Lie to me (part 7)

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The plan was almost blown apart before it had a chance to work.  As the car turned into the long drive, Gwen let out a sigh and said dreamily, "You know I always dreamed of going to a ball at Castell Coch.”

The others looked at her, their faces ranging from interested to amusement. It was Tosh who spoke first, "Really? Why?”

“It’s like a fairytale castle,” replied Gwen, her voice still dreamy, “Every little girl round here wanted to go to a ball there - to be a fairy princess. I always dreamed I’d get to go to a ball here,” she smiled and turning to look at Jack, added wistfully, “I always hoped I’d dance with my dream prince there.”

Jack, who had been looking the other way, turned back and grinning asked, ”Really? You like the idea of dancing at a ball with your prince charming?” he’d meant it jokingly but as he locked his gaze with Gwen, he felt the humour fade - the look she was giving him was anything but humorous.

“Of course,” replied Gwen, her eyes wide as she stared at Jack, unspoken longing flowing from her, “Although now I think it’s more my knight in shining armour”.

Jack swallowed hard as he felt the hand, which had been sitting comfortably in his, tense then slowly withdraw. Jack flicked a look at Ianto but found the younger man staring in the other direction, his eyes glued to the darkens outside the car. On the other side of Ianto, Jack caught Tosh staring at him, her eyes questioning as she too flicked a look at Ianto who had grown pale as well. Jack shifted uncomfortably. There were so many things he wanted to say and yet he couldn’t think of the words.

The moment was broken as the car pulled to a halt in front of the entrance. Gwen and Owen moved closer the entrance giving the car space to drive away. Jack caught Tosh's elbow and hissed, ”This is not going to work!”

“Well maybe if you’d said something in the car instead of letting Gwen speak," replied Tosh, her voice almost a growl, "Then maybe the plan would be working!”

“Jack, not that I’m complaining but what are we doing here?” asked Owen, shoving his hand into his pockets.

He looked at Jack, who took a deep breath and said “There have been hints of alien activity so I thought it would be a good opportunity to investigate and enjoy ourselves at the same time.”

The team nodded, moving absently to form a circle round Jack. It was only as Jack began to speak that he realised Ianto wasn’t with them, “Where’s Ianto?”

Tosh shrugged her shoulder and glancing towards the entrance murmured, “Don’t know. He was first out of the car, I…”

“Right, well, here we go,” said Ianto as he reappeared carrying a piece of A4 paper, “From the look of it, only half the Castell is open for the ball. That means any activity will probably be located within these…what?” he asked as he realised the team were staring at him with something akin to amused awe.

“Where did you do?” asked Jack both annoyed his lover had waked away but relived he’d come back so quickly.

“To get directions,” came the surprised reply, "Figured having a map would help so I went to the reception desk.” Ianto actually looked surprised no one else had thought of it.

“Practical and sexy," purred Jack, “I knew there was a reason I loved you.”

Ianto flicked him a glance replying straight faces, “Glad I have some uses, Sir.”

Jack felt as if he’d been slapped in the face. Tosh sensing the situation was going sour again said quickly, ”Jack, if we’re going to do this we need to be stealthy and split up. All 5 of us will be too obvious”

"Agreed,” replied Jack, slipping back into command mode, “Owen, Gwen I want you to...”

“Jack,” began Gwen looking embarrassed, ”I’m not armed.”

He raked her with a look and a raised eyebrow, “Seriously" she squealed, "Where do you expect me to put a gun in this dress?!”

Jack smiled and nodded,  “Can think of a few places," he replied before he realised what he’d said. Gwen slapped him, her eyes flashing in mock outrage. Although what Ianto noticed most was the way her hand stayed a tad longer than necessary on Jack’s chest, the fingers flexing slightly as if feeling the body beneath them.

“Well I’m armed” said Tosh innocently.  

The team turned at stared at her. If anything her dress gave even less opportunity for hidden firearms than Gwen’s. “Tosh, I really don’t want to...” began Owen his eyes running over Tosh in a very piercing manner

“In my purse!” laughed Tosh, rolling her eyes at them all, ”The gun is in my purse along with my translator.”

“That’s my girl.” said Jack, “Okay, so Gwen and Owen will say in the public areas.  Enjoy the ball but keep your eyes open. Ianto, Tosh, with me, we’ll see if we can’t find the evidence we’re looking for.”

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“Jack, I’m still not picking up anything!” wailed Tosh.

They’d been searching the darken castle for over an hour and as yet they hadn't picked up anything, no energy spikes, nothing. She glared at him then flicked a look towards Ianto, who was currently leaning against the doorway of the room they had broken into, looking annoyed and bored at he same time. Dropping her voice so only Jack could hear her, Tosh hissed, ”Jack please let’s stop pretending and just tell him why we’re!”

