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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Akihiko grabbed Ianto's arm when his feet nearly went out from under him, to help steady him, but thankfully Ianto didn't fall. Mental note, don't get Ianto to hurry too much when he was wearing shoes like that, especially on stairs.

"I hope he's okay," he said, biting his lip worriedly as Ianto tried the comm. "I mean, why wouldn't he at least answer? What if there were some kind of emergency?"

((Sorry I've been so fail. Part of it has been school and holidays being super busy. @_@ And then this one dropped back a bit and I didn't notice it right away. I'll be better from now on I think))

Rather than leading them to the tourist office entrance Ianto usually entered through, he headed straight for the invisible lift, pulling out his PDA and starting the equipment moving as soon as Akihiko stepped on after him, putting an arm on his shoulder to steady him as it kicked to life.

"Well, thank god that it isn't some kind of an emergency, because he would be feeling very, very guilty afterward..." Ianto didn't say anything about how much it actually really did concern him that Jack wasn't answering the comms. Maybe Janet had gotten him, maybe John had gotten him, maybe he'd been stolen by the Rift, except he left traces of being around.

"Why don't you check his office and the hatch?" Ianto asked, as the lift neared the bottom. "I'll check the board room and the armory. I know it's a leap, considering these are fairly obvious places, but--" He was cut off by a rather large sounding crash coming from the medical bay. Ianto may or may not have made a rather embarrassing noise of surprise. "What the--?"

((It's alright! I'm looking forward to picking it up a bit, though~ <3 ))

Akihiko was about to leap off and race up to Jack's office to check, when the heard the crashing sound. He jumped, then leaped down from the elevator before it had even reached the bottom. "I'll go check it out," he called as he raced towards the medical bay, pulling his evoker out of his under-arm concealed holster as he ran.

Just in case.

He had been getting more and more jumpy about Jack being missing. Maybe aliens had invaded the Hub.

((Yeah, me too! XD;;))

Ianto watched Akihiko race to the source of the sound, weapon raised. He thought about jumping off after the younger man, but after the fiasco with the stairs he would probably be safer waiting until the lift reached the bottom and then cautiously running after him. As it was, he drew his gun.

Inside the autopsy bay, Jack had just knocked over a rather large tray of medical equipment and was in the process of picking it up when Akihiko ran in, closely tailed by Ianto, guns blazing. He raised his head to look at them, smiling when he saw who they were.

"Hello, there, boys!" he called out, grinning. Ianto's hand faltered, but continued holding his gun pointed at Jack. Something was wrong here--that was almost too easy.

Akihiko checked when he realized it was Jack, and that he'd simply knocked a tray over - seemingly by accident. He blinked at Jack in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on here.

The fact that they hadn't been able to raise Jack by communicator kept his Evoker in his hand.

"Hey," he said with forced and false casualness. "We've been trying to reach you. Everything okay?"

Jack wasn't wearing his earpiece, nor did it appear to be lying around anywhere in the autopsy bay. Ianto was pleased with the fact that Akihiko didn't automatically lower his weapon either--it made him feel less guilty about the matter.

"Okay?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side. "Sure. Fine. Better for having the two of you ravishing young lads back." He continued picking up the mess from the floor, snickering at his choice of words, amused by some sort of inside joke that Ianto sure as hell didn't get.

"Jack," Ianto said, calmly, "like he said, we've been trying to reach you. Where's your comm?"

"Oh, that," Jack said, offhandedly. "Probably in my office. Think that's where I saw it last. Can't really remember, now, can I?" He smiled up at them again. There was something strange about his expression, but Ianto couldn't put his finger on it.

Akihiko stared at Jack for a long time. He wasn't actually pointing his evoker at him - after all, it was more useful pointed at his own head - so it was in his hand with the muzzle pointed at the ground.

There was something really wrong here. Was Jack possessed, or was this some sort of shapeshifter?

Or... "Jack...are you drunk?"

