torchwoodteaboy | [RL WITH AKIHIKO AND JACK]

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[RL WITH AKIHIKO AND JACK]

Ianto had had enough of the Hub for one night. Being cooped down in the archives working on a filing system that never seemed to go anywhere fast for the past few days had left him feeling a bit antsy, and he'd really just needed to get out and breathe fresh air for a while. Which was why when as soon as he finished the section he had been working on for the majority of that day, he had interrupted Akihiko's own work to ask him out for a coffee. Jack was nowhere to be found, but Ianto left him a note, and he felt that was as good a notice as he could give him. The Captain was probably down in one of the many training rooms or something, which meant that he'd rather not be disturbed anyway.

Which was the reason Ianto stood at the counter at a cafe a few blocks off the Plass, having left Akihiko to keep watch of their table. All that had been left was one of those little round ones with two arm chairs on either side that cafes seemed to be sporting more and more often for the people who would rather do their work at the cafe than go home and do it. Ianto had to admit that the chairs did look comfortable, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of a fool at the idea of sitting in one of the tattered old armchairs in a suit that obviously cost at least twice what the chair originally had.

"Jones, Ianto?" the woman at the counter called out, pulling him out of his train of thought, and he quickly stepped up and accepted the paper cups from her with a murmur of thanks. He headed back to Akihiko, placing the younger man's drink on the table in front of him and folding himself into his chair. "Can't guarantee it'll be the best you've had, but it's probably the best that we can buy around here so late in the evening," he said to Akihiko, cradling his own cup in his hands to warm them. "Sorry I sprung this on you so suddenly, I just needed..." He trailed off, shrugging and looking around. Truthfully, he needed something simple and normal, after a day of wading through the files of a particularly dark era of Torchwood history.

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"I never would've thought that clothes would factor into it, but I guess it makes sense," Ianto said, cocking his head. His mind wandered onto Jack's greatcoat, heavy and coarse as it was made of wool. Jack loved that coat, and Ianto did too. He tried to imagine Jack without the greatcoat and braces out and about in the world, and he just couldn't. He imagined that his silk ties would probably have felt amazing, though.

Ianto frowned. Speaking of Jack. "Have you seen much of Jack this past week, Akihiko? What with the new system I've been working on, I haven't seen much of anybody lately, but. I mean, I've probably seen you more, and you were even out for a day."

Akihiko was happy enough to leave the subject of the viruses behind, and he shook his head, frowning. "I haven't seen him, either. I mean, I was away for a few days, but I didn't see him today, either. It's not just you. I wonder what he's up to."

It wasn't totally unusual not to know what Jack was up to at any given moment, but now that he thought about it, it was unusual to see him this infrequently.

Ianto wasn't sure whether it was comforting or not to know that Jack had been hard to find for both of them. At least that way he wasn't overtly avoiding Ianto specifically.

"I'm worried about him," Ianto said, quietly. "Ever since John resurfaced, he's been really absent. Even when I've managed to corner him..." Ianto reflected on the couple of times that he'd seen Jack since then. He'd seemed distracted, only focusing on the essentials of the conversation before they were both off on their own tasks once again. Ianto absentmindedly noted that they hadn't had sex in at least as long.

Ianto swirled his coffee around in his cup, staring down at it, kind of ashamed that he had brought it up at all really. "I mean, the last time John showed up, Tosh and Owen died, and Jack was..." he trailed off. "Not that that's what's going to happen now, but. I mean, even I haven't seen him much, and he..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, never mind. It's probably nothing," he said, putting himself down.

"Huh what? Who?" Akihiko asked, staring at Ianto in confusion. He'd managed to completely miss any of John Hart's posts to the community, what with work and training and Shinji. And Jack had certainly not mentioned anyone to him.

"Who's John? What do you mean, resurfaced?"

Ianto startled and quickly racked his brain to remember if either he or Jack had ever explained the whole John Hart fiasco to Akihiko. He vaguely remembered explaining Gray to someone, but was it the younger man in front of him?