“No! Not yet,” hissed Jack. His eyes pleaded with her, searching her face as he murmured back, “What do I say to him, Tosh? I don’t know what to say!”

“Uhh!” Tosh rolled her eyes then spinning said loudly, ”Ianto!”

The younger man physically jumped at the call and turned frowning. Tosh motioned with her head and as he drew level, she turned and fixing her glare at Jack said, ”Jack has something to say.”

Ianto turned his gaze to Jack, fixing the captain with such a look Jack lost the power of speech. Tosh folded her arms and glared at him. For a minute they stood in silence both staring expectantly at Jack. Ianto was looking at him in growing confusion while Tosh was just getting angrier at Jack’s silence. Jack, just gaze flicking between the two of them was just terrified of saying the wrong thing. Raising a single eyebrow, Ianto murmured, ”Right well, obviously nothing important then.”

He turned to go. That small movement snapped Jack out of his trance and almost too quickly, he confessed, ”There’s no alien activity here.”

As Ianto turned back to stare at him, Tosh rolled her eyes, growling,  “That wasn’t what I meant!”

Jack didn’t hear her, he was too buy confessing his latest deception to an increasing angry Ianto,”…I just wanted to get you here and I knew you wouldn’t come you were angry so I lied and told you there was alien activity up and…”

“You lied to me?” Ianto’s voice was flat, “Again?” He took a deep breath closing his eyes, he added, ”You lied to me again.”

The room as silent as if the building itself was holding its breath.

Jack never saw the punch coming. He was floored before he saw Ianto’s fist move. Tosh squeaked in surprise, dropping down beside the stunned Jack. Glancing up she saw Ianto as she’d never seen him. His face flushed with anger, eyes swimming with barely concealed rage, “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” hissed Ianto, “Lying is just second nature to you, Jack!” He drew a raged breath, "God is there ever a word of truth in anything you say?! And stupid me - I fall for it every time!”

Jack didn’t say anything. He simply raised his hand to his lip and wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. He couldn’t look at the younger man. He felt as if the world was punishing him for past mistakes; that this never ending agony was the universe way of making him pay. He felt a small hand touch his arm. Looking up he saw Tosh staring at him. He’d excepted her to be angry but instead he saw nothing but warmth and understanding. She handed him a tissue saying, ”You really are hopeless at this, aren’t you?”

Jack nodded then glanced to where Ianto had been standing. But there was no sign of him. Jack turned to Tosh but she shook her head, “He left. I didn’t think it was wise to stop him.” she sat back on her heels and regarding Jack, said slowly, ”You really are an idiot, Jack. He loves you so much and yet you seem destined to destroy it before it gets going.”

Jack struggled to his feet. His head was spinning. He really had forgotten just how powerful Ianto’s’ punches were. Letting out a low sigh he said slowly, ”Yeah, I’m a first grade idiot.”

He held his hand out to help Tosh up. Giving her a faint smile, Jack said, ”Guess we should go find the others.”

Tosh nodded. Taking Jack’s arm she stared up at him and said softly, ”We’ll make it right, Jack. We’ve got the rest of the night”

Jack regarded her with a strange look. He really hoped she as right because for the first time in years he suddenly was afraid of being alone.

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Ianto downed the vodka without even realising what he was drinking. He was fuming. Jack kept saying he wouldn’t lie to him and then he did. Deceit upon deceit. Ianto nodded at the barman taking the offered glass and downed that quickly. That time he let out a rasp.

“You look like a man drinking to forget.”

He turned slightly and saw a pretty young woman standing behind him.

“Yeah,” he replied, turning back to the bar.

“Want some company, Pet?”

“If you want.”

She slid into place beside him. She lent on the bar and flicking her dark hair back, regarded him with soft eyes. Leaning forward she touched his face saying, "You really look good”

He gave a bitter laugh, “Glad someone thinks so.”

“Oh I think you look good – I always did.”

“Yeah, well you always had dubious taste, Bethan,” joked Ianto. He gave her a faint grin and as she stepped closer, he wrapped his arms round her waist and pulled him in for kiss.

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Jack and Tosh found Gwen and Owen in the main ballroom. As they sat drinking and watching the ball, Jack had never felt so alone or so out of place before. The other three were enjoying themselves and yet all he could think about was the look on Ianto’s face just before the younger man had floored him with that punch. The look of pure and utter despair that had dominated the eyes of the man he loved. That had been over an hour ago and since then none of them had seen or heard from Ianto. And that scared Jack. He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face, letting out a long sigh.

“You alright?”

He opened his eyes and found Gwen staring at him, large doe eyes gazing longingly at him. Jack snorted softly, normally eyes like those looking at him like that would affect his body but right then all he wanted to do was scream at he and tell her to leave him alone. He gave her a tight smile instead, and forcing himself to stand, said, “I need a drink – guys?”

