Title: A Siren's Song
By: XrayPineapple
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: AO
Disclaimer: I do not own any members of Torchwood, past or present (unless one day they decide to hire me, then I obviously own myself, but I'm not in this story), but I do own Ari, who you'll all get better acquainted with later.
Warning: BDSM, Explicit Sex, Explicit Violence, Swearing - Angst, Het, Humor, Romance, Slash, WiP
Summary: What do you get if you put a woman on the run from her government, one man that can't die, eyecandy, a nerd, a doctor and a policewoman all into one story? A lot of sex, a lot of laughs, and a plot line that should hopefully thrill you, chill you and full fill you. So come up to the lab, and see what's on the slab.

***

The Weevil made another lunge at Jack, teeth bared, snarling, a fierce primitive look about it. Jack swung the metal pole up, catching its jaw and sending it reeling backwards in surprise. Weevil hunting is always more fun with Ianto, Jack thought to himself momentarily before the creature made another attempt at him. Regardless that "Weevil hunting" with Ianto had very little to do with Weevil's and more to do with roofs and offices, it was far better than this.

Jack, bright blue eyes blazing, reached for the Weevil spray in his coat pocket- surprising storage in these longs coats, not just a fashion statement you know -as the Weevil grabbed his arm, jaws spread wide ready for the treat, saliva dripping onto his freshly laundered shirt, courtesy of Ianto.

"Oh God, if only this was a breath freshener," Jack complained, releasing the lock and spraying the creature full force in the face with a strange white gas that just happened to drop through the rift one day. It staggered back, growled, or attempted to as it coughed and splattered on the gas, and fell to the floor. Jack tapped his ear, bringing the regulated Torchwood com to life. "Weevil clean up in aisle four." He waited for the laughter. None was forth coming.

"Are you okay?" A sweet Welsh voice answered. Gwen, the humanitarian of the group, very useful in decisions concerning human welfare, Jack thought, but useless at seeing the big picture.

"Fine, one really isn't a match for the great Jack Harkness." Was referring to yourself in third person really that pretentious?

"Did he just-?"

"Encouraging him isn't wise."

"One surely is not the cause for such a large spike in rift activity." A brisk, efficient, yet slightly unsure voice added their two cents. Toshiko Sato, computer genius, but very unaware of her own potential, Jack thought.

"We've got nothing," another man joined in. "As expected." A sarcastic lilt this time. Own Harper, an ego that could outdo us all, Jack thought, sometimes even me.

"Tosh, are the rift energy readings still high?" Jack asked, stopping suddenly as he noticed he had guests. He grinned at the two girls who had turned into the alleyway and happened upon the odd scene, confused looks on their faces. "My mate really can't handle his drink." He "affectionately" nudged the unconscious Weevil at his feet with one heavy boot. Thank God they chose to dress in such flattering blue boiler suits, a dark enough night and you can fool anyone. The girls shrugged and turned away, dismissing it as another weird Cardiff thing. They seemed to happen too often these days.

"Could you keep the flirting to your own time?" Owen asked, hopefully.

"And ruin your fun?"

"The rift energy has decreased, just the usual residue left. It could have been that Weevil." Toshiko carried on, ignoring the boys bantering.

Jack picked the Weevil up with a little difficulty and slung him over his shoulder. "I'll bring our new friend home so you can have a play mate, Owen." Jack headed out of the alley, turning right towards the club that was spewing bass heavy music into the streets. They had split up, Ianto and Own taking the building and Jack taking the surrounding area.

"Thank you, Jack," Owen added, dryly. Jack could hear Ianto laughing in the background.

"It couldn't have caused that much noise." Trust the girls to be the ones that kept to business. "Maybe we should check again," Gwen urged,

"There's nothing but a bunch of highly inebriated, under sexed humans in the bar all looking for one thing," Ianto cut in.

"And you know what?" Jack started, grinning from ear to ear as he lobbed their new friend into the back of the SUV. "I think we should join them."

Partying wasn't exactly on the Torchwood criteria, yet that didn't usually stop Jack. With one last thought for the Weevil in the SUV he turned back to the club, "Siren's Song". Ianto met him at the door, smart suit as always, sporting a grin any Siren would die for.

"Ready for a little dancing?" Jack added.

"Dancing?" Ianto questioned, thinking of anything but.

"We do need to get some practice in before the wedding," Jack replied.

"Are we going to stand here all day discussing dancing when there's alcohol and willing women in there?" Owen asked, pointing back into the dark depths of the club.

"What about the rift energy?" Gwen asked in Jack's ear.

"Go home you two," Jack answered. "Take the night off, God knows you two deserve it."

"Wow, Torchwood does nights off?" Gwen said sarcastically.

Jack laughed as he cut off communication with the Hub.

"Shall we, gentleman?" Ianto held the door open for Jack.

"Ladies here I come!" Owen dashed off without a second thought.

"Poor guy," Jack sighed, mockingly. "Really does need to get laid more regularly. I'd be willing, but-"

"You're already pretty satisfied?" Ianto jumped in.

"I was going to say "In love" but that's just as good." Jack grinned at Ianto, the trademark grin that melted most people's hearts at ten passes, and moved past him into the dark exterior.
Had he just-? No, that couldn't be, but-

Ianto couldn't help the huge grin gracing his lips as he let the door full closed behind him.

For a second, over the deafening bass line, he thought he heard something, an alluring female voice calling to him, something that sounded so familiar, and safe. But just as he tried to make heads or tails of the words it disappeared as seemingly quickly as it had appeared. He made a mental note to inform Jack, then decided it was probably just a snatch of a song he'd heard that day and dismissed it in favour of following Jack, his Jack, into the waiting darkness beyond. Had he really said in a round about way that he loved him?

***

Owen rushed into the bar, ignoring the securities attempts to at least attempt to do their job- if Owen didn't act like such a horny teenager they probably wouldn't have need to see ID —but a muttered ‘Torchwood' from Jack got them access all area's, so to speak. He resumed his conversation with a rather pretty redhead where they had left off; it involved a mighty fine amount of tongue action, which only made Jack laugh to himself.

The majority of the clientele were male, Jack soon realised, though there was the odd girl here and there, which didn't bother him, he was a lover of the human race, and a lot more. He moved towards the main attraction of the club, a raised stage with two silver poles reflecting the colourful lights back at the eagerly awaiting audience.

"Very nice," Ianto muttered, in a tone of disapproval, to himself as he took in the surroundings. Seedy strip joints weren't exactly the place to find Ianto Jones on his night off. Even if this place did at least attempt to give itself an air of sophistication with some odd choices of knick-knacks (there was a moose's head above a fireplace that had seen better days) it still wasn't fooling anyone.

"If I was an alien this is where I'd land."

