Title: Go Strip
Author: nakaleteme
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All characters and the Hub belong to the brilliant Russell T Davis. If anyone is willing to sell Jack and Ianto, though, I will be the first bidder. Story concept is belonging to I.
Word Count: 1,624
Authors Notes: I have no idea where I got this idea! Just a little bit of fun to make myself giggle I guess. Sorry if you think the bit about Owen is in bad taste, but I'm still in slight denial that he and Tosh are gone. Also, this is set soon after Something Borrowed, in case anyone is interested. No spoilers that I can think of.
Summary: Ianto and Jack sit around bored and alone one night; an interesting game of Go Fish is the result.

***

Ianto sat at his desk, typing slowly at his keyboard as he surfed the internet and checked his personal e-mail. A forgotten game of solitaire lay on the desktop, some of the cards serving as makeshift coasters for a couple of empty coffee mugs. Various machines beeped softly in the background, most of the coming from the medical equipment in the autopsy bay. The computers at Gwen and Tosh's desks whirred quietly in sleep mode, their monitors black. Even the rift detector and manipulator were unusually quiet, not having set off any alarms in the past twenty-four hours.

The Welshman yawned and closed the internet window. Though he enjoyed the silence, long stretches of time without rift activity meant boring days of archiving that reminded him of how his job had been only months before. That wasn't as bad as sitting around with absolutely nothing to do, though. At least filing and doing the accounts were helpful, if not as thrilling as field work.

Glancing over at the empty work stations next to him, he sighed. Gwen had been on her honeymoon for almost two weeks while she and Rhys baked in the Hawaiian sun. Only the day before she'd sent them a shaky video of her new husband trying to ride a horse along a sunset-lit beach. In the end he'd fallen off, sending the newlyweds into a fit of giggles while the rest of the Torchwood staff watched with a mixture of jealousy and why-is-this-not-surprising amusement.

Tosh, on the other hand, was taking the day off to go to a computer geek and general hacker's convention in London. Owen had offered to join her with the hopes of bumming a ride into his hometown, but Jack had given him a firm "no" and strict orders to stay at home. Ianto had a sickening feeling the doctor was currently locked in his bathroom trying to electrocute himself with a toaster.

Ianto started back to reality as a crash rang out from Jack's office. Jumping from his chair, he rushed over to the window-encased room and through the open door. Jack sat on the ground, cursing profusely as large amounts of blood gushed from his wrist. Ianto hurried forward, ready to give first aid, before slowing his steps. The wound was closing up before their eyes, the skin knitting itself back together. Ianto blinked, wide eyed as he stared down at the captain.

"I didn't know you could do that," he commented in a surprised Welsh accent.

"I'm a little surprised myself," conceded Jack, touching a finger to the fresh patch of skin that was slightly paler than the rest of him. Well, paler than the visible parts, at least.

Shrugging, the captain stood from his position on the floor, brushing off the seat of his pants and cursing at the blood that had seeped through the cuff of his sleeve.

"Must be because it was a fatal wound, but one that would cause a slow death, so my body healed before it died," he reasoned.

Quite useful, that," Ianto said absentmindedly as he pulled the previously damaged hand closer to check the bloody sleeve.

"What in bloody hell did you cut it on?"

"Letter opener," Jack confessed, grinning sheepishly and pulling his hand back before stripping off the soiled shirt. Ianto took it without a second thought, folding it neatly and setting it on the pile of laundry that needed cleaning. He'd have to pop out to the dry cleaners later before Jack ran out of un-bloodied dress shirts.

"I thought it might be a little more interesting than that," the Welshman commented with a smirk, teasing Jack's occasional clumsiness.

"What, bored already? Am I meant to keep you entertained every moment of the day? You all complain about not getting enough time off, then bug me when things quiet down."

Ianto simply shrugged. "I guess we get sick of it, but we also get so used to it that it's a bit of a shock when it stops."

Nodding his agreement, Jack sighed and pulled on the fresh shirt Ianto offered him. "Well, we could take the rest of the day off, too, you know. I would offer to go back to mine, but," he made a sweeping gesture around the room, "we're already there. Shall we go to yours?"

