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Three Homes, Two Jacks and a Ianto	By : BlackDawnRose Category: Stargate: SG-1 > Crossovers Views: 1098 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, Stargate, it's worlds, it's characters, it's plot or anything within either show. I make no money from this work of fiction

Chapter List
- 7
- 8
- 9
Ianto did indeed spend the rest of the day giggling which wasn't actually too bad since it gave the rest of SG1, Tosh, Janet, and Paul something to laugh about too, all except for Daniel who unfortunately didn't wake up until that night when the giggling had worn off. Ianto and the others headed in to see him the moment they heard he was awake, including Teal'c who'd been released from Janet's care thanks to his quick healing rate. Daniel smiled as they walked in clearly happy to see they were all okay. Janet didn't allow the group to stay too long however since Daniel still needed to rest and she sent all but Ianto and Daniel to their quarters. Ianto offered Tosh his room and she accepted with a grateful smile before bidding him goodnight and heading out with the rest of the group.
Ianto was sent to his own bed which was only a curtain away from Daniel's, something he was grateful for, and ordered to sleep with the warning that if he didn't she wouldn't let him go the next morning. Ianto slipped into bed and crawled under the blankets without argument. He even feigned sleep for a while until he heard the infirmary start to empty for the night and the lights went out to indicate that only skeleton staff remained. He knew someone would be by around midnight to check on him and Daniel but he wanted to talk to the man and it was only 9 now giving him a few hours at least.
He was just pushing the blankets aside as silently as he could when he heard Daniel's voice whisper to him through the curtain. "Hey, Ianto, are you awake?" he asked.
Ianto smiled to himself before replying, "Yeah, hang on a second." And slipping out of bed. He snuck through the curtain and smiled at the archaeologist who returned it with one of his own as Ianto moved to the bed side. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked perching himself carefully on the edge of the bed.
"I'm okay, how are you?" Daniel asked in return his eyes wandering over Ianto's arms that were still bandaged thickly the one with the damaged shoulder now resting in a sling.
"I'm fine, better now that I've had a chance to get back at UNIT for their attack on us," Ianto replied with a grin.
"Jack mentioned that before, what exactly did you do anyway?" the archaeologist asked.
Ianto retold the story in as much detail as possible and Daniel was holding his stomach and fighting not to laugh by the time it was over.
"Okay, don't tell me anymore it hurts to laugh," he said his face a mixture of pain and amusement.
"Sorry," Ianto said feeling guilty for causing the other man more pain. "Do you want me to get someone?"
Daniel shook his head. "No it's fine, it's feeling better already," the archaeologist reassured him.
"Are you sure?" Ianto asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine, promise," Daniel replied giving Ianto a smile.
Ianto nodded, "Okay," he agreed quietly looking down at his hands. Seeing Daniel in pain reminded him of what had happened back at Jack's house and how close he'd come to possibly losing the other man. He'd been so scared for Daniel that he couldn't put it into words and even though he really didn't want to think any more about that horrible night he had to tell him. "I'm really glad you're all right, I was worried about you," he confessed his gaze still glued to his hands as he felt tears starting to build in his eyes.
For a few moments the room was silent, then Daniel's hand appeared in his line of sight coming to rest on his own and squeezing it gently. "Hey, look at me," the archaeologist asked softly.
Ianto shook his head, closing his eyes in an attempt to push the tears back. "Just give me a minute," he asked softly.
Ianto almost jumped when Daniel's hand gently touched his cheek. "Ianto look at me, please," Daniel repeated his previous request with slightly more urgency and as much as he didn't want to Ianto did as he was asked. His gaze met lovely, ocean blue eyes that were looking back at him with so much tenderness it made his breath catch. He was frozen speechless as Daniel's fingers gently wiped the tears from his face before coming to rest softly on his cheek.
"I'm really glad you're okay too," Daniel whispered the tenderness in his eyes evolving into something Ianto couldn't name. For the longest time they just stared at each other, Ianto's wide, tear bright, sky blue gazing into Daniel's deep, caring cerulean. Ianto couldn't exactly be sure what he felt at that moment, nor could he name the number of emotions he could see swimming in Daniel's orbs; all he knew was that whatever was happening between them it felt right. The only problem was he wasn't sure he was ready to experience this right now and he had to let Daniel know.
"Daniel I-"
"No, we don't have to talk about this now," the archaeologist interrupted him softly with a gentle squeeze of his hand. "Just…be here with me now, please," he asked softly.
Ianto nodded in acquiescence and crawled up to the head of the bed after Daniel had carefully turned onto his side to give Ianto some room. He lay down beside the archaeologist and reached out to take his hand. For the next little while the pair lay in silence, their gazes locked and their hands joined tightly between them. Unfortunately the drugs Janet had given them were quite strong and before Ianto knew it he felt himself dropping off to sleep.
As his eyes slid closed he felt one of Daniel's hands release his and slip over his shoulders resting on his back and holding him close to the archaeologist. He felt Daniel's forehead touch his and he smiled softly as sleep took him down to its dark, quiet depths.