"Did you land here?" Ianto asked with dry sarcasm. Jack only gave Ianto a smile before looping his arm around the younger (considerably younger) man's waist and squeezed. It brought a smile to Ianto's lips that he couldn't quite hide in time, an unguarded smile that made something in Jack loosen ever so slightly.

There was no hush of anticipation as the next girl of the night made her appearance, the song changed with not even enough break to whisper a quick declaration of love, the lights dimmed to low blue but the chatter continued unaware. Until she began to move. Then she had the attention of the whole club within seconds. Jack was used to pretty girls flaunting themselves shamelessly in his presence- he was the type of guy who associated with that type of girl, really, but let's just let him think it's his amazing sexual magnetism for now, all right? Anyway, the girl didn't seem to faze him like she did the others. With the sway of her sensuous hips she captured the men's imagination, with a toss of her silky black hair she summoned their darkest desires to the surface, and when her bright green eyes caught theirs, they were completely hers.

"Interesting act." He directed this observation at Ianto, but when he got no reply he turned to find that he wasn't even listening. The girl had Ianto at her mercy; their eyes locked as her hands strayed to the clasps on her emerald green corset. It was a colour that reminded Jack of poison. "Okay then." Jack had half a mind to get the bio-scan out and give the girl a once over, no dancer could hold a crowd of strangers this captivated, no matter how much money they'd spent on their breasts. Or perhaps it was just some unconscious jealous streak, a primal "get your eyes off my man" thing. "How about some drinks?" Jack didn't wait for an answer, instead he just steered Ianto away from the stage with a forceful shove.

"Jack..." Ianto's voice sounded groggy, as if he was awaking from a strange dream.

"Beer?" He didn't really ask as he got the barman's attention, waved a note at him and got a playful wink for his efforts. "Pint of your best and a double whisky, straight."

"That girl," Ianto continued, peering over his shoulder to get a better look at the girl, there appeared to be a pattern of glitter or something similar over her naked torso that effectively covered her dignity but didn't leave any patrons feeling short changed.

"I think that's who we're looking for," Jack answered, ignoring Ianto's obvious distraction. "Thanks," he said, to the cute blonde barman with the cheekbones he could rest a coffee mug on, as he accepted the drinks. But there was no flirtatious response from him now, he had caught the girl's eye and had been sucked into her strange dance just like everyone else there, male and female alike. Apart from Owen and his redhead acquaintance, Jack thought the pair hadn't even come up for air yet.

Jack looked back at the dancing girl as she bent backwards into a crab position, her bare breasts round and pert, nipples erect. They locked gazes, her green eyes prying into his dark blue ones, searching for something within him, searching deep. He could feel her rattling around in his mind, it was terribly disconcerting. He tried to push her out but she was determined and strong. Frighteningly strong.

He turned to Ianto quickly, only to find that he was gone, and his pint of beer was finished already. Jack downed his whisky in annoyance as he stood to search out his friend. There was a strange dizziness as he moved amongst the crowd, like his senses were wrapped in cotton wool, most would put it down to the alcohol he had just consumed, but Jack knew better.

"Ianto," he mumbled as he struggled to push his way through the crowd that had by now gathered around the stage to watch the strange girl, who was now hanging upside down from one of the polls, her leather boots the only thing keeping her up. She has a nice way of defying gravity, Jack thought momentarily then shook the thought from his mind, he didn't need to get sucked in too. He spotted Ianto through the crowd, he was right by the stage, his eyes following her every sensual move. "Ianto," he repeated as he grabbed the younger man's arm, feeling himself slipping further under the sea of confusion that now engulfed him, this feeling was followed by a very heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Ianto..."

"I want you." He turned so suddenly to meet his eyes, the blue bright like the centre of a flame, full of passion, desire and lust. "Right here, right now."

Jack wasn't sure if he should be pleased he had finally turned away from the girl, pleased that by the sounds of it he was going to get some interesting alone time with Ianto that night or worried that he didn't seem to be himself any more. He decided to go with pleased, as the weight in him intensified into a tight knot of lust that was just begging to be sated, and soon, and there was such a willing man before him.

"Back to mine, I think. Less people." Though Jack wasn't above being an exhibitionist, he actually found it quite fulfilling, though there was a time and place for that, and the fact they were surrounded by nearly a hundred other people consumed by a similar feeling didn't seem to be wise. "Less chance of getting distracted by some-"

"Now."

Jack had never seen Ianto this forceful, any other situation and he would have just gone at him then and there, but this wasn't him, and somewhere deep down inside of him he knew this wasn't like him either. But he couldn't seem to focus on that as Ianto grabbed his arm and began to drag him out of the club.

There was no thought of unusual rift energy, Weevil's in the back of SUV's, physic alien strippers, Owen and his inability to keep his hands to himself or the fact that Ianto was acting so peculiar. There were just those wanton eyes and that wonderfully willing body.

Ianto had somehow managed to wrestle a hand under Jack's shirt, his slender fingers massaging the last few vertebrae of his back, making Jack squirm in a fight between giving into the touch and actually concentrating at the task at hand. However wonderful Ianto's fingers felt, it wasn't good for his concentration, which was slowly waning and ruining his driving.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

It didn't matter much to either man as the bright headlights filled the windscreen and they swerved violently, being followed by loud obnoxious honks from the late night drivers of Cardiff. Some people just aren't cut out for driving while aroused.

Ianto wasn't sure where this unabridged desire had come from; it was all consuming, almost burning him up in its fury to be sated. He could already feel his suit trousers growing tighter by the second. He bent over the gear shift to nuzzle Jack's neck. The car made another dramatic swerve.

"Ianto, wait-" But he couldn't seem to remember why, the feeling of the younger man's lips on the sensitive skin of his neck was too distracting. In fact, he couldn't remember much of the night, just some pretty hips, a nice cool shot of whisky, and blue eyes that swam with arousal that were ever so tempting. He felt a hand slip to his thigh, squeezing tight, he threw his head back and groaned. Another sharp blast from another over zealous driver interrupted the moment.

"Are you hard for me, Jack?" He asked, tongue darting out to lick at the skin his lips had touched mere seconds before. "Should I check?" His hand began to move higher up.

"Oh... No, I've got to-"

"Give into me," he whispered, hand moving to cup Jack's quickly hardening cock through his trousers. "I know you want me."

"What are you doing?" He groaned though, found that he couldn't bring himself to move Ianto's hand.

"I need you, Jack."

"Could you not wait five minutes until we get out of the way of heavy on-coming traffic?"

"But I want it now," he whined, snapping the button on Jack's trousers and slipping his fingers into the waiting heat beneath.

"Oh, sweet-" He bit his bottom lip to stop any more sounds escaping and stepped on the break. The SUV came to a shuddering halt on a rather busy main road as he tipped his head back and pushed his hips up into Ianto's skilled hand.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, you bastard?!" The yells of road rage didn't reach their safe little bubble as they gave into the all-consuming desire running through their veins. For a moment they both forgot where they were as Ianto's hand worked Jack into a groaning mess. He spread the pre-cum over his shaft, making his fist glide faster.