“Yeah please," said Owen, handing his empty glass to Jack, “I’ll have...bloody hell who’s she?!”

Jack frowned then turned to see what had caught Owen’s attention. As he raked the dance floor Jack felt his world shatter. Ianto was in the middle of the dance floor dancing with a beautiful woman. Jack could only watch as they spun and waltzed; the girl seemed to suit Ianto’s arm so much Jack could almost believe it was destiny. She fitted into his hold, her hand resting on Ianto’s arm as they held a near perfect dance position. As they spun round the floor, Jack could almost hear the murmurs of approval from those watching them.

Jack felt his jaw tighten and a small voice echoing in his head murmuring, ”That should be you. You should be the one he’s laughing with, dancing with, not some woman. He’s yours boy - go claim your property.”

Jack felt her hand on his arm and looking down he saw Tosh staring up at him. She gave him a half smile, saying, ”Don’t do anything stupid – please, Jack.”

He stared at her. Put the glasses down on the table and walked towards the dancing couple.

********************************

The first thing Ianto knew about Jack’s advance, was Bethan cooing in his ear saying "Who is he?!”

He turned and saw Jack striding towards them. Turning back, Ianto took a deep breath and replied bitterly, ”My alleged lover.”

“Your lover? You’re sleeping with a man?!” exclaimed Bethan, laughing softly she tightened her grip on his arm, saying, ”Ianto Jones, you never fail to surprise me! Does your Ma know?”

Ianto gave her a sideways grin, ”Not yet. Please don’t tell her or the others – not yet any way.”

"I promise,” said Bethan. “He’s good looking. Very good looking...”

“Yeah, he’s a real head turner,” sighed Ianto, wearily. He was just waiting for the full Harkness drama-queen tantrum to kick in.

“You alright, Pet?”

The use of his childhood nickname made Ianto smile. He looked at her and shook his head, ”No, not really. We had a fight and I punched him and ….” He let out a soft laugh at Bethan’s shocked expression, explaining, "We have a complicated relationship.”

Before Bethan could reply Jack had reached them. For a moment Ianto considered ignoring him. But given they were in the middle of a packed dance floor, ignoring a possible angry  Jack wouldn’t be that easy. He tensed as he felt a hand on the small of his back. He turned and looked into Jack’s face. If he’d excepted anger or jealousy he was disappointed. Jack simply looked miserable. And that made Ianto’s heart melt. Jack looking miserable brought out the indulgent side in him. Ianto took a breath to speak but Jack beat him to it, saying softly, ”I’m sorry.”

Ianto smiled and tightening his hold on Bethan said softly, ”You always are. But you still do it - don't you, Jack?" How’s the lip?”

Jack gave him a half smile. He knew his lip looked bad. Tosh and Gwen had spent most of the night giving him ice from their drinks to put on it, "Sore,” he glanced up and saw Ianto almost smiling at him. Jack glanced at Bethan and asked, "Aren’t you going to introduce me to the lady who's stolen my partner for the night?”

Ianto felt the anger boil at eh insinuation he was Jack property but even so he also like the idea of being called Jack’s partner. Fighting to keep hold of his temper, Ianto said softly, ”Jack, this is Bethan a very dear old friend." he hesitated as Jack took Bethan's hand and kissed it. As Jack let Bethan's hand drop Ianto added, "And Bethan, this is Jack... my bos..”

“I’m his boyfriend,” corrected Jack, without a trace of hesitation.

Ianto stared at him. Jack had never introduced himself as that before. In fact Ianto had never heard Jack refer to himself as that before. In fact, reasoned Ianto, he’d never said yes to Jack’s question so Jack had no right to call himself his boyfriend. Giving the way he was feeling towards Jack right then, the assumption on Jack’s part angered Ianto more than it should.

Silently seething with barely contained anger, Ianto felt almost light headed as Jack continued to talk with Bethan making polite small chat. After several minutes, Bethan turned and kissing Ianto on the cheek said, "Right, Pet. I’d better go find my own boyfriend or he’ll think I've been abducted.” She paused and looking at Jack said, "It was nice to meet you, Jack. You take good care of my Ianto, you hear.” She paused then leaning closer murmured in Jack’s ear, ”Because if I hear you hurt him, I will find you and make you pay.”

She gave Ianto another quick kiss and waked away leaving a stunned Jack in her wake.

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Jack was leaning on the balustrade looking over the garden by the time Tosh found him. He looked even more miserable than before. She sighed as she drew closer. She knew Ianto had given him a hard time for interrupting the dance with Bethan. Tosh couldn’t really blame Ianto he had been through so much and yet she wished he could see just what pain Jack was really in. With a sudden wicked thought she hit her comm. link, accessing the private channel, as Ianto reasoned she said, “Ianto don’t say anything, just listen, okay? Just listen.”