In the early hours of the morning he was aware of someone moving him from Daniel's side and returning him to his own bed but he was too tired to rouse himself enough to see who it was. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ianto was grateful to whoever it was as it saved him and Daniel getting into trouble with the air force and their DADT rule, although he'd have to look into how that applied to Daniel and himself since they were civilians.
That was all the conscious thought his tired mind processed before he was asleep once more.
XX
Janet released Ianto and Daniel on Saturday stating that she normally wouldn't but since she would be returning to holidaying with them she'd be able to keep an eye on the pair and as such she'd slacken the rules just this once.
Jack's house still needed to be repaired so the group had organized a large house for them all to stay in on a lake, in the woods in Canada. This one had all the fishing options for Jack while being close enough to other points of interest for the rest of the group as well. They spent the Saturday afternoon settling in and sorting out their rooms most of which were inhabited quite differently from when they were staying in Jack's cabin.
Jack and Sam took one of the rooms with a queen bed as they had done with Jack's bedroom back at his cabin. Janet and Paul took a room with 2 singles, Daniel and Ianto took the room with the two doubles (giving them the option of sleeping separately or together for the rest of the holiday), while Tosh and Teal'c took the last room with the queen bed together, which surprised Ianto greatly until Tosh, blushing just a little, told him that the Jaffar had invited her to join him in his room while Daniel and Ianto had been in the hospital for the night.
Mentally vowing to interrogate the Torchwood computer genius about that later Ianto had just given her a knowing smile and a nod before heading to his own room to get everything put away.
They relaxed by the lake for the rest of the evening before the group eventually started heading inside to bed. Jack and Sam headed in first followed soon after by Teal'c and Tosh, the Asian woman shooting Ianto a wink as she went. Janet ordered Daniel and Ianto to bed shortly after that and they headed inside with Janet and Paul on their tail. Ianto showered first and headed out to settle on one of the beds allowing Daniel to choose whether he wanted to join Ianto or not. He honestly didn't mind if the archaeologist chose to join him, he was too tired to do more than drop off to sleep anyway and sleeping next to each other, while a little intimate, wasn't really pushing the bounds of their friendship that far, not in Ianto's opinion anyway.
Ianto was almost asleep by the time Daniel emerged from the bathroom and he smiled when he felt the archaeologist slip into the bed beside him. "Do you mind?" Daniel's quiet voice asked.
"No," Ianto replied just as quietly.
Daniel settled down behind him and after a few seconds of silence he asked, "Can I hold you?"
Ianto turned over and studied the other man suddenly feeling more awake. He knew he had feelings for Daniel but he wasn't entirely sure what Daniel's feelings were for him in return and as much as he thought he knew he didn't want to get his hopes up just to find out he was wrong. He'd been hurt far too many times already not to mention he wasn't quite ready to start anything serious yet and Daniel meant too much to him to just be a fling.
"As much as I would like to just say yes and fall asleep I think we need to talk about this," Ianto said hoping the other man didn't try to avoid the subject.
Daniel took a deep breath and moved back a bit so there was some room between them and they could see each other easier. "Okay," he agreed. "Do you want to go first or should I?" he asked.
"Honestly I'd rather you did," Ianto replied figuring Daniel would understand his reasoning.
"Okay," the archaeologist agreed and moved around a little, probably to get himself more comfortable, before speaking. "When I first met you I was struck by how similar we were in some ways and how very different in others. It was an unusual meeting we first had, but I quickly realised how much those similarities and differences made for a near perfect friendship between us. I clicked very quickly with you, that's not a usual thing for me, I mean I try and get along with most of the people I meet but I don't usually bond with them quite so quickly. I guess that should have tipped me off but, well, apparently it didn't. I knew I really liked you and I always wanted you near me but…" he trailed off then and shook his head.
"Anyway, I didn't give it any more thought until the holiday started and Tosh asked me what was going on between us," –Ianto was very grateful he didn't have a mouth full of anything when Daniel said that, he was pretty sure the archaeologist would have worn it.- "I told her we were friends and that was it but then she asked if I thought there was going to be anything else going on between us in the future and…I couldn't answer her. I mean Jack walked out then and sent us to bed but…if he hadn't…" Daniel trailed off once more and sighed.
'I thought a lot over the next few days. I thought about you and what I felt toward you, about us and all the time we'd spent together, I watched my own interactions with you and thought about my behaviour toward you and I…I honestly didn't know what I was feeling or thinking. I mean I know you're a good looking man and that I have no issues whatsoever being in your personal space but I didn't know if that meant anything." At this Daniel paused and looked down at the bed. When he spoke again his voice was so quiet Ianto had to lean closer to hear him.