"No, no. Not here. Not here!" Jack had enough sense to yank Ianto's hand out of his trousers, doing them up as fast as he could as someone banged on the driver's side window.

"You can't stop me," Ianto replied, his voice low and harsh as his lips smashed against Jack's neck.

"Urgh... fuck."

The rather burly man, six foot at least, made totally of muscle with a crew cut, stared on wide-eyed at the couple's antics for a few seconds before his eyes narrowed in anger once again.

"You better move your fucking gay ass before I fucking hospitalise it."

Jack was almost disappointed with the unoriginal threat, but the sheer annoyance of the homophobic asshole kicked in, and he had to react.

"And you better remove your hands from my car before I shove your head up that guys ass." Jack pointed at a random weedy looking man who was unfortunately walking past at that moment.

"You wanna make something of it?" The guy threatened, eyes glazed with anger. Some people just don't take well to being insulted by Captain Jack Harkness.

"Just drive," Ianto groaned, only pausing from sucking Jack's neck long enough to say those words.

"And you can tell your little faggot of a boyfriend to shut up."

Jack's eyes blazed in anger as he reached for the man's neck, not sure what he was going to do against this large man, but thinking that extreme violence would be rather suitable. But he never got to act on the urge as with a terrific growl Owen's little playmate woke up and lunged at the front seats. Ianto pulled away then as the Weevil caught hold of his arm and yanked him back, surprising it only took a Weevil to achieve that. The guy swore loudly and back peddled fast away from the SUV, in his haste he tripped and came very close to becoming a small stain on Lloyd George Avenue, but enough of his story. Jack grabbed Ianto's waist with one arm as he kicked open the glove compartment, reached in with his free hand for the spare Weevil spray and aimed it behind him. He pulled Ianto back into the front seats coughing and splattering and wiping his tearing eyes.

"Well that was stupid," he stated. He reached out to wipe a few tears from Ianto's cheek. "Anything broken?"

"I... I don't know what came over me," Ianto confessed, falling into Jack's arms.

"My animal magnetism?" Jack joked, holding Ianto close and subconsciously stroking his soft hair, laying a gentle kiss against his forehead.

"Its not gone, Jack." He muttered, feeling almost ashamed by it.

"Give me three minutes." Jack grinned, already putting the car into gear.

Two minutes and forty eight seconds later, if only Ianto had that stopwatch to know, and a very close brush with a police officer and a speed camera, they burst into the tourist information centre. Ianto had just enough time to lock the outer door behind them before Jack spun him round, lifting him off his feet in his haste to sit him on the information desk, not breaking their kiss for a second. Pamphlets on interesting things to do in Cardiff went flying as both men tried to rip each other's clothes off as hastily as possible, and only really succeeding in frustrating themselves more.

Ianto pulled out of the kiss first to shrug out of his suit jacket, his eyes caught on the mess they'd already made and there was a tense moment where Jack held his breath, wondering whether the need to be clean and organised or the need to fuck would win in Ianto's mind. Ianto just shrugged, already starting on the buttons of his shirt. Jack grinned at his luck, shrugged his coat off and reached for the tie to loosen it, quickly chucking it behind him. Ianto slipped his fingers into the braces and eased them off his boss's shoulders. They went for the belts at exactly the same time. Ianto dived in again for a hungry kiss, his tongue delving deep inside the older man's mouth, as he kicked his shoes off and began wiggling out of his suit trousers. His cock was aching now at the intensity of the pleasure coursing through him and it had yet to even be touched.

Jack pulled Ianto forward slightly, and Ianto fell back on his hands to steady himself, so he had better access as he began to prepare his lover hastily. Neither had much left in them to be loving or slow about this moment. With a surprising amount of talent, Jack managed to undo his trousers with one hand and have them pooled round his ankles in ten seconds, obviously something he'd had a lot of practice at. And before they knew it, Ianto was screaming in satisfaction as they're bodies built up a fast, spasmodic rhythm. The sound of flesh hitting flesh, of groans, moans and grunts, hastily yelled words, declarations of just how good this moment was, filled the small room to busting point.

"Oh, Jack, I'm-"

And there was no more warning as Ianto let go, his seed spewing onto Jack's now marked for the bin shirt.

"Oh yes, I love hearing you groan my name like that."

Ianto lay back on the few leaflets left and let Jack use his body, a sudden sleepiness he'd never felt before washing over him and dragging him under, he only closed his eyes for a second, he swears, but he missed Jack's big ending by hours.

***

Gwen Cooper could hear her phone vibrating, actually, screw that, she could feel it vibrating even in her safe cocoon of covers.

"If that's Jack bloody Harkness tell him to piss off," her long suffering fiancé groaned as he tightened his grip around her waist.

Gwen glanced at the alarm clock, blinking back a dull five-forty-two and cursed the day she'd ever given Jack bloody Harkness her mobile phone number. Groggily she wiggled out from under Rhys' determined weight and reached for her mobile. ‘Owen's Mob,' she mouthed, confused why that man was even up at all at this time in the morning, then suddenly it dawned on her that this was Torchwood and this all could be about the end of the world as we know it. That put a surprising amount of fire in her actions.

"What's wrong?" She practically yelled, making Rhys bury his head under a pillow and curse Jack's entire existence.

"Gwen, what year is it?" He sounded tired, confused and seriously hung-over. But what an odd question to ask someone at such an early hour of the morning, Gwen thought.

"2008," she answered, perplexed.

"And the month?" Owen asked, sounding just on the wrong side of desperate.

"What's going on? Why do you-"

"And the month?" He repeated, almost frantic.

"July." She frowned when she heard the sigh. "Monday 21st of July 2008. Why do you want to know?"

"He didn't bloody call to ask the date, did he?" Rhys complained, then let out a rather interesting tirade of insults in Welsh about Jack, that included how his mother suckled pigs.

"I'm missing a night," Owen said.

"Could that be due to the amount of alcohol you ingested last night?" Gwen replied sarcastically.

"I didn't drink a drop!" Owen defended loudly.

"You sure sound like you did, and if you're missing a night how could you know if you drank or not?" She was trying hard not to laugh at him by now.

"Look, listen to me, I just woke up in the bed of a redhead I've never even seen before in my life, regardless that she's a very pretty girl indeed, and I'm sure I'd remember an ass like that, she doesn't even seem to remember my face. I have been screamed at, beaten around the head and shoulders with a wooden broom and I am now standing outside my apartment building wearing nothing but my denim jacket I managed to grab before she shoved me out the door. I'm not used to women reacting to me like that in the morning, Gwen, something is terribly wrong."

Gwen was giggling loudly to herself at the very thought of Owen's misadventures that morning, already, and the fact that the early warning sign of the end of the world to Owen was that his date didn't remember the sex.