Ianto blinked. Hard. And lowered his gun to point at the ground. Was Jack drunk? He'd never seen him act this way, but then again, he'd never seen him drunk either. Although, he'd heard from Jack and others that it was near impossible for the man to get drunk, and yet there he was.

"Who, me?" Jack asked. He put the tray back on the shelf that he'd knocked it off of and hauled himself to his feet. He didn't sway on his feet--that would be too stereotypical and anyway, he'd always been one to hold his liquor fairly well. He smiled lopsidedly at Akihiko. "Why d'you ask? Do I look drunk? Or is it the bottle that gives it away?" he asked, grinning and motioning to said bottle, sitting on the edge of a console.

"Either way, you got it right on the nose, tiger," Jack said, with a wink. Ianto swayed on his feet.

"No," Akihiko said, frowning at his boss in a rather severe way. Here they were, worrying themselves and running all over, and Jack was in the Hub getting drunk and stumbling around? He was sort of pissed off, but also worried.

"I didn't see the bottle. It was just the fact that you're acting weird. So either we need to lock you up for being an alien in disguise, or you're drunk," he said frankly.

He took a step forward, towards Jack. "Let's get you away from all of these sharp things," he said, reaching for Jack.

Jack looked around. He wasn't quite sure why he was down in the autopsy bay. He was sure that he'd had a good idea at one point, but it'd gone out the window when Akihiko and Ianto had shown up and thrown what little concentration he had out the window.

"Sounds good to me," Jack said, allowing Akihiko to grab him and lead him away. "I'd much prefer to be surrounded by soft things. Or hard things, either's good, I'm not picky," he said, with a wink.

Ianto holstered his gun. He wasn't sure what he felt about this situation. He felt like he was dreaming. Here he was, worried out of his mind that John had convinced Jack to run off with him, when the man in question was actually just pickling himself. "God, you are drunk," Ianto said. "I...this isn't supposed to be possible," he said in disbelief, turning his gaze to Akihiko.

Akihiko finally slid his evoker away and slipped his arm around Jack to help support him as he led him towards his office. There was a bed there and he could sleep it off there, he hoped.

"Not possible?" he echoed, startled. "Because of the whole...not dying thing?" He had certainly been drunk around Jack... but he couldn't remember if Jack had actually been intoxicated that day they'd tried cooking and burned the sauce while screwing in his kitchen.

If Jack knew that Akihiko was leading him to his office with the intention of making him sleep, he would have protested, and a lot. It was the first time he'd managed to get drunk in, oh, a very long time. "HAH!" Jack let out a loud, bitter laugh, swaying a bit with the force of it. "Exactly because of the whole 'not dying thing'. Right on the nose. Directly on the dot. Exactly..." He struggled for another metaphor. Ianto cut him off.

"Exactly how did you manage this feat, Jack?" Ianto asked, following behind them. His initial shock at the situation was starting to wear off, and his anger was starting to rear its ugly head. He'd been worried, for days, and for what? Was Jack simply off in the basement of the Hub, secretly getting drunk?

"Hypervodka!" Jack stated proudly, throwing an arm in the direction of the bottle. "Took freaking forever, but I finally managed to replicate it, and voila! Unlimited supply of hypervodka." He grinned. "John gave it to me, I couldn't have done it without him."

"Oh, of course John would've helped you out!" Ianto exclaimed. He shook his head. "I can't believe you!"

Akihiko's jaw dropped. "What's hypervodka?" he asked, baffled. Then he glared.

He didn't understand why Jack had decided he had to get completely wasted today, and he especially didn't understand why he'd enlisted John's help in the matter. "Ianto told me about this John guy. I thought we didn't like him!"

"What's hypervodka? It's gorgeous," Jack said, his eyes glazing. "One time I ordered four of them for my last meal when I'd been sentenced to death, but I woke up in bed with my two executioners, and they decided to let me off with a pardon." He laughed. Then, even through his drunken haze, noticed that the other two were not nearly so amused as he was.