"Captain John Hart," Ianto explained. "Back when Jack was in the Time Agency, he was partnered with Hart, and Hart seemed to harbor some, er, feelings for Jack. And apparently they parted on less than spectacular terms, because Hart came looking for him about two years ago. When Jack turned him down again, he went to find Gray to get into Jack's good books. But, it kind of backfired, Gray being insane, and Tosh and Owen ended up dying in the process. Hart wasn't entirely to blame and we weren't...we were otherwise occupied, so he kind of slipped away to explore the 21st century."

"But he's back," Ianto continued. "He resurfaced, on the community of all places, about a week or so ago. And..." He trailed off, not used to such long explanations. "I mean, he has feelings for Jack, but he's thrown him off buildings, shot him to death, buried--..." He cut himself off abruptly. Even two years after the fact, Ianto had a hard time dealing with what exactly it meant to be buried alive at all, let alone for that long...

"Let's just say that I'm not exactly pleased about him turning up again," he concluded.

Akihiko's eyes were wide and horrified. Okay, so this guy sounded complicated but okay at first, but he'd thrown Jack off of a building and shot him? And buried him in something? Akihiko couldn't understand how someone who cared for Jack could do things like that.

It sounded like he was a creep. And besides, Jack was with Ianto.

"Well I'll have to keep my eye out for him, then," he said, an edge of protective anger in his voice. "We have to keep him away from Jack. He sounds like a stalker or something."

Something warm flared in Ianto's stomach at the sound of Akihiko's voice. He was glad that he had a partner in looking out for Jack, because god knew that Jack was never going to start looking out for himself--there was always someone higher on his list of priorities when it really mattered.

"He is a stalker," Ianto confirmed. "He tracked Jack through time and space just to get together. And he's still hanging around even now, like he's hoping that Jack will come to his senses and realize all the good times they had and come back to him." Ianto fought very hard to keep the aggressive and slightly jealous tone out of his voice, and it almost worked. He knew better than to be jealous of past lovers of Jack's, but there was something about Hart that made his hackles rise.

"The point I'm making is that Jack's been on this disappearing act since Hart showed up, but he hasn't said a word about it to me. And he isn't in his usual hiding places--I've checked all of those." Ianto frowned. "John would boast about it if he'd for some reason gone to him, he's not exactly the subtle type, so..." Ianto glanced up at Akihiko. "So, I'm worried, and it's as stupid and simple as that."

Akihiko's eyes widened at Ianto's words. "Jack's been disappearing ever since John Hart showed up?" he asked, feeling a definite sinking sensation. "Are you sure it happened like that? Do you think..." his voice dropped and he looked worriedly at Ianto. "He's not...going to see him, is he?"

Ianto shook his head. "I really don't know. I don't think so? He...he didn't exactly seem happy to run into him again, at least, so that's something against that theory. But even if he isn't going to see him, there's something going on. I don't like that he's pulling away from us, but that's Jack for you." Always keeping people at arm's length, though it really didn't seem to do that person or Jack himself a load of good, in the end.

"Part of me is glad that he's probably not going off with Hart. But that part of me is also pretty sure that whatever's going on means that Jack's not in the best of places either. And another part of me hates myself for being happy that he's not okay, so long as he's not going off to John." Ianto took a long drink from his coffee, shaking his head. "And another part of me thinks that I've had too much time by myself in the archives recently to dream these things up, really."

Akihiko set his coffee down and reached out, putting a hand on Ianto's arm and giving it a squeeze. "Look, you aren't happy that Jack isn't okay. You're happy that he's not with John Hart, there's a huge difference, and it makes sense that you'd feel that way. There's nothing wrong with that."

He leaned back in his chair again. "I say we find him and find out what's going on before he does anything really stupid, though. He needs to learn that he can't pull away from us - we won't let him!"

Ianto felt rather silly that he'd admitted feeling that way in the first place, but he was comforted by Akihiko's hand on his arm and his words. He supposed that Akihiko was right, in that there was nothing wrong with him having a dislike of John Hart that went beyond the fact that he was responsible for the breakup of what was effectively Ianto's family for a year and a half. "Thanks," Ianto said, giving Akihiko a small smile, feeling a little better now that he'd got at least that much out.