"I hope you're giggling like that because he caused serious harm to some of his more vital external organs."

Gwen playfully hit Rhys on the shoulder. "That sounds like a fun night, Owen."

"Owen?" Rhys questioned, confused why she'd answer the phone to him of all people. "Let me just put the phone down on that bloody ass," Rhys groaned, reaching out for Gwen's mobile, but she just batted his hands away and turned her back to him, trying to stop herself giggling again.

"Do you mind not laughing at my misfortune? That's just a suggestion," Owen snapped.

"Sorry, sorry... I'll compose myself." She bit her lip harshly to stop herself from cracking up once again.

"You've got a spare set of keys to my apartment, right?" Owen asked hopefully.

"Yep." Jack had made sure they all had keys to each others houses in case of emergencies, though Gwen wasn't sure if this was the type of "emergency" Jack had had in mind when he made up that rule.

"Gwen..." She could just imagine him attempting to give her a puppy dog look and looking totally ridiculous in the process.

"Okay, give me half an hour."

"Half an hour!" Owen repeated, outraged.

"Try not to freeze anything too valuable off while you're waiting." And she put the phone down on him.

"Half an hour?" Rhys echoed, poking his head out from under the pillow to give her a sleepy yet defiant look. "Don't those bloody Torchwood twats have any manners?"

"I did leave a little bit of spare time in there for snuggling, you know." She offered as a somewhat peace offering.

"Well come here girl, we haven't got long."

An hour and twelve minutes later, Owen had counted every cruel second bitterly, Gwen's dark blue Ford pulled into the street. Young, up and coming business folk had begun to leave their houses half an hour earlier, giving Owen looks of disgust or amusement, and Owen was beginning to feel like some strange fair ground attraction. Gwen firmly held her hand over her mouth to keep the giggles in again when she saw him. He was crouched in some bushes in front of his apartment building, just his head and shoulders poking out with a sullen and rather cold look about him, he looked like some new sort of wildlife species.

"I was thinking on the drive over," Gwen began as she tossed one of Rhys' dressing gowns at Owen. She thought it would only be fair to save a smidgen of his dignity, but she had no intention of telling Rhys where the horrible red and blue striped dressing gown his mum had given him a couple of Christmas's ago had got to. Perhaps she should burn it. "How did you manage to grab your mobile and not your keys?"

Owen turned away from Gwen, not that she hadn't already seen him naked, but some how the situation didn't call for shameless flirting, and gratefully shrugged the dressing gown on. "They must have fallen out in the tussle," he answered quickly, feeling beyond embarrassed and rather cold, and on top of that completely pissed off.

Gwen handed him the spare keys. "You have ten minutes to shower and dress, seeing as we're both up this early we might as well get a head start on those Bekpiy case studies."

Owen just groaned and headed into his apartment building, trying to ignore Gwen's laughter.

"So why didn't you call Tosh then?" Gwen enquired after the far too long drive of awkward silence they had endured.

"That would have been awkward."

"What about Ianto?"

"Probably with Jack."

"And what about Jack?"

"Are you fucking serious?"

Gwen was finding it hard not to laugh her head off as she opened the door to the tourist centre, so much so she wasn't really paying attention, until she heard the gasp from Owen.

"What- Oh, my God!" She didn't do her best to keep her voice quiet, which disturbed the two sleeping occupants of the tourist information centre they had so far neglected.

Jack groaned, finding that his back really ached from the position he'd fallen asleep in, he pushed himself up, causing the man below him to squeak, he jumped back in shock, forgot his trousers were around his ankles, and fell over backwards onto his ass.

"We'll just give you five minutes," Owen said as he grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled her out the way they'd just come. "I guess they've finally christened that desk then."

Gwen didn't want to think about it.

Meanwhile, a few feet away from the disturbed pair, Jack finally got to his feet and made himself look a little more presentable. Ianto's eyes were just fluttering open, he groaned, tried to roll over but slipped on a few leaflets advertising "Castle Coch", Jack caught him and helped steady him. Ianto gave him a rather cute, Jack thought, confused look.

"Did we- Did they-?" He just groaned and collapsed back against the desk. "My back hurts," he complained loudly.

"Well that's what you get for-" His flirtatious smile and teasing manner halted abruptly only to be replaced with confusion. "What did we do last night?"

Ianto opened his mouth to explain it quite rationally, then stopped, making himself look somewhat like a fish.

"Maybe Gwen would know." Jack slipped his braces back over his shoulders, ran a hand through his hair- the tousled "just woke up" look was quite it now, though Jack had no clue, he was timeless, as he liked to have others believe —and headed out of the door. "Good morning team, nice to see you ready and raring for work so early," he said cheerfully.

"Don't you have a home?" Owen asked, eye's still wide in shock and horror, bar scrubbing his eyes with bleach he couldn't think of a suitable way to cleanse himself of those horrible images.

"I was just wondering, Gwen, if you happen to know what happened last night?"

That stumped Gwen, being asked similar questions of such perplexing nature in one morning wasn't exactly right.

"You, Ianto and Owen went to investigate the unusual rift energy near that club, Siren's Song or something like that, you found a Weevil, made some jokes and then decided to go drinking. I think you three need to start drinking less and start keeping your dicks in your trousers." She pushed past the two men, who gave her similar looks of confusion, and headed into the tourist information centre, eyes tightly closed as she heard a rather feminine scream from Ianto, who was still in the process of putting his boxes on. "Sorry, sorry," she apologised quickly as she slipped into the door at the far end of the room. God, she thought, I'm surrounded by nymphomaniacs.

***

Ianto loved the fact they had showers, wonderfully decorated showers with antique Victorian tiles and gold fittings, the most relaxing place on earth he knew. But right that moment he wasn't so thrilled by the beauty of the place, he was actually only concentrating on washing the feel of Jack off his body. He couldn't remember the night before at all, but he was filled with this dirty feeling he'd never felt before. He revelled in the feel of the warm water, washing away the dirt of the night before, enjoyed the feel of the shower gel cleansing him of the feel of Jack, the smell of apple, clean fresh water, clean skin. He was just in the process of washing more intimate areas when a cough interrupted him.

"If I knew you wanted-"

"This is inappropriate, sir." Ianto cut in, attempting to cover his dignity, but unsure whether he should have his back against the wall or his front, either way Jack wouldn't mind.

"Ah, but after what we did last night..." He left it hanging.

It made Ianto feel worse, this wasn't supposed to be like this, at first it was fine, it was how he copped, he didn't want to love, not after... he couldn't even bring himself to think her name. But now, now it felt wrong, dirty, like it meant nothing.

"You can't even remember what we did last night," Ianto retaliated, finding himself getting annoyed rather quickly.

