Reality Betrays Us All II

[anastasisrick]

Title: Reality Betrays Us All

Author: anastasisrick

Prompt: Hoffman

Beta: janiemc (special thanks for helping me at the last minute)

Characters/Pairings: Jack Hakrness, Ianto Jones, Jack/Ianto

Rating: PG 13

Warnings: None that I can think about.

Spoilers: It’s totally AU so other than making the story fit to what we know, not really

Word Count: 13300

Genre: Romance, AU

Disclaimer: Torchwood and its characters belongs to BBC and Russell T Davies. Hoffman isn’t mine either. It belongs to Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) & Longstone Film Productions

Summary: When Ianto Jones is blackmailed to spend a week with a stranger to save his fiance's life, his own life is going to change forever.

Notes: This story is written for reel_torchwood

 

II

 

Jack Harkness had been promoted to Cardiff’s Torchwood Department for reasons he still couldn’t understand. Originally coming from Manchester, his family had left England when he was very young moving to New York due to his father’s business. He returned to England at the age of eighteen to go to school. Five years later he had his degree and it wasn’t enough. Periodic training in flying airplanes had prompted him to apply to RAF and in times of danger and war  he was in the air fighting for his county’s –or someone else’s he wasn’t certain any longer- interests. After a serious injury he decided it wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t a hero and certainly didn’t plan to become a dead hero in the close future.

 

Due to his heroic actions and degree in Information Science he was offered the position as Head of the Torchwood Department in Wales. He initially thought to decline, but after a short visit to Cardiff he chose differently. He could get used to Welsh people’s talking easily enough. Jack Harkness wasn’t a man who usually stuck to his decisions until he went to Cardiff and found he liked his responsibilities, as long as he wasn’t asked to recall his non existent knowledge of archiving and cataloguing. He had people for that work though.

 

Jack, as a person was not a stellar boss. He was an open minded man, who kept his smile on his face and his secrets in his heart never letting anyone know him. He flirted with everyone, man or woman, beautiful or attractive. For Jack Harkness ugly people didn’t exist.

 

After his time in the Army he discovered he was actually enthused to take the job in Torchwood Archives. There was no actual adventure but the files held secrets capable of starting World War III and it was his responsibility and jurisdiction to not let them fall into the wrong hands. His team consisted of archaeologist Suzie Costello, tech expert Toshiko Sato, and Owen Harper who had a PhD in linguistics and demanded to be called Doctor.

 

Pretty soon, after taking over, Jack realized he needed more people in his stuff so when Yvonne Hartman informed about the transfer of one Lisa Hallett and one Ianto Jones he was already willing to give in and give them a chance to prove themselves.

 

Jack’s sexual orientation was undecided as he was equally attracted to both women and men and he often described his life style as ancient Greek. The comment was usually accompanied by a leer to the person sitting opposite to him. In his late thirties, he had two long term relationships in his life, one with a woman one with a man; and both had ending in shouting and fighting. His last hope for a normal relationship had been destroyed when his partner –a man called John Hart – had disappeared three years ago. Jack had promised to himself he wouldn’t permit anyone to come that close to him ever again. And he was intending to keep that promise.

 

When Ianto Jones and Lisa Hallett transferred to the Cardiff department Jack saw Lisa first. She would be the department’s General Support and Jack’s secretary. Jack was happily surprised to see a beautiful woman waiting for him outside his office one rainy Monday who then proceeded to tell him she was his new –first?- secretary, PR. He smiled at her and spent the next hour or so showing her the Hub, as he and rest of his team had named the Archives stealing glances at the well fitting pencil skirt and the body underneath the clothes.

 

His breath was caught on his throat though when he saw the new archivist. The previous reading of the man’s Curriculum Vitae hadn’t prepared him for the view of the young, attractive Ianto Jones. Instead of the old boring Academic he expected, he found himself face to face with a man in his early to mid twenties, confident, intelligent and witty, and engaged to Lisa Hallett.

 

Despite the instant attraction, Jack had one rule in his life and that was never break up happy couples.

 

Events had led him to a change of heart.

 

So now, about a year later he had Ianto Jones in his house and he certainly knew what he wanted to do with and to him.

 

Seeing the young man changing his mind after coming this far was disconcerting but Harkness was determined to make Ianto see what Lisa was really doing. If Jack was to enjoy a full week with Ianto Jones in his bed, who was he to argue? It was an added welcome bonus.

 

“Don’t weaken Mr. Jones.” He whispered by Ianto’s ear as he wrapped his arm around the younger man’s waist pulling him further into his flat. “You’re not leaving, Mr. Jones. Not now that I have you here…”

 

Jack showed Ianto the bathroom and went to the living room. As he was pouring whiskey in two glasses his look hardened and whispered. “No pity. No one deserves your pity Jack. Especially not someone who’s being fooled by a woman like Lisa Hallett.”

 

He took the glasses and strolled back to the bathroom. Letting his back rest against the wall he called out.

