Work Text:
FANFIC: Tell Me What to Say...
PAIRING: Jack/Ianto
RATING: PG for implied gay sexual relationship
SPOILERS: all/none. Takes place post series 1.
DISCLAIMER: Torchwood is the property of RTD and the BBC
INTRODUCTION: Gwen talks to Jack about his relationship with Ianto after his return. No slash/het.
1.
Jack is pleased to be back. But even though he never sleeps, tiredness settles over him like a blanket as he sits down in the swivel chair behind his desk in Torchwood 3, Cardiff. The office is as he left it thanks to the constant cleaning of Ianto Jones and the refusal of Gwen Cooper to let his possessions be removed. Her argument had been that he wasn't dead, he could still come back, and having recently witnessed an amazing resurrection by himself the others had been willing to go along with it.
He was so tired. He poured himself a whiskey and downed the glass, wincing at the pathetic lack of effect it had on him. The second time he poured, he placed it in front of him, beautiful amber liquid in stylised glass. Picture perfect.
Gwen interrupted his calm. He saw her coming, glass walls hid little, and thought of running or coming up with some job for her to do. But her questions wouldn't go away like the alcohol in his body.
She flicked him a smile. Jack just stared back at her. "Gwen."
"Jack... you went away, and then came back. Things... before you left we were all very emotional. And afterwards, people tried to move on."
"Where are you going with this?"
"Ianto." She said bluntly, soft eyes watching for any sign of emotion. His cool blue gaze, steady and blank, met hers. "We all saw that kiss Jack, it wasn't the first time, there is more to that story." His steely gaze almost made her stop. Face like a rock. A very unhappy rock. "He continued his job but you could tell his heart wasn't in it. Even his coffee started tasting bitter, like he couldn't see the point in trying any more. I just, I need to know that now you're back you'll be careful with him. Whatever going on, it's going to have an effect on him. He isn't cold or impersonal. He's discreet. He isn't hard and unfeeling, he's privet. So it's even harder to tell if you hurt him."
"Where. Are. You. Going. With. This. Gwen." His voice could freeze flames.
"I'm sorry. It isn't my business. But Ianto is such a sweetheart, he holds this place together more than any of us realise."
"How exactly do you know so much about Ianto." Jack felt compelled to ask, the whiskey making its way to his mouth.
"I looked after him. But he never said anything about you and him, just that he didn't knowing anything more about you than the rest of us. And he punched Owen once, maybe twice. Or more, whatever I didn't keep count. So I don't know what was-"
"We were close enough to share body heat. But that doesn't mean we loved Gwen. I'm not about to break Ianto's heart, trust me on this. I know him."
Taking this confidence as approval, Gwen seated herself down in the chair opposite. "Tell me what he is like with you. He's so lifeless sometimes. It makes me hurt for him."
A third glass was down his throat and he helped himself to a forth. Still nothing, not the faintest tingling. "He never laughs. But sometimes, he gets this little smile around his mouth that's so him, cocky in a quaint way. The slightest change in expression can say a thousand things. And I care for him. He is a friend, someone I trust."