"Well, from the way we woke up this morning, it's pretty obvious what we were up to." That playful grin that made Ianto's stomach churn. He moved closer then, backing Ianto further against those pretty tiles. Confused why he'd warrant such a reaction out of his friend he reached out, comfortingly, though that smell, freshly washed man, and the sight of those crystal clear water droplets sliding over pert muscles... Surely he was capable of deeming a situation sexual or not, or had he really lost his mind? Keep it separate.

"You'll get your shirt wet," Ianto retaliated.

Jack ignored him. "I seem to recall you begging me for it last night."

Ianto's eyes grew wide at that declaration. Surely he hadn't been so desperate to humiliate himself like that in front of this man? Had he really degraded himself for a cheap fuck he couldn't even remember? He turned away, unable to look at Jack now, as he felt shame creep up his veins, wanting a release in the form of pathetic salty tears. He felt Jack's fingers on his neck and he shivered, curling into himself more. Something had changed, at first it had been a joke, but now he was different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but Jack had changed in that one night.

"If you would just let me finish showering, sir." He spoke to those wonderful Victorian tiles.

"What's with ‘sir'?" Jack asked, almost hostile, as his fingers traced patterns on that tasty Welsh skin so available to him. "When last night it was ‘oh Jack, yes Jack, more Jack, more'?" He should have gone for a career in impersonations. Though Ianto didn't see the funny side in this, not at all, but can you really blame him?

"Perhaps I should go and get some work done." He was rather proud of the fact he didn't cuss or storm about like an enraged elephant, and kept his anger very private and organised. What right did Jack have to know his words had affected him so much anyway? Why give the man more of an ego boost when he obviously didn't need one?

As the touch connection was broken something seemed to snap in Jack. He watched Ianto walk away almost confused why there was such a defensive stance to his shoulders and back, he had only came in here to ask his opinion about what they should do about last night, but something strange had happened. Something beyond his control.

"Ah, Ianto?"

He didn't want to stop, really didn't, it would probably ruin all control he had of the situation, and any remaining dignity he had if he admitted the sound of that man's voice could stop him in his tracks. But he stopped, turned slowly, to face a slightly perplexed Jack.

"However much I'd enjoy watching you work naked, I can't say the rest of the team will."

Well that ruined his exit, indefinitely.

~*~

"I think some investigation is in order," Gwen said rather suddenly.

"Don't you always?" Owen countered. Gwen frowned but ignored the sarcastic remark the best she could.

"The three of you are all very hazy about last nights activities," she continued, mostly to Toshiko now, who, truth be told, knew very little of what was going on. You can be a computer genius, able to amend corrupt alien plans without even realising it, but upon coming in after your first evening off in months to find everyone slightly off with each other you're entitled to be slightly confused.

"Three of us?" Toshiko questioned, motioning to herself in some hope she'd get answers. She was perfectly aware what she did last night, made herself some nice pasta, wished she could share it with Owen, opened a bottle of wine and watched some romantic comedies curled up on the sofa with a bar of chocolate, wishing she was in Owen's arms... She shook her head suddenly, as if to rid her mind of those thoughts, she really didn't think about Owen that much, did she? Honestly? Was she really that sad?

"The three lads," Gwen began, voice a tone of disapproving that was just on the right side of polite, "stayed at that club we were investigating last night."

"The rift spike was five meter's down the road," Toshiko cut in, "that alley where Jack found that Weevil."

"We know that, Tosh," Owen said, rolling his eyes. For a moment Toshiko wanted to cry, but she was better than that, she hoped.

"Anyway," Gwen began once more, annoyed by the unnecessary disturbance. The annoyed look was not lost on Toshiko, who was feeling strangely alienated already that morning, more than usual. "They stayed in that bar, got sloshed, though apparently they didn't drink anything," she added with a sigh when she noticed Owen's look, "and can't remember a thing about what they did last night. But they all awoke in rather compromising positions, some I never wish to see again."

"Hey, you wouldn't mind seeing my naked body again, would you?" Owen remarked playfully.

"I didn't see your naked body today, you were hiding in a bush."

Now that just threw Toshiko completely.

"I thought we said we weren't going to talk about it," Owen all but growled in frustration.

"You said, I never agreed, come to think about it, I should have taken pictures." She grinned at Owen, who only narrowed his eyes further, perhaps some attempt to suck that thought right out of her head.

"Are, um..." Toshiko cleared her throat, suddenly feeling rather nervous about interrupting those two. "Are we going to do any investigating today, then?"

"Personally I think they're all drunk, but-"

"Yes?" Jack had stepped out of his office quite suddenly, shocking the members of his team.

"We should take a look," Gwen finished feeling her little bit of power she had slip through her fingers, she wanted to curse Jack for his timing.

"Good idea," he beamed at them. "Ianto, you coming?" He asked, noticing that Ianto had slipped in unnoticed while the others had been speaking, he'd began tidying as usual, be it that his movements were very forced and stiff, as if for once in his life he wasn't actually enjoying cleaning up.

"It's okay sir, I've got those Toral artefacts to catalogue." But he didn't look up, didn't meet Jack's eye with a flirtatious wink or grin, though only Jack seemed to realise something was wrong.

"But over a hundred of them fell through the Rift last week..." What was the point of arguing when he obviously wasn't listening?

"Leave him be Jack, categorising things gives him boners."

"Thank you, Owen."

"Only saying what you dream about, sir."

***

The club looked very different without the throbbing pulse of life running through it. In the dull morning glum of Cardiff it looked like any old Victorian building, not nearly as alluring without the bright lights and enticing music spilling out into the dark night. Plus the filth of a good night out didn't do much to boost the atmosphere.

"I can see just how hard to resist this place could be now," Gwen commented dryly.

Jack was a master at ignoring sarcasm.

They didn't bother knocking, working for Torchwood gave most that puffed up sense of self-worth that annoyed most, and anyway, what were strange alien gadgets for if they didn't get you past the simplest locks? The insides were like a distant memory to the two men. Things were where they expected them to be, only after they'd re-discovered them. If you get my drift.

"This place is incredibly tacky," Tosh pointed out, frowning at the shelves of antique knick-knacks not even your grandma would be seen dead with. "Is that a moose's head?"

"Nice taste fellas." Gwen tried to keep a straight face, but it was a loosing battle that morning.

"Well it wasn't my first choice," Owen replied, glaring at Gwen for once again making a joke at his expense, as if the last night hadn't been traumatic enough for him as it was. Come to think about it, he kept getting this nagging pain just below his left ear, she hadn't left a splinter, had she?

"How did you get in?" A rather short man, who had the misfortune of being nearly as wide as he was tall, growled at them, revealing decades of nicotine abuse.

"The door was unlocked," Jack answered, as friendly as ever.

"Unlocked my ass." He waddled to the main door, a look of smugness on his piggy features as he reached for the door, which wielded easily to his touch letting in a nice warm gust of Cardiff air. The look soon vanished to be replaced with comic confusion. Gwen gave into the temptation and giggled.