 

“Come on Mr. Jones. I can assure you being with me won’t be as dreadful as you imagine. On the contrary…”

 

“What exactly are you accusing Lisa of, Mr. Harkness? I won’t do anything with you unless you tell me what this is all about. And then I’ll think about it because, quite sincerely I cannot imagine anything worse than your actions now.”

 

“Worse? Secret? Guilty? You want to know what Lisa did? I caught her taking photographs of the TARDIS files? And you know what means right? Treason against Great Britain and its Prime Minister.”

 

“I don’t believe you.” Ianto whispered from inside the bathroom.

 

“Oh then be my guest and leave…It won’t be me who sentenced my girlfriend to life imprisonment.”

 

Ianto turned around and looked Jack straight in the eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, curse him probably but no words came out. Instead Jack grinned and raised the hand that held Ianto’s glass. “Drink?” He asked and leered at the younger man.

 

“I did not agree to this.” Ianto said grabbing the glass and drinking it in one gulp. The burn went down to his stomach but he refused to cough even if it meant drowning in his own spit. Maybe that would save him the embarrassment.

 

“Have a seat, Jones, Ianto Jones.” Jack said to him reminding him his introduction the first time the two men had met each other.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Ianto asked not looking at him.

 

“I like you, and that’s a nice way to have you.”

 

“But… but, what about Lisa?” Jack stood in front of Ianto’s chair making him look up at the older man.

 

“Make no mistake Mr. Jones. If Miss Hallett decides to use the information she acquired things won’t go so well. For as long as I have your… shall we say assistance, she stays out of jail with my eyes on her.”

 

Ianto stood up and took a couple of steps backwards. “So what you are saying is that I’m not saving Lisa by being here.” Wide blue eyes stared at Jack asking for a reassurance that Jack didn’t want to give.

 

“I’m saying that by being here, with me, you’re buying time to talk with your girlfriend and make her see reason before it’s too late. You Mr. Jones, are buying time for her that she wouldn’t have otherwise.” The threat was clear and Ianto sat back down on the chair thinking he had no options to choose from.

 

Jack headed to the kitchen to make a cup of tea but he turned around to watch Ianto sitting hunched looking at the carpeted floor. Jack admired the long neck, pale face and dark hair and he wondered how Ianto would look naked and sweaty, all pale unblemished flesh, hard lines and innocence. “Desire, lust and beauty… Ianto Jones.” He whispered to himself and turned around stopping himself from going back. It was too early and it was possible Ianto Jones would break his nose if Jack tried to do anything.

 

 

A cup of tea and then dinner. Those were his plans for now.

 

“I want an aspirin.” Ianto called from inside the living room.

 

“An aspirin?”

 

“Any pain killer pill will do. I’ve got a headache.”

 

Jack searched his cupboards to find something and all he found was an old packet of aspirins. He wasn’t sick often so he didn’t keep many medicines in the house. He prepared the tea and added a couple of aspirins to it. He then offered it to Ianto who stared at his hands questioningly.

 

“Where is the aspirin?”

 

“Oh they’re in the tea.”

 

Ianto sipped cautiously and made a face. “It doesn’t taste like aspirin.”

 

“Yes, that’s why I put them into tea.”

 

“No, they taste stagnant, old.” Ianto replied looking at him momentarily forgetting their situation.

 

Jack turned his head to the right and let his gaze travel from Ianto to the tea cup and then back to the young man. “Yes, well, I did have them for a while.” Ianto gave him back the cup of tea and got up.

 

“Can we be clear, Mr Harkness. What do you really want?”

 

“You.”

 

“Your note said I had to spend seven days with you, not that I had to have sex with you.”

 

“True, but can you imagine what will happen to Lisa if you don’t?” Jack raised that eyebrow and Ianto felt that he was mocking him.

 

“I can’t have sex with you.”

 

“And why not? I don’t ask eternal loyalty and forever. Just some nights with me enjoyably spent. Hmmm…” Jack pressed his fingers through his hair and leered at Ianto raking his eyes over the younger man’s body, who took another couple of steps back. “You know, sex is wasted on the young. Given time people catch love and sex the way they catch the measles….” Jack had stepped forward towards Ianto and was now leaning close to him. “So what do you say Mr Jones, don’t you want to try it?” Jack’s breath made Ianto’s skin tingle, fear coiling inside his stomach. He sidestepped the older man and went to the bathroom locking the door behind him. And Jack let it happen.

 

Ianto took a deep breath; maybe Jack wouldn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to… and by anything he meant having sex with him. The door he had locked opened and Jack pushed his head inside but not the rest of his body as Ianto flinched and turned around to stare at him confused and frightened.

 

“Sorry, didn’t I say the lock isn’t working?”

 

Ianto’s eyes sparkled with anger. “I don’t know what you expect Mr. Harkness, but you won’t have it.”