Ianto busied himself with cleaning up the army of coffee mugs on Jack's desk (it was no wonder he never slept) to hide the soft blush gracing his cheeks. Worrying his lip, he thought about the current state of his cramped apartment. He'd left it in a sorry shape that morning, having run out of time to clean it the night before due to late night weevil hunting with Jack. Though he was usually meticulous with house work, he hadn't had the chance to straighten up since the captain's last visit to the little flat a few nights earlier that week. Blushing a darker shade of red at the memory, Ianto excused himself to put the mugs in the kitchen before returning to Jack with an answer.

"To tell you the truth, I'd rather stay here. Much more space. Besides," he added with a guilty blush, "I haven't had the chance to change the sheets yet."

An hour later they were sitting on the floor of Jack's office with a couple of pizza boxes spread out in front of them and more coffee. Ianto had loosened his tie and even taken off his jacket in order to get more comfortable. Chewing thoughtfully on a piece of pizza, Jack leaned back on one hand and looked up at the blank ceiling.

"We could have sex."

Ianto rolled his eyes at the suggestion, though he was hardly surprised. Jack believed in sex at any time of the day, and it had been the Welshman's own fault for asking for some ideas as to what they should do to pass the time.

"It's a little early, don't you think?"

Jack just grinned and shrugged. "It's never too early for sex, Yan."

After another hour or two of lying around and doing little besides each other, Ianto found his way back to his desk to pick up his game of solitaire. A moment later Jack had moved from his spot on the sofa to look over the Welshman's shoulder in curiosity.

"What're you doing?"

Ianto blinked. "Er, playing a card game."

"By yourself?"

"Yeh, why not?"

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

"Why?" the receptionist asked after a curious pause.

"Because you can't gamble alone!"

Ianto's mouth dropped open in slight alarm. "The reason for playing cards isn't always to win money! Haven't you ever heard of War? Old Maid? Oh Hell?"

Jack just gave him a blank stare.

"Not even Go Fish?"

The captain pouted and shook his head. A few moments after Ianto had gone back to his game, shaking his head in disbelief, Jack slipped his arms around the younger man's waist and rested his chin on the suit-clad shoulder before him.

"Can you teach me?"

Figuring they had nothing better to do at the moment, he nodded and gathered up the cards. That sat opposite each other on the cold Hub floor, Ianto shuffling the deck like a casino dealer. Doling out five cards to himself and five to Jack, he placed the rest of the deck between them and sat back to lean against Tosh's desk. After explaining the rules of Go Fish, he asked Jack if he had any questions.

"What happens if you lose?"

Ianto parted his lips to answer that there was no penalty for losing before a wicked idea hit him.

"You have to take off a piece of clothing for every game you lose."

Jack blinked before flashing Ianto a predatory grin. "Game on."

Several games and cups of coffee later, Jack was lounging with his shirt, undershirt, pants, and both socks still covering him. Ianto, on the other hand, was down to his boxers and undershirt with his red tie hanging loosely from his neck. When the Welshman glanced up from his cards, he caught the lusty glint in Jack's eye.

"I thought you'd never played this before."

"And I thought you assured me that this game was based on luck," the captain countered in his American accent.

Ianto grumbled something about sabotaging Jack's coffee for a week.

"Got any aces?" Jack asked calmly, looking at his nails with mild interest.

Flinging his final card at Jack, Ianto mumbled about possibly poisoning his coffee the next morning.

"Another win for me!" Jack exclaimed happily as he spread his pairs of cards on the floor for Ianto to see. "I request that the shirt is the next to go."

Ianto glared, hoping it hid his blush somewhat. He dutifully pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it into the pile of discarded clothes. A grin from Jack made Ianto roll his eyes as he reshuffled the deck and dealt.

"I'm surprised you haven't quit."

Ianto looked up at Jack to glower only to find the captain smiling at the Welshman with what he thought looked like respect. Raising his cards to his face in order to hide a light blush, he shrugged.

"Since when have I given up easily?"

Jack just chuckled as he rearranged the cards in his hand. "Oh, every night and twice on weekends."

The receptionist glanced up to give Jack a nasty look but found himself breaking into a smile and laughing along. "It's not as if I'm the only one."

"Just the one that does it the most! Got any Jacks?" the captain asked with a grin.

"Only you," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "Go Fish."

***

Next story in series - Wednesday Is Family Game Night.