"We'd like to speak to the owner, if you'd be so kind." Jack cut in, giving Gwen a none too pleased look. What sort of organisation did he run here?

"Do you think I live here out of choice?" The man huffed. "Dumb American's."

"We just wanted to ask you some questions about your establishment," Toshiko cut in, having the sense to keep to business, and not annoy the only lead they had in this case. Though there was a strange feeling surrounding this, namely that Jack had been so quick to investigate half a missing night when it was pretty obvious what the three men had been up to. Why go to this much trouble? And what would they be looking for? Something in the drinks?

"It's mine, I pay my taxes and there is nothing dodgy about my establishment." He answered with an air of confusion, his mind still on the mysterious self-unlocking door.

"We actually wanted to know more about the dancers, if you could." Jack piped up, confusing most of his team who he had failed to mention the mysterious psychic stripper to, though to be fair, he'd forgotten a lot about her himself until he'd stepped back into the confines of the Siren's Song.

"Dancers?" Gwen questioned, then noticed the stage in the corner of the bar. "Oh lord... its one of those establishments." That set her off giggling once again, she seemed to be doing far too much of that already that morning than was really necessary. The owner didn't seem too pleased with her reaction.

"We have a lot of dancers," he snapped, deciding on concentrating on the tall guy with the funny coat who appeared to be the one in charge of this group of misfits. "And they're all good girls."

It worried Jack that even without any introduction it appeared the man thought they were there on some sort of official business, and he was obviously hiding something. Though he didn't want to dig up old secrets about tax aversion or immigrants without working permits, which pretty much appeared to be his main dabble with the wrong side of the law.

"And last night?" Jack pried, hoping to get a name for the mysterious black haired girl who had caught them all in her net so easily.

"It was an open night, if you will," he answered, eyes shifting nervously to the stage then back to Jack. "Any girl could come up and dance if she had a good enough ass."

Nice to see where their priorities lie, Jack thought.

"Do you know which regulars were on last night?" Jack continued.

"A few of the girls, why, are you after someone specific?"

"A girl with venom in her eyes and hair the colour of midnight."

Everyone turned to Owen in confusion. Had he really spoken? He'd been unusually quiet since he'd entered the building, much to his colleague's delight, some residue of the girl's spell getting to him even now. He seemed to remember her so well, even though he hadn't pulled away long enough from the red head to even notice her.

"I think I'd remember a girl like that."

"It's her," Owen continued, almost trance like. "The unusual Rift energy. She's who we want."

"I don't understand-"

"I don't think we're supposed to," Gwen cut in, eyes wide and laughter a distant memory as she took in the three men before her.

"Do you know where she is now?" Jack asked.

"I don't even know who you're talking about, mate."

~*~

Back in the Hub Ianto was enjoying his time alone, he'd decided that while the cat was away the mice should play, as such, and had rigged the com system to pipe Scissors Sisters' latest album through the many rooms and hallways of Torchwood. He was aware that Janet, they're Weevil houseguest, didn't seem to like his taste in music, due to the banging and howling she was currently adding to the song, but it didn't matter. He was happily making himself coffee, something he considered an art, a piece of pizza in one hand, tie undone, shoes and socks discarded long ago, and dancing. Well, shimmying sort of, Ianto did not go out of his way to dance, mostly because he never considered himself much of a dancer, nothing to do with street cred at all. He didn't have any, anyway.

He'd done what he said he'd do in five minutes, perhaps less, as it was just a simple case of putting the artefacts in a box, labelling it and putting it into storage in the cavernous vaults of Torchwood. It wasn't up to him to test these sorts of things, he wouldn't know where to start anyway, but he was happy with his job, where else could you get away with hip bumping thin air to catchy pop songs? Not that his boss would approve of this, but what he never knew couldn't hurt him.

"I'm not a gangster tonight, don't want to be the bad guy, I'm just a loner baby and now you've gotten in my way."

Singing was also something he wouldn't consider doing in public. Though, truth be told, he had quite a good singing voice. Shame no one got to sample its beauty every now and then.

It felt odd, feeling this cheerful and carefree now that Jack was no longer around, the constant reminder of what he was, of what they did, of what wasn't really there. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. If he stopped long enough between dancing, singing, chewing and sipping, he'd probably realise that something wasn't exactly right about this sudden mood change.

He didn't give a thought to the night before, or how they'd awoken, he was strangely thinking about his mother, and how when he'd been living in London she'd phone every Tuesday at seven fifteen to see how he was. She hadn't done that now he was living so close again, he wondered why. Then his mind flittered to Cybermen and he quickly downed his coffee as a distraction.

He could feel this elation building, this feeling of carefree joy, it felt like things were coming together and plans were being finally put into motion. He couldn't explain it; it was as if it was somebody else's emotions. Though he didn't realise this, he was just happy, so damn happy.

"It's a bitch convincing people to like you."

"Ianto."

He stopped, pizza at his lips, hips mid strange thrusting motion, and strained to hear something again. But apart from Jake Shears going on about cats, there was nothing else in the Hub. Yet this was Torchwood, he should probably check.

He went over to Gwen's desk and brought up the security systems. Nothing. No breeches of security, no alarms tripped, nobody but Janet and himself in the whole building. He was probably just being paranoid, but he still turned the music down another notch, better safe than sorry.

"Ianto."

Now he was definitely going mad. He looked around the Hub quickly, trying to take in all the systems at once but there was nothing unusual about the place. He turned to the large reinforced steel door and found it locked. Nothing could be in there with...

"Ianto."

***

He knew who she was the moment he saw those eyes. She was familiar, her presence almost comforting, and that elated feeling still refused to budge. Yet he knew, somewhere deep down, that she was a threat and he was supposed to be wary of her. But that really didn't seem to matter in the presence of those eyes.

"You're all alone," she pointed out, her face etched strangely with concern. "They left you all alone, just you to face whatever nasties decided to crawl through the Rift today."

"How did you get in?" It seemed like a reasonable question to ask the strange woman who had suddenly appeared in your high security place of work. He took stock of the situation, this strange woman he recognised but couldn't quite place had seemingly just walked into Torchwood without setting off any alarms. He didn't have a gun, but the armoury was just to his left, the code was on the tip of his fingers. But was he quick enough? Come to think about it, could he run that well without shoes on? What in hell possessed him to take his shoes off?

"You let me in, Ianto." She answered.

"I did nothing of the sort."

"Yes, you did." She stepped forward; he consequently took a step back. His thighs banged into Gwen's desk sending a pot of pens tumbling to the floor. "Everything I needed," she tapped his left temple. "Right in here." She paused, thinking, then let her fingers explore the thick brown hair within her reach. He let his eyes fall closed, strangely enjoying the touch. "You have really soft hair."

"Who are you?" He asked, though the question wasn't hostile, it was almost a polite enquiry.

"I need to find Jack."