 

“What I expect? Ah, let me tell you… you know about the CCTV in every part on the Hub, don’t you?” Jack asked Ianto as he leaned on the bathroom door crossing his arms on the chest. “You’d probably have no idea how much time I’ve spent in the last year watching you through it. You come for work in the morning in these well fitted suits and deep coloured shirts… the first time I saw you, accidentally I may add, you were bending to pull something from a drawer, your jacket was on the back of the chair and your shirt sleeves pulled up, the tight trousers accentuated…”

 

“Stop! I’ve got the picture.” Ianto said his heart beating erratically inside his chest.

 

“Do you?” Jack pulled away from the door and walked slowly towards the younger man. “I don’t think you do, Mr Jones, Yeeantoe, Ianto Jones.” For the first time after all this time Ianto heard his name as Jack always pronounced it and made his stomach clench. It wasn’t a joke made by the older man, as he had always thought before. It was more than that, it was danger.

 

“And you, maybe you weren’t giving a show for me…” Jack continued with his train of thought.

 

“What?” Ianto asked offending as Jack came even closer to him.

 

“But I don’t care. You see, now I have nothing to stop me getting what I want.”

 

“Stop you?”

 

“Do you think this is a new development, Ianto? No, I’ve wanted you out of your clothes from the first week I’ve seen you. But I wouldn’t get between you and your fiancée.”

 

“What… what changed?’

 

‘The lovely Miss Hallett gave me the means to do it.”

 

“No, no, no…!” Ianto murmured quietly.

 

“You can leave, you know. Accepting the consequences you’ll bring down on the woman you love. But if you stay…” Jack stared at Ianto from head to toes licking his lips making his intention as blatant as possible. “If you stay, make sure you remember you’re not here to think. You’re two arms, two legs, a head and what’s in between.”

 

Ianto paled at his words but stood his ground. Jack felt the first hint of guilt but he pushed it away as Ianto spoke.

 

“I don’t know the kind of people you go out with, Sir but you’ll refrain from talking to me that way. Even if I decide to stay I’m not a toy to be used…” He said with all the dignity he could master. And truly Ianto didn’t feel it was enough.

 

“Fair enough? So are you staying?”

 

“You’re not giving me any alternative, Sir.” Jack smiled at that.

 

“I don’t do I? Don’t worry, you’ll enjoy being here.” Jack said as he turned his back to leave Ianto alone

 

 

“I doubt it.”

 

Jack swiftly turned around and before Ianto realized what was going on, the older man had his hand on the back of his head pulling him forward. Jack’s lips were on his kissing him. It ended just as quickly as it had started.

 

“No doubts, Ianto. Never doubt me.” Jack said, a tender expression in his face making him look younger. Ianto blinked and the softness he had only glimpsed in Jack’s face was gone, replaced by brassiness. “So what did you say to the lovely Miss Hallett to explain this week long absence?”

 

“ None of your business, Sir.”

 

“True, true, it just surprised me you had no problems leaving. She even seemed amused when I announced to the others you’ll be missing for a whole week. Her reaction made me wonder about what lies you told her.”

 

“I do not lie. It’s you and your methods that brought me here. I’m not in the habit of lying to the people I care about.”

 

“Only the truly innocent can lie with conviction.” Jack said philosophically and Ianto snorted at it.

 

“Well you didn’t seem to have any problem either.”

 

“Years of experience, Mr Jones. Many years of experience.”

 

“Why don’t you let me go?” Ianto tried again changing the direction of the conversation once again.

 

“Let you leave? Now? That I have you here? I think you live in a different world Ianto, where nothing touches you. I look at you and think of you naked in my bed, I want to consume you, to lick you all over and make you mine… and I have wanted that for as long as I have known you. And you? Nothing moves you. You stand there, some would say submissively, but no! No! I know better than that. It’s this innocence, this shyness and coldness, this legendary calmness that makes me want to see you ruffled, begging and passionate…” Seeing Ianto turning pale instead of the blush he had expected Jack turned around and left him to put his clothes away, in the drawers he had cleared for him earlier that morning.

 

Ianto stood alone looking round the strange bedroom putting his clothes away in Jack’s drawers. It seemed surreal; Ianto couldn’t bring himself to think about what was going on exactly. As the final shirt was put in its place he heard Harkness calling from the other room.

 

“Get ready, Ianto, we’ll go out to a restaurant for something to eat.” Ianto was startled out of his numbness at Jack’s words.

 

“Now?” He asked, his heart beating faster.  Aware of the danger of this house, of being alone with Jack, this bedroom.

 

“Yes, now, Mr Jones.”

 

Ianto walked slowly to what he thought was the kitchen from where Jack’s voice was coming. “You mean we won’t stay here?” He asked questioning his own prudence. As he stopped to think a voice inside his head told him to grab the chance and get out of this house and the madness.

 

“Yes, a restaurant, food, waiters, music, get your coat time to go!” Jack said amused and somehow hurt by the young man’s look of relief. He cringed at the hurt that coiled in his stomach? What did he expect? He had blackmailed Ianto into spending a week with him. Of course Ianto was relieved to be anywhere with other people around them.

tbc at: anastasisrick.dreamwidth.org/3187.html