"You...you wouldn't mind helping me out on this?" Ianto asked, a bit sheepishly. "Jack doesn't like to be cornered about these things, but. He really should have said something earlier, if there really is something the matter, yeah? He's probably not going to happy about us calling him out on his behavior, though."

Akihiko would have been shocked if Ianto didn't loathe this John guy with every fibre of his being, if he had wound up causing the deaths of two Torchwood members and he was trying to steal his boyfriend.

"Of course I don't mind helping!" he exclaimed, a little bit angrily. "What the hell, Ianto, aren't we friends? I'll so whatever it takes to make sure Jack is okay, and that you don't lose him! If Jack doesn't like it, then that's just too bad."

Ianto kind of really did hate Hart with everything he had. He just didn't get it, that Jack was not the same person that he'd known all that time ago, and therefore even if they had parted on decent terms, Jack would not be completely willing to drop everything and go with him. Or even go with him if he were blackmailed into it. Plus, the whole 'Eye Candy' thing pissed him off more than he'd give Hart the satisfaction of knowing.

"Yeah, sorry," Ianto said, tensing a little at the question, even if it was rhetorical. He ran a hand over his face, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly; he still wasn't used to having friends, really, and it kind of threw him for a loop that he needn't apologize for burdening someone. He hadn't really ever been the most social of people, but then Canary Wharf had happened and all his friends made there were dead, then there was Lisa, and really the only people he'd had any contact since then with were his neighbors, his family, and Torchwood. "I guess...I'm just used to having to do everything on my own, up until recently."

"Yeah well, you won't have to do everything alone so long as you have me as a friend," Akihiko said decisively. There was no question in his mind that they were friends, after everything they'd already gone through together.

It was pretty tough for Akihiko to care about someone without going all the way, too.

He grabbed his cup of coffee and jumped to his feet, dropping his gloved hand onto Ianto's shoulder. "In fact, I say we go find Jack right now and set him straight. What do you say?"

((ffff, I'm not going to be around today, but I just wanted to let you know that Akihiko was invited to the Policeman's Ball, and he would have begged Ianto to come help him rent a nice suit for himself and Shinji. XD;;;;;))

Ianto rested his own hand on top of Akihiko's hand on his shoulder for a moment, and squeezed a little bit. "I'd have to say that you're a good man, Akihiko," he said, blushing a little bit, "and that I hope to keep you as a friend for as long as I'm able." Yes, he knew that his words were more than a little embarrassing, but he felt that this was one of those times where they needed to be said, regardless as to how much of a say he really had in the matter.

"Let's go, then, shall we?" Ianto said after a moment, rising up out of his chair as well. "We'll have to check his hiding places, but that should be no trouble, I know most of them anyway, and can rule out several already. Most of them are in the Hub, but we should probably check out the roof of the Millennium Center before then, just to make sure."

((...<3333333333333!!!! He would have been happy to help out. I hope we can assume that he found them excellent suits that are a perfect fit for both of them. He does pride himself on having an excellent eye in that area. Would Shinji have come along, or would Ianto have had to have used his cross-referencing CCTV footage to estimate the size perfectly talent? :P You know what, I...might have the two of them show up there as well, to have something to do today besides studying and laundry.))

Akihiko blushed to the roots of his silver hair at that. Ianto had not only said he wanted to be his friend, but called him a man. Akihiko was still used to being thought of as a kid by most people, so that was a big compliment coming from someone like Ianto, whom he looked up to so fiercely.

"Yeah, let's go," he said with enthusiasm. "He can't hide from us!"

To Ianto, there was no question as to whether Akihiko was a man or not. He'd helped them all through some rough times, had his own apartment and a job, was confident in who he was, and put his life on the line every day just by coming into work. He was brave, loyal, and true to himself, and if that didn't qualify a person to be a good man, Ianto really didn't know what did.

Ianto led the two of them out of the cafe and into the chilly air of Cardiff. Ianto shivered and buttoned his coat up to his neck. Being a bay city, it never really got too cold there, but it never got particularly warm either, especially in December. Heading towards the Millennium Center, he pointed up at the roof. "If he's anywhere out here, he'll probably be up there." He turned his head to look at Akihiko. "I hope that you're okay with heights...?" Ianto asked, trailing off. He himself didn't particularly care for them, which was why when Jack came up to the roof, he usually let him well enough alone.