Why did it always seem to be Jack? Ianto thought, failing to hide his annoyance. Why did all these strange aliens want Jack and nobody else? Why was it always about Jack bloody Harkness?

"Such insecurity for such a pretty specimen of male." She tutted and ruffled his hair once again, making him feel very much like an overgrown puppy. She moved away from him then, turning on her heel to take in all of the Hub. Skimming over the glass green house above them, the empty desks, her eyes lingering on the base of the tower, until the pterodactyl swooped past and caught her attention. "Woah, pets."

"Do you want something to drink?" It seemed like a rather reasonable thing to ask a guest, and considering there appeared to be no immediate threat from her he might as well be polite, why lose manners in the face of confusion?

"Oh no, I won't be long." She strode over to the tower, he couldn't help watching her creamy thighs, how the leather of her boots made them look so much paler, so toned, and what was that tint of green, that shine... He looked back up to meet her wondrous green eyes. "Were you never told as a child that it's rude to stare?"

"You're not human." The idea came to him all of a sudden, and as the words left his mouth it seemed like a preposterous idea, especially now that she was frowning at him. He didn't like the idea that he could make the pretty lady look so sad.

"Ianto." She moved towards him again. Her blouse appeared to be undone to the third button, making her pale breasts very prominent, though he shouldn't really be concentrating on that either. "How could you be so impolite?"

"I didn't mean to presume-"

"Hush." She placed her finger against his lips, smiling as he battled against the instinct to pull away and the desire to lean forward. "I just need a few things from you, Ianto."

"A few things?" He echoed.

"What's downstairs?" She asked suddenly.

"I shouldn't really-"

She smiled at him, large and reassuring, as she moved her hand to his hair once again. "You have really soft hair, you know that?" She revelled in the feel of it. Once again petting him and making him feel strangely comfortable. "Do you use conditioner?"

"Maybe I should wait for Jack to get back, he'd know what to do."

"No, no, I don't need Jack, not yet anyway, he wouldn't understand. And why do I need Jack when I have you?" She played on his annoyance, picked up the slight shimmer of pride he felt at the compliment, then again, men were so easy to manipulate. "Tell me what's downstairs."

"The vaults," he answered simply, leaning his head into her soft fingers.

"And what's in the vaults?" She pried.

"Lots of things." He was beginning to acquire that dreamy look to his eyes that annoyed her so; side effects always seemed to be the bane of her life.

"Like?" She encouraged, her fingers stopping their stroking in an attempt to get him to continue.

"We have a Sub Etheric Resonator, it's this weapon-"

"Yes, I am aware what that does," she cut in, annoyed. "What else?"

"A Singularity Scalpel, it can concentrate energy on-" He began, wanting desperately to impress her for some odd reason.

"Perhaps we're not on the same wave length here." She brought her other hand up to touch his other temple. "Relax, Ianto. Let me see." She closed her eyes, drinking it all in. "Now that is interesting."

Ianto felt nothing, well nothing out of the ordinary, he was content, full of unabashed bliss, brimming full with simple pleasure. He felt at ease with the world.

"Just what I need," she grinned as she removed her hands. Ianto's eyes opened slowly, taking in the pretty lady before him with a sloppy smile. "You've proved to be very useful, dear Ianto." His grin grew wider then at the compliment, he liked hearing praise from her, especially in that husky tone of hers. He leant forward and pressed his lips to hers suddenly, it felt like a perfectly normal thing to do, but she pulled away harshly. "Ah, ah, ah." She wagged her finger at him and stepped away from him, leaving him feeling confused and ever so slightly hurt. "You're not the one I want." She turned to walk away then but he couldn't bear to see her leave so soon.

"What's your name?" He called out after her.

She stopped, thought exactly about the consequences of her actions, decided she had nothing to lose really, and turned back to him.

"Ari."

A beautiful name for a beautiful creature, Ianto thought, smiling dreamily once more.

"But it doesn't matter, because you won't ever remember me."

***

"I don't see why this matters so much," Toshiko was jogging to keep up with Jack's sure strides. "I was picking up no unusual Rift activity this morning at the club-"

"Because she's moved on," Jack answered, almost snapping at her in his annoyance.

"It makes no sense though," Gwen added. "Half a night missing and your all acting like it's the end of the world?"

"What if it is the end of the world?" Jack asked harshly.

"Surely the end of the world is announced with flashing lights and a speaker system?" Owen asked.

"If half a night missing is the end of the world then what about those forty-eight hours we're missing?" Gwen accused.

"The result of a bad kebab?" Owen offered.

"I thought we'd agreed that we wouldn't mention that," Jack answered through gritted teeth. Where was the trust of his team when he needed it? So he wasn't sure about that, but his judgement said leave it be, and Jack Harkness had always been a man who trusted his guts.

"It makes no sense," Gwen continued, ignoring Jack's hostile tone. "Is this what Torchwood does, hides things under the carpet when it concerns its staff? Or is it only important if Jack deems it so?"

"I'd say the latter, as my knowledge of what is out there is far greater than any of yours."

"But half a night spent in a seedy strip club is more important than forty-eight hours of your teams life?"

"Maybe we were supposed to forget that for a reason."

"And what reason would that be?"

"I don't know," he answered, sighing heavily. It was hard for a man like him to admit he may be in the wrong once in a while. "I don't know, all right. Just drop it."

Weaknesses were not one of Jack's strong points. Yet Jack was sure this was something big. This woman had come so close to breaking into his mind, which is not an easy task, and the sway she had had over the whole of the club was spectacular. A psychic strength that strong had to be tested and monitored, there was no telling what she could do with that power.

"Well that's the most reassuring thing I've heard all year," Owen added cheerfully.

~*~

Jack was aware that something was up the minute he walked into the Hub. You didn't have to be a hundred and fifty year old man form the fifty-first century to pick up these things, but it helped. And no, the biggest clue was not Ianto sat on the floor with a cup of coffee and a somewhat dazed smile on his face, his bare feet submerged in the icy water at the bottom of the sculpture that Torchwood was built around. His suit trousers were rolled up to his knees and to Jack he looked surprisingly child like, though he noted the nice dark hair and felt a swell of curiosity in him.

"I think the real party was back here," Owen commented as he took a seat at his desk. "What's up, Ianto?" After no response his grin grew. "I think he's overdosed on coffee, told you it would happen eventually, didn't I? Don't you owe me fifty pounds now Jack?" Jack did not look amused.

"Oh, lunch. Thanks." Gwen had spotted the pizza box lying by the coffee machine and her face had lit up.

Owen swivelled in his chair and saw the square box of ultimate glory and his saliva glands kicked in. If the best thing in Owen's world was sex, pizza would come a close second. Only beating alcohol because it rarely left him with an unstable stomach and a mouth that tasted like an ashtray, only that one experimental time that he will never mention again, though alcohol was to be blamed on that occasion.

He jumped up, determined to get the best slice before Gwen, and ran. Their hands touched the box at the same time, they shared a challenging look as the box was flipped open, only to reveal a solitary slice.