"Then those UNIT soldiers came to the house and all I could think about was you. Were you safe, were you hurt, were they after you, had one of them knocked you out and dragged you away somewhere, would we be able to find you if they had. When you crawled over to me and I saw that you were alive and still here I wanted to cry in relief, then I saw that you were hurt and I got so scared that you were going to die." Daniel shook his head again. "I've been friends with Jack, Sam, Teal'c and the others for years, we've always been there for each other, always relied on each other, they're like family to me, but you were all I could think about. That's when I realized that what I feel for you isn't just friendship. What it is exactly…I think it's going to be love, eventually, right now it's…somewhere in between. I think I need to get my head around the idea of being in love with another man but once I do…" he stopped and looked up at Ianto again.
"I'm sorry I can't be more specific, I wish I could, I just can't yet. All I know for certain is that I want to be as close to you as I can; that being with you and holding you feels right to me. I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear and I understand if you'd rather me keep some distance until I figure it out a little better for myself…that is…assuming you have any interest in me at all I mean I haven't asked you that yet…but I guess you'll answer that shortly so I'll stop babbling now and let you talk," Daniel finished with a nervous smile and looked down again.
Ianto studied the other man for a minute. He didn't love him yet, but he thought he was going to and as much as the thought scared Ianto a bit after what had happened with Jack he reminded himself that Daniel wasn't the same and since Ianto himself wasn't quite ready to start a new relationship yet allowing Daniel time to sort through his own feelings, and most likely confusion, would actually not be much of a hardship for him. In fact Daniel's need for time was rather perfect really.
When he didn't speak for a while Daniel's gaze moved to him once more and Ianto could see the worry in the archaeologist's lovely blue eyes.
Ianto gave the man a reassuring smile, "Sorry, I was just thinking," he explained and not wanting the archaeologist to worry further he got on with explaining his own feelings about their relationship. "I can honestly understand how you feel, probably better than most of the people you know. My first relationship with a man was with Captain Harkness" –somehow saying that was easier than calling the man Jack, particularly since they both knew another Jack- "and believe me I'd never felt so confused. I felt things when I was with him that just didn't seem right to me, a previously very straight man and yet they were always there, whenever I saw him, whenever I was with him. That relationship was the most shocking, eye-opening experience of my life, believe me, I really do understand how confusing this must all be for you so don't be sorry for needing time to deal with it."
He reached forward and took one of Daniel's hands gently in his. "As for how I feel about you; Daniel, I started falling for you the moment I handed you that first cup of coffee in your alien, pedestal fan destroyed office," Ianto admitted with a small smile. "I ignored it as much as I could, pushed it to the back of my mind, did everything I could to forget about it because you were straight and fast becoming the closest friend I'd ever had. I didn't want to tell you and frighten you away and I never thought you'd reciprocate so I kept it to myself so happy just to have your friendship which I valued above all other things and, as you said before, just to be close to you however I could. It's not love for me yet either, but the fact that I've been trying to ignore my feelings and squash them down has a lot to do with that."
Here Ianto paused and looked down at his and Daniel's joined hands wanting what little distance he could get between himself and Daniel when he told the archaeologist the rest of the reason. "The rest of it, and the other reason I don't mind that you need time to deal with what you feel is that while I've let Jack go and accepted that he's no longer part of my life anymore I'm not quite over what happened between us yet and I don't want to start a new relationship until I am. Jack and I, what happened between us, it started so soon after Lisa's death and was just supposed to be a fling, something to distract us both from the pain of our lives, I was never supposed to fall in love with him. But I did…I knew it was pointless and stupid but I did it anyway, because somewhere along the line what we had started to feel less like a fling and more like…I don't know…like something real. If I'd waited just a little while longer, given myself more time to get over Lisa, I would have been better prepared to handle the kind of relationship Jack wanted and come out of it with positive memories and experiences rather than broken."
He looked up at Daniel then finally daring to meet the archaeologist's eyes as he said. "I don't want to make that mistake with you. From what you said before I'm gathering that you're starting to feel more for me than a passing fancy, what I feel for you definitely is, and when you are ready to pursue this I want to be able to give you a whole, complete person, not the damaged and only partially repaired man I am now. I care about you, Daniel, a lot, and I don't want a relationship with you to be a temporary thing, I want it to be a forever thing, if that's what you want too, and I actually feel like it could be if I wait just a little longer. Does that make sense?" he asked hoping Daniel would understand what he was trying to say.
The archaeologist gave him a warm smile, his eyes alight with caring as he brought Ianto's hand, which was still holding his, up to his lips and kissed it. "Yes I do," he replied softly. "When I lost my wife…well…I never thought I'd get over it. The idea of moving on just seemed insane, but eventually I managed it and you will too, believe me; I know all too well how you feel." Daniel sighed, "We really are quite a pair aren't we? But really, all these issues that we have, all the emotional baggage we're carrying around; because of these things we can understand each other better than anyone else could and I think that's why, when we're ready to start this relationship properly, we're going to last. I think you were right before when you said we have a chance at forever."
Ianto smiled, "You have no idea how nice it is to hear you say that," he told the other man squeezing his hand softly.
"Actually I think I do," Daniel replied his smile growing wider.
