Title: After that stopwatch scene
By: catelfemma
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Notes: To add to the hundreds of different versions of this that other people have written already, I'm adding my version of what happened after the end of 'They Keep Killing Suzie'. It was written in December 2006 and so has been sitting around on my hard drive for a while.
Summary: Jack comforts Ianto in the way he knows best.

***

Ianto paused. "Well. Think about it. Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch."

Jack thought for a moment, then laughed. "Oh yeah? I could think of a few."

Ianto's voice was level. "There's quite a list."

Jack gazed out into space. "I'll send the others home early. See you in my office in ten."

"That's ten minutes...and counting." Ianto pressed the button of the top of the spotwatch with a flourish, and headed to reception to pretend to tidy some papers. Jack wandered into the main section of the Hub and informed the others that they could go home. Ianto nodded a polite goodbye to each one of them as they walked out through the Information Centre. He was wondering if they were wondering why he was staying behind - but then, he often did. Before, it had been to care for Liza. Now it was simply that he didn't care to go home to a flat that didn't feel like home any more.

When the others were gone, and the door locked behind them, he glanced at the watch again. 9 minutes 36 seconds. He wandered out of reception and Jack, out of his wide office window, watched him climb the stairs.

Ianto walked through the office door and showed Jack the ticking watch in his hand. Jack laughed again. Ianto stood nervously in front of Jack's desk, rocking on his heels.

"Do you want to...?" Jack stepped round in front of him. With a nervous twitch, Ianto stopped and restarted the watch again. Then Jack stepped forward and placed a hand to either side of Ianto's face, and kissed him firmly and thoroughly, pulling Ianto's body closer to his own and gently exploring his lips and mouth. Ianto's arms folded awkwardly around Jack's waist as they kissed, but as Jack's forceful kisses gave him confidence, his hand moved to find Jack's arse.

They broke apart. Jack licked his dry lips, and then said, his voice a little hoarse, "Ianto, put the stopwatch down."

"Yes, sir," Ianto replied softly, putting it down so it was perfectly aligned with the edge of the desk.

"And if you want to," Jack continued slowly, "come here again."

* * *

It was a while later, that Ianto was putting his suit back on again, and doing up his tie perfectly in front of the antique mirror in Jack's office, while Jack sat back in his chair, his suit half-open with the odd button missing, his feet resting in muddy boots on the table. Ianto would tut and polish it later, probably once he'd ironed Jack's shirt and replaced the buttons as well. Jack had never envisaged himself with a housewife.

Then he remembered how, after the time with the cannibals, Ianto had taken a feather duster to every nook and cranny in the Hub, even in the basement where the dust probably dated back to Torchwood House in Scotland and would fight back when anyone attempted to clean it away. Ianto took refuge in domesticity, in the same way that Gwen took refuge in Rhys and Owen, and Tosh had her computers. Jack wondered, idly, what his refuge was. A little blue box, perhaps, still spinning through space. Or maybe his refuge was standing in front of the mirror, still straightening his tie.

Jack got up from his chair, and in a moment of mischief, grabbed Ianto's tie to pull him towards himself for a slow and tender kiss, the kiss of new lovers just getting to know each other properly. Ianto faked indignation, but there was no mistaking his hunger for closeness when he kissed Jack back.

He turned back to the mirror and straightened his tie again when Jack released him, realising Jack was still watching him. He turned around, and cleared his throat. "Thank you, sir."

Jack smiled a little, wryly. "Ianto Jones." But the only way to end that sentence was to say something crude about murder or worse, and it was obvious to Jack that Ianto was still grieving. Maybe what had just happened was only part of that.

"Thank you, sir," Ianto repeated, and then paused. He looked Jack in the eye. "It helped."

Jack watched him from his office window as he left, pausing only to rescue a ringbinder teetering on the edge of Owen's desk and to check that Myfanwy had enough food and water. He was about to step out into the Information Centre when Jack sprinted down the stairs from his office after him, and then stopped when he turned around.

"Sir?" Ianto asked.

Jack shrugged. "I've got nothing to do this evening. You might have noticed I don't sleep much. So I might as well walk you home."

Jack guided Ianto to the lift, and kissed him softly as they rose up into Cardiff's star-studded night.

***