"Don't even think about it, Cooper." Owen warned, fingers twitching like a cowboy in a gunfight, or a chav who'd just spotted a rack of unattended designer watches.

"I saw it first," Gwen replied, her grip on the box tightening.

"Twenty-first century flirting has a lot to learn," Jack grinned.

Owen made a lunge for the last piece, Gwen grabbed it at the same time, there was a tussle. And I mean a big tussle. Owen slapped Gwen's hand away, which made her yelp, and with laughter full of glee Owen took off across the Hub, clutching the slice tight to his chest leaving a greasy stain on his almost clean t-shirt. Gwen narrowed her eyes at him but gave chase, dodging around Toshiko's desk to cut him off, side-stepping Ianto and grabbing hold of Owen's arm as he reached the stairs to the autopsy bay. His momentum made him lose his balance for a second and he fell backwards into Gwen, sending them both to the floor. He tried stuffing the slice of pizza into his mouth but Gwen put her hand in the way, which only resulted in Owen coating her hand in saliva to deter her. She squealed in disgust and wiped his own bodily fluids onto his greasy shirt. Owen got a bite, about half the slice really, when Gwen pinched him in a rather inappropriate place I really shouldn't mention, causing him to choke and roll over, finally letting her sit up. She calmly took the last half out of his hand and began to munch.

"I always love the crust, me." She grinned at Jack, who only rolled his eyes.

"Meanwhile back at Torchwood..."

"Sorry Jack," Gwen blushed. "Just feeling a little peckish."

"Owen, you all right?" Always a good idea to make sure the team was functioning properly.

"No, you bloody try getting your-"

"I'll take that as a yes then." Jack strode purposefully (well he never meanders, he always appears to know what he's doing) over to Ianto, who hadn't budged from staring at the statue during the whole scuffle, that same dreamy smile on his lips. "So how was your time alone?" He crouched down to be at Ianto's height.

"I categorised everything."

"Good, good." Though he was frowning, Ianto didn't sound like himself at all.

"Told you, didn't I?" Owen piped up as he got to his feet, still rubbing his effected ‘area' tenderly. "I bet that's his post-orgasm smile, right Jack?"

"Any visitors?" Jack asked casually.

"A very nice pizza delivery girl." He moved his feet through the water, watching the ripples intently, thinking. "Lucky too, she didn't have her head stitched up." He turned to Jack suddenly; the smile now replaced with a confused frown. "Where's Lisa?"

There were a lot of sharp intakes of breath.

What were you supposed to say to that? Surely he could remember what had happened... though there was definitely something wrong. Had whatever that physic stripper done to his mind the night before erased some things? Jack had been aware that she had been poking about in all their minds, and that she was most likely the cause of Ianto's suddenly large libido, but had she dislodged something in the process?

"Ianto..." He reached out a comforting hand.

"No, don't touch me." He scooted away from him, a look of severe distrust on his pretty face. "When you touch me I feel dirty."

What had happened to him?

"I think we need some time alone." Jack directed this to Toshiko, Gwen and Owen who were all staring on in shock and confusion.

"No, don't go!" Ianto turned to the others suddenly, a pleading look on his face. "I don't want to be left with him. Where's Lisa? I want to find Lisa."

She had really screwed him up, Jack thought before turning to the rest of his team with an ‘I told you so' look.

"On a scale of one to ten?" Owen asked.

"Ten being end of the world type apocalypse and one being mostly harmless?" Jack replied. Owen nodded. "I'd say a seven. Tosh, check the CCTV footage from the last two hours, I want to know exactly what Ianto's been up to while we've been gone. Owen, check on Ianto, make sure he's okay, just... calm him down. I'd do it myself, but-"

"Whatever you've done to him recently has scared the shit out of him?" Owen finished.

"This has nothing to do with me," Jack snapped.

"What about me?" Gwen asked, wanting to help anyway she could but not sure how.

"Just... eat your pizza." Jack stormed off to his office, slamming the door with a reverberating bang that echoed through the Hub.

Gwen felt rather hurt by this, though she didn't show it. What right did he have to just kick her out of the main action? Didn't he think she was good enough for this? Good enough to deal with his ‘precious' Ianto? Look at him now, snivelling away to Owen about his murdering psycho ex-girlfriend, what could he possibly see in that? Gwen sent a death glare up to Jack, who wouldn't receive the full force but she was sure it's power would linger enough for him to feel it eventually, and went to stand behind Toshiko, she was determined to help in some way.

"You might want to look at this," Toshiko called, motioning Owen over.

Owen reluctantly left Ianto's side, even he could see the poor man was distressed enough for this not to be a joking mater yet (in say a few hours time, the time would probably be right for a few tasteful jokes about this, but not right this minute). The three of them peered at the monitor in confusion, and after a minute the three of them were trying to suppress smiles and even laughter.

"Quite the mover," Owen muttered, trying to keep his laughter in as he watched his colleague make weird hip thrusting motions. "No wonder Jack likes his company." Though the smile quickly slipped from his face as a woman, a very familiar woman, with eyes like poison and hair the colour of midnight, appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "How did she-"

"A teleporter, must be." Toshiko began to clatter keys frantically as she punched up the energy levels for that precise time; there was a high flare of Rift energy and a strange amount of chronon energy. She frowned.

The three of them watched eagerly as she touched Ianto's temple and he visibly relaxed.

"Oh, Jack won't like that," Owen said.

"Won't like what?"

"What is with this man and trying to give me a heart attack!" Owen gasped in outrage, clutching his chest, as they turned to spot their leader standing right behind them, having appeared as swiftly as the strange girl on screen.

Jack watched the action unfold and wondered why this girl, who had seemingly made such an effort to make Ianto forget her that she'd seemingly wiped some of his memories too, had not taken the time to wipe the CCTV footage as well. Perhaps she was not that well versed in computers to be able to do that, yet... Jack squinted, moving closer to the screen.

"Freeze that."

Toshiko jumped at his sudden harsh demand but did as her boss said, freezing the screen as the strange lady brought her left hand up to touch Ianto's other temple.

"That's standard Time Agent regulation."

The four of them peered at the leather wrist strap on her left wrist. It was almost identical to Jack's and the one Captain John Hart had worn. Gwen gasped.

"Great, just what we need, another Jack." Owen huffed.

"Another Time Agent in Cardiff..." Toshiko muttered.

"We can't be sure," Jack said suddenly.

"She's wearing the goddamn-"

"Any well respected Time Agent would have deleted these CCTV images, maybe even replaced them with false replica's so as to appear as nothing had happened. Either she's very stupid or she wanted to be seen."

"And your final answer is?" Owen prompted. There was a slight annoyance at being cut off in the first place in his voice that he couldn't disguise.

"I think she wants me to know she's here."

***

Next part of A Siren's Song.