A few moments of silence passed between them before Daniel spoke again. "So, we've both established that we're feeling the same things, that we both want a long, lasting relationship together and that we both need a little time before entering into it fully. The only question now is what we do in the mean-time. Do we continue on as we were before or…?" Daniel trailed off leaving the question open.
Ianto thought about it, what did he want to do? "I don't know," he replied honestly, "I've never been in this situation with someone before."
"No neither have I," Daniel replied.
They both fell silent, most likely pondering the same things.
"You know what?" Daniel asked breaking the silence.
"What?" Ianto asked.
"I think we should just go with the flow and see what happens, let the relationship evolve on its own and see where we end up," Daniel replied.
"So you mean, like, if one of us wants to do something to the other they ask and the other person can then say yes or no depending on what they want?" Ianto asked seeking clarification.
"Yeah, something like that," Daniel replied, "Although we seem pretty good at reading each other already, we'll probably get to the point where we don't have to ask eventually."
"Probably," Ianto agreed with a grin.
"So right now, I'd like to sleep in here with you and hold you, are you okay with that?" Daniel asked.
Ianto gave the other man a sly grin, "Well in light of your previous comment what do you think I want?" he asked.
Daniel returned Ianto's grin and slipped his free hand over Ianto's waist. He pulled Ianto close enough that their foreheads touched and Ianto felt himself blush slightly a sight that was mirrored on Daniel's pale face.
"Did I guess right?" Daniel asked in a whisper.
"Yes," Ianto whispered back mentally thanking his voice for not shaking. His heart was pounding in his chest and he would have been worried about Daniel feeling it he hadn't been able to feel the archaeologist's own racing heartbeat through their joined hands which were now pressed together between them. "Am I allowed to hold you back?" Ianto asked.
"What do you think?" Daniel returned his earlier question and Ianto slipped his free hand over Daniel's arm bringing it to rest between his shoulder blades and stroking the skin softly through the material of Daniel's shirt.
"Wow," Daniel suddenly breathed.
"What?" Ianto whispered back.
"Nothing I just…how did I never notice how attracted I am to you before now?" Daniel asked obviously not expecting an answer.
"Well, you know Denial isn't just a river in Egypt," Ianto replied anyway causing Daniel to chuckle.
Silence fell between them once more, this time it was Ianto who broke it.
"What do we tell the others?" he asked suddenly worried about how the rest of SG1 and Janet were going to react.
Daniel took a deep breath possibly giving himself time to think about the answer before he said, "The truth I guess. I mean they are our friends we should definitely tell them."
"Maybe that's not such a good idea," Ianto said cautiously, not wanting to upset Daniel.
"Why not?" the archaeologist asked.
"Because we work for the American Air Force," Ianto replied
"Are you worried that Jack and the others are going tell on us?" Daniel asked.
"They are military," Ianto reminded him. "And the military have a DADT rule."
"We're not military," Daniel reminded him.
"Do you think it matters to the highers up?" Ianto asked.
"Maybe not, but it doesn't matter, the others aren't going to report us, even if they weren't our friends I'd be sure of that," Daniel reassured him.
"How?" Ianto asked.
"Because the Air Force might have a DADT policy but they also have a non-fraternisation policy and guess who's breaking that as we speak?" Daniel asked.
It took Ianto a moment to realize what Daniel meant, but when he did he couldn't mask his surprise at himself for not realizing earlier.
"Don't see anyone dobbing on them do you?" Daniel asked.
"Well, Jack is the boss," Ianto pointed out.
"And there are more than a million people out there who would like nothing more than to see him kicked out of the SGC and the air force forever, one word out of any of us and they'd come down on him like a ton of bricks. He and Sam are trusting us not to tell anyone because they know they can, they wouldn't return that trust with a knife in our backs," Daniel reassured him.
"Okay, then what about homosexuality, how do they feel about that?" Ianto asked.
"I've never asked to be honest, but after everything we've seen on our travels I don't think that's going to be too far-fetched an idea for them to wrap their heads around," Daniel replied.
"Even if it's you they're talking about?" Ianto asked. "Jack's your best friend and I've seen these things ruin friendships, Daniel, sometimes the people you've known forever aren't prepared to accept a change like this from a friend they've known for years like they would be if it were a stranger. I know they're all good people we've surrounded ourselves with here but…I just don't want to see you get hurt by this, that's all, I don't want the feelings that are growing between us to ruin friendships you've cultivated for years. It wouldn't be fair to you."
Daniel gave him a soft smile and squeezed Ianto's hand. "It's really nice of you to worry about me, Ianto, but it's going to be fine. They're our friends, they're not going to turn on us because of this and as for Jack, you're right, he is my best friend, which is why I know he isn't going to freak out about this. Just trust me, okay, everything's going to be fine," Daniel whispered reassuringly.
Ianto wanted to believe him and he had known the others a lot longer than Ianto so he'd let the archaeologist decide who he told and when. He just hoped Daniel was right. "Okay," he agreed quietly and settled in next to the other man. "I guess we should go to sleep, more holidaying to do tomorrow," he said with a half-hearted smile and closed his eyes.