"Oh, come on! It took me days to get this formula correct, and anyway, John just dropped off the initial sample, that's all!"

"Days?" Ianto said, appalled. "You've spent days on this, and you didn't tell us? Jack, we thought that you'd gotten into trouble. I almost thought that you'd left again!"

"Don't be stupid, Ianto," Jack threw out, a bit harsher than he probably would have done. "It's been a long, long time since I could get even the slightest bit tipsy, let alone as 'happy' as this. And you're always saying that I should relax and let loose a little. And, well, this is about as loose as I can get with clothes on, as well you know," he said, wagging his eyebrows. Ianto groaned. This was not how he'd thought that finding Jack would go.

Akihiko was reddening. "Well, I think you need to sober up and not be quite this loose," he agreed angrily. "We were worried about you. And you don't even care! And now you're just drunk out of your skull. What did you do this for? And that John guy gave you the alcohol!"

"He left it on the lift!" Jack protested. "I didn't meet with him or anything like that! Both of you are pretty hot when you're angry, but come on!"

Ianto felt a headache coming on. "You...prat!" he said, annoyed. He reached out a hand and cuffed Jack none too gently on the back of the head. He was about as surprised with himself as Jack was at that action.

"You could have at least told one of us about this, this asinine plan of yours! Like we said, we were worried! I...I climbed all the way up to the top of the Millennium Centre looking for you, and you know how much I hate it there! And John, Jack? John!? Have you forgotten what he did?"

"How the hell could I ever forget?" Jack asked bitterly, swaying a bit. The happy was wearing off a bit, but the alcohol was not. "Look, I'm sorry. But alcohol! You're Welsh, Ianto, and you're young, Akihiko, you both should understand. It's been centuries. Longer! I just wanted..." he trailed off, having the presence of mind at least to look ashamed.

Akihiko's brow furrowed at the accusation that he would understand because he was young. He had done his share of drinking, sure, and maybe some of the people Shinji hung around with liked to drink this much. But it wasn't really his scene.

"It would have been good to tell us," he said, more quietly. "Maybe we could have helped. I mean...if it's important to you, then it's something we want to help you with."

They reached the top of the steps and Akihiko pushed the door open, helping Jack into his office and towards the cot in the corner.

"My office?" Jack looked around with wonder at the fact that they had magically ended up where they were. He turned back to Akihiko. "Why would I want help? S'not like I wanted you guys to know what I was doing. You weren't supposed to find me like this. I thought you'd both gone for the day."

As far as Ianto was concerned, Jack was just digging the hole deeper for himself. "Why the hell would you think we'd be gone? It's the middle of the bloody afternoon!"

"It is?" Jack asked, not really registering the anger in Ianto's voice, only confused that he'd lost track of the time of day.

"And why wouldn't you want us to know what's going on?" Akihiko demanded, angry again. "Why would you want to drink all alone and get yourself completely scuppered, when we're right here for you?"

He pushed Jack down onto the cot and clenched a fist. "What the hell, Jack? Aren't we your friends?"

Ianto and Gwen might be used to Jack's ways by now, but to Akihiko...well, it just wasn't the kind of friendship he was used to. There was nothing he wouldn't share with his friends, the friends he'd been through hell with, and Jack and Ianto were on that list by now, after all they'd been through together with Torchwood.

Jack let out a little oof at the roughness of being shoved onto the cot, but thought better of making a joke about being manhandled. "Of course you are," Jack answered, without hesitation, sounding insulted at the question. "I was ashamed, okay? I didn't think, I just needed--!" He lowered his head and his voice. "I needed to forget for a while. And there was John and the hypervodka, and it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."

There was a reason the Welsh called alcohol a truth serum. Once he started, Jack kept going. "S'not like it worked, anyway," Jack spat, his mood taking a sudden dark turn. "Took a whole bottle to just get this far. And now the two of you've found me, and I could just die, but I can't. Can't even get drunk properly. He won't forgive me. I'm just wrong, a failure."

