only ever been you.'

Ianto placed a gentle kiss onto Jack's temple, 'I love you too' he admitted as his whole body began shaking with happiness. Then he looked across the office to where Gwen Cooper stood, staring at the entwined men, immobilised by a toxic combination of disbelief and fury and mouthed the only other three words he had been burning to say since he first realised how he felt about Jack Harkness.

'Fuck off Gwen'