"Ianto," Daniel whispered, "It really is going to be okay."
Ianto just nodded not opening his eyes, they'd find out soon enough at any rate.
Xx
Finding where Major Smith lived had turned out to be easier than Captain Jack had anticipated, deactivating the man's security had been a little more challenging but doable. Now Jack was comfortably seated on the man's couch awaiting his homecoming which, going by the surveillance the others had managed to gather thanks to the CCTV system, should be sometime within the next few minutes. Hearing the lock click in the door brought an evil smile to the captain's face and he knew if anyone were to see him right now they would undoubtedly find him quite frightening.
'Good, the man deserves a little fear,' his inner voice whispered, "No one goes after one of my people and gets away with it, for someone to go after 2…'
The front door opened revealing Major Smith looking tired and harried, not at all surprising considering what Tosh had done to UNIT, Jack could only imagine how much effort the UNIT personnel must have been putting into trying to find who did it and recover their data. The man dropped his keys on the bench and headed toward his bedroom not even bothering to look in the direction of his lounge room.
Jack rose from the couch and followed silently behind the Major smiling at the thought of catching the man in his bedroom unaware. Perhaps that would be the most fitting place, after all that was where this whole mess had really started.
General O'Neill had been right when he said that Jack often left a trail of destruction in his path. Because of that Jack hadn't argued with the man when he'd been accusing him of being a coward, in a lot of ways many people could get that impression from his actions. Unless they were in the middle of it, and sometimes not even then, they couldn't understand that he was doing it for their own good. Of course, not getting involved with people at all would be the best option that way he couldn't hurt them, but he was only human and just like everyone else he got lonely sometimes. Still the General had a point; he did tend to leave broken hearted people in his wake, like Ianto, someone else who didn't know he'd done it for their own good.
Jack had thought about writing the Welshman a letter explaining why he'd done what he'd done, but he knew that would only make the whole horrible experience a pointless waste of time and he'd hurt them both doing it, he wasn't about to waste that pain no matter how much he wanted the other man to understand.
'O'Neill understands now,' his mental voice reminded him. He knew the General had seen it in his eyes at the end of their conversation, if you could call it that. He needed the other man to know that, to understand that Jack…that he…that he loved Ianto and he'd done what he had to to keep him safe. If he'd argued back with the other man Jack never would have gotten that point across and he needed O'Neill to understand, he didn't know why he just did.
That didn't matter now, what mattered was that Major Smith hadn't lost Jack like so many had. Despite what he'd told Ianto that day Jack hadn't just gone away and abandoned Major Smith the man had turned out to be a monster and as soon as Jack had realized the truth he'd ended their affair. Obviously the man still carried some sort of vendetta against Jack even though it was now years in the past and it had caused his attention to turn to Jack's team. Going after Tosh had earned him an unpleasant death, going after Ianto…well…nobody played with Ianto and got away with it.
As he reached major Smith's door he heard the water running in the adjacent bathroom and that evil smile returned to his face. Striding through the bedroom door he shut it behind him and placed a force field emitter on it to keep his hunted prey from escaping until Jack was ready. He then placed one on the bathroom doorway that he could activate as soon as Major Smith re-entered the bedroom and set up a dampening field with his wrist strap to prevent the man calling for help.
With everything in place he settled himself on the bed, in a position that he knew looked inviting and waited for Smith to emerge.
XX
The next few days passed rather quickly for Ianto and the rest of the holiday goers and they were having a marvellous time. Two days into their stay in Canada Daniel asked Tosh and Ianto to excuse the rest of the group for just a minute while they spoke about something and Ianto, knowing what he meant, took Tosh for a walk around the lake.
He explained what was going on to the young computer genius and was pretty sure the woman would have been jumping and leaping on him had he not still been recovering from his wounds. She shared Daniel's confidence that everything would work out fine and wanting to get his mind off his current predicament Ianto then turned the conversation to Tosh and Teal'c.
Tosh blushed as she told Ianto how Teal'c had invited her to join him for dinner the night Daniel and Ianto had been stuck in the infirmary and how they'd hit it off quite well. When their dinner had ended Teal'c had invited her back to his room and she'd readily agreed. The woman thankfully didn't go into details, although she did say it was the best sex of her life and continued to be to this day, but said they'd been talking about making their little fling into a real relationship after the holidays were over.
Ianto asked how they planned to do that and Tosh explained that they were still working that bit out, but since they both worked crazy hours they could understand each other's insane schedule and would just have to find a way to work around it. Ianto gave her a hug and told her how happy he was that she'd found someone as lovely as she deserved –which was honestly true, he knew Teal'c was a good man and Tosh deserved that for once- although he did tease her a little about her affinity for aliens, which she then turned around and teased him about his affinity for men. It was light hearted and had them both laughing while they finished their walk around the lake and returned to the house.
They reached the back deck and found the group all seated as they had been when the pair left only now they all appeared to be quite deep in thought.