((That's fine, at least you did get back to it! :P ~<3))

Akihiko blinked up at the roof of the building, then glanced at Ianto, wry. That was nothing, compared to how tall Tartarus was, though it was a little difference to be outside instead of inside the tower.

"I'm fine with heights," he said, tugging his own jacket a bit more closely around himself and glad of the everpresent gloves. "Come on, let's go get him! How do we get up there?" He glanced around and then headed for the entrance to the building.

"I'm glad one of us is, then," Ianto said quietly, before starting forward as well. "It's this way. Though it's up quite a lot of stairs, so prepare yourself."

Ianto led Akihiko into the building and across the entranceway to a door that read "Staff Only". He pushed it open, with a nod to a man on the janitorial staff who was standing nearby. "We have to keep up our relationship with the staff here," he explained, leading Akihiko through and down a narrow hallway. "We both share the area and have ended up causing enough damage to this times on many occasions to warrant first-name basis with some of the men here." That, and Jack came there often enough that if they saw Ianto there, they could be sure that he was probably just looking for Jack and then the two of them would be out of their hair for a while.

He pushed open another door and gestured to the staircase inside. "From here, it's only up. And up. And up." He sighed.

"Okay," Akihiko said cheerfully. He also nodded and smiled at the janitor as they passed him, then reached the staircase and started up with no hesitation. It was sort of like training - he often ran up and down stairs if he really wanted to get a good aerobic workout that day.

He'd probably wind up leaving Ianto behind without realizing it, at this rate.

"Man, I wish I knew this was here," he said as he trotted upwards happily, just beginning to grow a bit breathless. "This is great training for your heart."

"It is that..." Ianto said, rolling his eyes as he struggled up the stairs behind the younger man. While he was relatively in shape, he definitely didn't work out, certainly not on stairs and certainly not to the extent that Akihiko did. All things considered, he was doing fairly well, considering that he wasn't used to this much exercise. He did go jogging occasionally, when he could, but that was a bit different than this.

When they finally got to the top of the stairs, Ianto paused to breathe, before leading Akihiko through the door and to another staircase, this one shorter, but obviously not as often used. It looked more like a fire escape than anything else, and obviously it lead to the roof. Ianto tried hard to keep himself from breathing too heavily, but it was hard. He paused at the bottom of it, sighing. "At the top of these stairs, there's the door to the roof. Remind me to keep it propped open--it'll lock us up there otherwise, and I'd really like to not have to call Gwen to come and rescue me again."

Akihiko paused for a breather, too, and waited a bit longer for Ianto's sake than he otherwise would have, a little antsy and happy to get going after only a minute or so.

He trotted up the shorter staircase and paused at the door. "But if the door's closed, does that mean Jack's not up there?" he asked, pushing it open and poking his head out to look around.

Ianto groaned, stopping dead where he had begun to follow Akihiko up the stairs. "Was it closed? If he's up there at all, he'll be near the edge. Do you see him around? There's no use in me following you up there if he isn't." Plus, Ianto really had no desire to go out and stand on the roof in the cold if he didn't need to.

He frowned. He really hated this. Jack really just needed to man up and talk to them about what it was that was going on. Ianto gazed up at Akihiko at the top of the stairs. "I take it that he's not up here, then?"

Akihiko took a moment to look around thoroughly, poking his head out and using a foot to keep the door ajar as he covered the whole roof, then he came back inside and let the door slam shut heavily as he trotted back down the steps.

"No, sorry. I don't see him up there, after all. Guess we came all the way up here for nothing," he said with chagrin. "Does Jack have any other good hiding spots?"

"Damn." It figured as much. Ianto pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, he does, but they're all in the Hub. The ones I know about, anyway. If he's not in any of them, we might have to call it off. I mean, I know the Hub almost as well as he does. If we can't find him there, he either really doesn't want to be found, or he's out somewhere else..." Ianto really hoped that he wasn't out somewhere else.

"C'mon, back we go," he said, heading back the way they came and down the stairs at a brisk pace. "At least down is a lot easier than going up, I guess."

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Sorry it took me so long to get back to this one

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