Ianto startled at that comment. "Who? Who won't forgive you?" Jack shook his head. "You have to talk to us, Jack. Not talking is how we got into this situation." Jack bit his lip and shook his head again, childishly refusing to look up at either of them. Ianto sent a begging look at Akihiko--they needed to get to the bottom of this. Something more than the obvious was going on.

Akihiko's jaw had dropped, too. He had no idea what Jack was talking about, and from the desperate look Ianto had just shot his way, neither did he.

He hesitated, hovering and trying to think of what Minato might do. Minato was so good with people, and Akihiko always just sort of flailed and bullied his way towards where he wanted to be.

Finally he sat down next to Jack and put his arm around him, hoping he wasn't about to get groped.

"What were you trying to forget?" he asked softly. "Please tell us."

Jack turned his head into Akihiko's shoulder and hid his face there. At Akihiko's prompting, he hesitated, but shook his head again. Ianto could see a blush across the back of Jack's neck, which definitely happened very rarely, though Ianto wasn't sure whether it was because Jack was drunk, or emotional, or what. Ianto sighed, and knelt on the ground in front of Jack and Akihiko, putting one hand on his Jack's knee and stroking another hand through his hair.

"Jack, please. Who are you worried about? Is it me? Akihiko? Is it the Doctor?" Jack shook his head. Ianto moved his hand to cup Jack's face, gently forcing his chin to make the man face him. "Let us in, Jack. We're here to help you."

Jack stared at Ianto. His hand fisted in the fabric of Akihiko's shirt. Ianto could practically watch the thought process of whether to share or not go through Jack's head through his eyes. Finally, Jack lowered his eyes, and said one simple word. "Gray."

Ianto involuntarily tensed. "Gray? What about him, Jack? It's been, well, a while since that all happened. Surely you..." Suddenly, a thought flickered to life in his mind. "...no. You didn't." There was silence from Jack. "Jack, you should have known what a horrible idea that was," he said, very carefully keeping from yelling, unaware that Akihiko probably had no idea what he was talking about.

Akihiko was surprised when Jack suddenly turned in and cuddled him like that, and looked up at Ianto with widened eyes as Ianto tried to question him.

"Huh? Who's Grey?"

Ianto held his tongue. This was Jack's to explain, so he sat back, only squeezing Jack's knee to show him that he knew how difficult that it was to answer Akihiko's question.

Jack sighed in defeat, leaning closer into Akihiko, turning to face him. "Gray...is my brother. He--I was in charge of keeping him safe, but I let go of his hand. When we were kids. I let go of his hand, and he was stolen. By monsters. I failed him. I thought he'd died. But it was worse, because he lived. He lived and now he hates me," he said, his voice getting awfully vulnerable in the end.

Ianto's chest tightened, and he cut in so he didn't have to hear Jack so raw. "John brought him back. John thought he could get Jack back by giving him Gray, but he was wrong. Gray--something happened to his mind, wherever he was. Whatever it was that took him, they drove him mad, and the only thing he wanted with Jack was revenge for ruining his life. Gray was the one who killed Tosh and Owen, and..."

"Ianto..." Jack said.

"He buried you alive," Ianto said, bitterly. "Alive, Jack."

Akihiko's eyes widened at the story. "Your brother did that?" he whispered, his arm tightening around Jack's shoulders.

He fell silent. Perhaps with a different situation, he'd have been telling Jack it wasn't his fault, that he shouldn't feel so bad about Gray. And anyway, Gray was probably a lost cause, and it was sad, but he had murdered two friends of Jack's. If he were really insane, he probably couldn't come back from it.

But the words stuck in his throat, because Gray was Jack's brother. And Akihiko understood. What if his sister was so mad that Akihiko hadn't protected her that she hated him? How would he react?

He didn't know. But he could see himself possibly reacting a lot like this.

"I'm sorry, Jack," he said softly, and tucked his forehead against Jack's neck. "I'm really sorry."

[RL WITH AKIHIKO AND JACK]

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