"Should we go away again?" Ianto asked cautiously and all eyes turned to him.
"No, no," Jack replied giving the pair a smile. "We were just mulling over how we're going to get Tosh and Teal'c back and forth so they can see each other every once in a while, any ideas on that?" he asked
"I had one or two," Tosh replied with a bright smile obviously happy that Teal'c had told the group of their desire to have a lasting relationship. She immediately entered into a conversation with Sam about something Ianto didn't understand so he turned his attention to Daniel who was looking at him with a sly, victorious smile. Ianto made his way over to where the man was sitting and slipped into the chair next to him he'd been occupying before he and Tosh went for their walk.
"Are you going to say 'I told you so?' " Ianto asked as he made himself comfortable.
"I thought about it," Daniel replied his grin getting even larger, "But I think I'm going to take the higher ground and just savour my victory in silence."
"You're such a modest creature aren't you?" Ianto asked sarcastically.
"Oh yes, that's me all over," Daniel replied his grin changing to a warm smile as he turned slightly in the chair to face Ianto. "Can I hold your hand?" he asked quietly.
"What do you think?" Ianto replied returning the other man's smile.
Daniel reached across and took Ianto's hand gently in his, most likely to avoid hurting his still healing injuries. Ianto entwined his fingers through Daniel's. It was nice, nothing demanding, nothing insistent, nothing that said there had to be more, just this and Ianto had never felt more content holding someone's hand before. A few moments passed before Ianto realized the rest of the group had fallen into silence once more. Daniel must have noticed too because he raised an eyebrow at Ianto questioningly. Ianto returned the expression and as one they turned to look at the rest of their friends to find the group's attention solely focused on them.
'At least they don't look upset,' Ianto thought to himself as he took in the gleeful expressions around him.
"It's just so adorable isn't it?" Janet asked causing the rest of the group to nod in agreement.
Ianto turned back to look at Daniel whose attention was once more directed at him. The archaeologist gave him a look that Ianto knew meant 'is this bothering you?'
Ianto shook his head before sending back a look that asked 'you?'
Daniel shook his head and the pair of them shared an amused look before shrugging in tandem and sitting back comfortably once more. "They'll get sick of it eventually," Daniel said quietly.
Ianto nodded in agreement.
XX
Later that night after the group had enjoyed a lovely dinner and were basking in the warmth of the evening with a glass of wine or a beer Jack's mobile rang drawing him inside. He was annoyed at the interruption of his holiday but he knew no one would call him unless it was important and just hoped no one was invading or something.
"O'Neill," he all but snapped after picking up the annoying, ringing object.
No one was invading, the world wasn't ending, but what the man on the other end of the phone told him was definitely important. As soon as the message had been imparted the man wished him a good evening and happy holidays before hanging up. Jack put the phone back on the table, where all the others had been left as it was the only place in the house that had good reception, and pondered over what he should do with the information he'd just been given. On one hand it could cause his team to wonder and worry and consequently ruin their holiday, on the other hand they deserved to know in case this spelled trouble for them. Of course there was a very real possibility that it meant something different all together.
"What's wrong?" the quiet, calming voice of his blonde lover drew his attention to her arrival and the worried look on her face that was directed at him.
"I don't know if I should tell you all or not," he replied reaching out to stroke Sam's hair gently.
"Is it bad?" she asked.
"Really it's probably not. and I honestly think I know what's happened anyway," Jack replied.
When he received a confused look from Sam in return he slipped an arm around her and headed back out to the deck with a quiet," Come on, I'll tell you all at once."
They reached the back deck and all conversation came to a halt when the group spotted the pair and the look on Jack's face.
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked.
"Has something unpleasant transpired, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked just moments after.
"I just received word that Major Smith is missing. He was last seen a few nights ago entering his apartment, after that there's nothing, not even on the CCTV footage from the camera outside his place. When he didn't turn up to work and nobody could get in touch with him UNIT sent agents over to his apartment to find him. He wasn't there. Nothing has been disturbed, there's no sign of a struggle, they said it's as if he just disappeared," Jack explained.
"Did he run away?" Janet asked, "Is there another way out of the building not covered by the CCTV? I mean he must know by now that we know he's the one who sent agents after us, I wouldn't want to stick around if I were him."
"No one knows. According to UNIT they had no idea about the attack and Smith showed no indication that he knew we were aware of his involvement; he wasn't nervous or jumpy at work, they said he appeared perfectly normal," Jack replied
"Are we sure they're not hiding him?" Paul asked.
"They were the ones who contacted us when they couldn't find him wanting to know if we had any intel about his whereabouts. If they knew there wouldn't be any reason for them to contact us at all, well, at least that's what the Pentagon seem to think," Jack replied.
"Unless they're trying to throw suspicion off themselves," Sam suggested.
"Could be the case, at any rate we won't know anything until someone finds him," Jack said with finality hoping to get back to a cheerier topic. He didn't want the others worrying about this; their holidays had already been ruined enough.
"No one will." All eyes turned to Ianto who was sitting beside Tosh the pair sharing a knowing and worried look. "Major Smith is gone, forever, no one's ever going to see him again."
"What do you mean?" Daniel asked although Jack was pretty sure most of them already knew the answer.
Ianto's attention turned to Jack. "That day we were at Torchwood and you sent us up to the surface ahead of you, you told Captain Harkness about Major Smith didn't you?" He asked.
Jack nodded already knowing where this was heading.
Ianto nodded in return, "Nobody will ever see Major Smith again," he said.
"I don't understand," Janet stated confused.
"Captain Harkness has a protective streak the size of Mt Everest," Ianto explained, "If he found out that someone tried to kidnap a member of his team…I know exactly what happened to that man, and nobody will ever see him again, dead or alive, there won't even be a body to identify."
"Are you sure it was him?" Paul asked.
"Yes," Tosh and Ianto replied in tandem.
"He's a victim of Torchwood now, and no one escapes Torchwood unless the Captain says so," Tosh finished in a foreboding tone that made everyone present shudder. Everyone that is except Jack who had already expected that to be the case.
He wanted to feel bad for the major, he really did; he just couldn't, not after the man had hurt his team. Of course voicing that opinion out loud probably wasn't the best idea so he chose to say nothing about the subject and instead changed the topic of discussion to something he did want to talk about.
"So, who wants cake? I bought chocolate this time."
XX
It was several hours after the rest of the team had fallen asleep that found Jack with Ianto's phone in hand searching for a number. He wasn't snooping and he kept telling himself that over and over again, it didn't make him feel any better about violating the man's privacy. He wasn't at all surprised to find the number still residing in the man's phone, he did however wonder whether it was there because Ianto wanted to keep it or because he'd simply forgotten to delete it. It didn't really matter right now however so Jack punched the number into his own phone and hit send.
It took only a couple of rings for the man on the other end to answer.
"Captain Harkness," the smooth, American voice greeted him.
"Good evening, Captain, this is General O'Neill, how're you doin?" Jack asked conversationally.
"Fine, General, how are you?" Captain Harkness returned the question cautiously.
"Pretty good, enjoying the rest of my holiday even if it's not in my cabin," Jack replied allowing some of the disappointment he felt at having to leave Minnesota to show through his tone.
"That's good," the captain replied and Jack could tell the man was waiting for him to explain his reason for calling.
"I noticed Major Smith disappeared just recently," Jack mentioned in the tone he always used when he wanted to sound unconcerned.
Captain Harkness was silent for a moment before asking, "And what of it?"
"Just wondering if you had anything to do with it?" Jack asked casually.
"Does it matter if I did?" Captain Harkness asked.
"Well, I am wondering if I should be sending Ianto and Tosh back to the base for their own protection," Jack replied.
The other end of the phone was silent for another few moments before Captain Harkness replied, "He got what he deserved, he's nobody's problem anymore."
Jack smiled, he shouldn't have but he did because damn it all the Captain was right, the man did get what he deserved, well, at least Jack hoped he did. "Ah, so I was right. Well, not exactly a loss to society. I won't be shedding any tears and I doubt anyone else will."
"No, I don't imagine they will," the Captain agreed.
"Any chance you're going to tell me what happened to the good Major?" Jack asked.
There was another pause before the Captain spoke, "Myfanwy and Janet happened," he said. "Ianto and Tosh can explain who they are."
"All right," Jack agreed deciding not to push the issue since it didn't sound like the man would tell him anymore anyway.
"Was there anything else you wanted?" the Captain asked.
"Nope," Jack replied.
"Good, then it's my turn to speak," the Captain said in a tone that broached no argument. "The other day you came to my base and insulted me. At the time I was more interested in finding out what you knew about Major Smith and ensuring that Ianto was taken care of. Now that those issues have been dealt with we can focus on the rest of our conversation. I don't care what you think of me, or what you've heard about me, you don't know me and you'll find there are very few people in this universe who do. In the case of most people the reason for that is simple, I don't want them to know me, who and what I am is none of their business. Most of the world falls into that category With other people the simple truth is that knowing me is dangerous for them and keeping them away is in their best interest, there are more people than I'd care to admit who fall into that category and they encompass the rest of the population." Here the captain paused and took a deep breath before continuing.
"Then are the people who do know me. There are very few of them as there have always been and almost every one of them ends up broken or damaged in some way. I'm not talking about Major Smith or people like him, in his case he was an evil man and I ended our fling when I found that out, not that it's any of your business. He and others like him didn't even scratch the surface of who I am and they never will no matter how much they dig. I'm talking now about people like Ianto, good, kind, caring, loving people who want nothing more than to live out their lives with me and be happy. They are the ones who end up hurt because of me and not because I want to harm them but because I can't live out my life with them! They grow old and frail and it kills them when they look at me and see that I haven't aged a day in all the years they've been with me. Those people I have to make myself walk away from because if I don't they only end up suffering more and more damage. When I was younger I made too many mistakes like that, I let too many people into my life and they all got hurt so eventually I just stopped doing it all together and I lived a long time like that." Here the captain paused again before continuing in a quieter voice.
"And then there was Ianto and don't fool yourself I loved him more than anything and anyone else I've ever known and I still do. I didn't want to love him, I didn't want him to become someone else ruined by me but I couldn't help it, it just happened. When I saw that he was falling for me too I knew I had to do something to get him away from me, but try as I might nothing worked and I couldn't send him away anywhere, he had nowhere to go. Then your letter showed up and I knew I finally had somewhere he could go that would suit his talents and keep him safe but of course he wouldn't leave, like Smith told you, Ianto is a loyal man and back then he was loyal to me. So I found a way to make him and considering my explanation of our relationship I'm sure you can imagine how I did it."
Jack could.
"So that's the truth of it all, General. I may not be a saint but I am not a coward. I may have done things in my life that I'm not proud of, but who hasn't. I just have more than most people because I've lived a hell of a lot longer!" the Captain finished.
Jack took a few moments to absorb what the other man had said before asking. "If your life is none of anyone else's business, why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because I think Torchwood and the SGC could be good allies," the captain replied, "I think we could help each other and this planet. But I know from your reputation that you wouldn't agree to something like that if you thought Torchwood was commanded by a coward," the captain explained.
"You want an alliance between us?" Jack asked wondering if he was going just a little crazy.
"Yes," the Captain replied.
"Tell you what I'll think about it," Jack replied and he would, considering all the things that fell through the rift having an in on the other side of the world wouldn't be a bad idea and they might be able to find some new technology in amongst the Torchwood archives that Jack had heard were quite extensive.
"Fine, let me know what you decide," the Captain replied.
"I will," Jack replied.
The line was filled with silence before the captain asked. "How is Ianto?"
"He's good, recovering from his wounds quite quickly," Jack replied
"He does that," the captain replied, "he's always been a quick healer."
"Does he have any idea that you-?" Jack started to ask only to be cut off by the other man's reply
"No he doesn't, he thinks I was using him as some temporary relief."
"And you don't think you maybe ought to tell him?" Jack asked.
"No," the Captain replied, "I don't ever want him to know. If he were to find out…well…he'd more than likely try to come back and he can't, not ever."
"Okay two things, firstly, just how big is your ego? Secondly why is it so important that he doesn't come back? I mean I heard everything you just said but you seem exceptionally adamant that he be nowhere near you. Call me crazy but I think there's more going on than you're telling me so spill it!" Jack ordered.
The captain sighed. "My ego isn't that big I just know Ianto, he has this thing about saving tortured souls and I'm about as tortured as they come, I also know he loves me, a lot, he talks in his sleep sometimes" –he didn't go into more detail and Jack was fine with that.- "As for why I don't want him to come back. A few months ago I heard from someone who would know that Ianto was going to die within the next couple of years if he didn't leave Torchwood. They couldn't tell me how or when exactly only that I had to get him away from here or his life was over. They said I wouldn't be able to save him no matter what I did, him leaving was the only way he'd survive so I did what I had to do to get him to leave," he explained.
"Well, that explains a lot. I wondered why he was so closed off when he first arrived at the SGC, if you're saying what I think you are I can understand him being hesitant to trust anyone again," Jack replied imagining the kind, quiet young man he'd come to know walking in on someone he loved cheating on him. It must have killed him and from the sound of the Captain's voice it had killed him too. "Hurt like a stake through the heart didn't it?"
"You have no idea," the captain replied quietly.
Thoughts of Sarah and Charlie flew unbidden into Jack's head, "Oh, you might be surprised," he replied.
They lapsed back into silence for a few minutes before Jack said. "Well, I guess I'll be going then, I'll get back to you about the alliance."
"All right, talk to you soon then."
The line went dead and Jack dropped his phone back on to the table with the others before heading toward the room he was sharing with Sam. Thoughts of Charlie were still churning through his head, whenever that happened there were only a couple of ways to make them go away all of which involved his team. The one he craved right at that moment was thankfully easy to attain since they were on holidays and away from the base. He slipped into the bedroom closing the door quietly behind him and headed over to the bed.
"Jack?" Sam's quiet voice asked and he smiled at her rare use of his first name.
"Yeah it's me," he whispered stripping off his clothes and slipping into the bed beside her.
"Is everything okay?" she asked.
"Yeah everything's fine," Jack replied pulling her delightfully naked body close.
Sam cuddled into him and was soon sleeping soundly once more.
Jack kissed her soft, blonde hair before burying his face in it and closing his eyes savouring the feeling of having her close, something that only happened when they were away from the base. Her presence always calmed his mind and now was no exception, soon the troubling thoughts of his son were slipping away and he was drifting off to sleep his mind full of the woman in his arms.
XX
End of chapter
Okay guys so what did you think? Please review and let me know I'm really interested to hear your opinions about where things are going.
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Three Homes, Two Jacks and a Ianto