She closed the gap to Jack and resting her hand on his arm, asked softly, ”You okay?”

He shook his head. For some reason he never felt the need to hide from Tosh. He turned and glanced at him and she saw tears hovering on his lashes. He gave her a half smile saying "I screwed up –again.”

Tosh didn’t speak; she just preached on the stone and smiled supportively.

“I wanted to show him how much he means to me and all I did was screw thing up even more,” said Jack sadly, "Even without that comment from Gwen in the car, I screwed up. I should have just told him about this place, should have just asked him to come with me…”

“Why didn’t you?” asked Tosh softly.

Jack gave a bark of a laugh, “Because he would have told me to go to hell. Come on Tosh, I’ve put him through hell pure and utter hell. Christ, I’ve abandoned him, lied to him. I've let people bully and belittle him and done nothing to protect him." Jack drew a ragged breath; somehow getting it off his chest seemed to be helping.

He took a deep breath continuing, ”I have let person after person erode his self-esteem. I let him think others have meant more to me than he does when all I want to do is wrap him in my arms and keep him safe. That’s all I want to do, Tosh. To give him some happiness, give him that peace he seeks and yet each time I try, I only hurt him more – I’m going end up killing him!”

Tosh shifted slightly, it was uncomfortable listening to her captain and friend pour his heart out and yet she knew that Jack needed an ear. She also knew Ianto needed to hear this and that Jack would never say it to him face to face. She jumped as Jack gave another harsh bark of a laugh, ”Christ, I love him so much, Tosh – the thought of losing him is enough to freeze my heart and yet I cant even tell him how much he means to me.” He was rambling now, thoughts and emotion just pouring out. It was like the barrier had been broken and the tidal wave of feelings just erupted from him.

“…He doesn't even know what I feel. He has no idea how much I love him, how much I need him. He thinks it’s about sex. He thinks that’s all I care about and he’s so wrong. He gives me so much and all I ever give him is pain and hurt and…”

“You give me hope.”

Jack and Tosh spun round. Ianto was standing behind them. He was staring at Jack, his face alight with love.

“You give me a reason to keep living,” he said softly, walking towards them, “You’re my reason to keep fighting the darkness, Jack. You give me purpose. You give me you.”

Tosh smiled softly. She stood up and without a glance at Jack quickly walked away. As she passed Ianto he gave her a soft smile and a nod of his head.

Jack swallowed as Ianto closed the gap between. The younger man held his gaze and then without speaking, simply reached out, pulled Jack to him and kissed him.

Jack melted into the embrace, his hands sliding round Ianto’s waist. He groaned as he felt Ianto dominate the kiss. Ianto's tongue battling Jack’s into submission, exploring Jack’s mouth, devouring it with every inch of his soul, claiming it as his own. Ianto broke the kiss and leaning back in Jack’s embrace said softly, ”God, you make life hard, Jack Harkness!”

Jack smiled, "Yeah, I know.”

Ianto shook his head then resting his head on Jack’s shoulder said “I do love you, Jack.”

Jack closed his eyes, tightening his embrace never wanting to let go of the young man. He pressed his lips against Ianto’s neck murmuring, ”Forgive me?”

“Promise you’ll never lie to me again.”

Jack hesitated, he knew he would never lie to Ianto on purpose but sometimes the truth was too painful and he knew he would try and shield Ianto from it, even if it meant lying to him. Sensing Jack’s hesitation, Ianto gave a soft laugh and said, ”I’ll rephrase that - promise you’ll never lie to me about us, again? Lie to me about the world, about life but please never lie to me about us –can you do that Jack?”

Jack laughed almost crying, saying earnestly, "God, yes! I will never lie about us but there will be times when I lie to protect you from the world. When I lie to keep you safe from that darkness…can you accept that?”

Ianto smiled into the embrace and kissing Jack’s earlobe, whispered, ”Only if you promise you’ll make love to me when we get home?”

Jack grinned and pulling back so he could look at Ianto said teasingly, ”I thought this wasn’t about sex?”

“It’s not,” said Ianto softly, then holding Jack’s gaze said, ”I want you to make love to me, Jack, not fuck me.” He searched Jack’s face asking softly, "Can you do that? Show me with every inch of your body how much you love me?”

“Willingly!” breathed Jack devouring Ianto’s mouth.

They stayed on the balcony for the rest for the ball, drinking champagne and dancing under moonlight just as Jack had promised.

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When Tosh arrive at her desk the next morning she found a huge bouquet of roses waiting for her. She gave a little squeal and lifting the card out of the envelope she read the message quickly and blushed.

“What would we do without you watching over us? Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Jack & Ianto”

Glancing up to Jack’s office she saw two sets of blue eyes trained on her. She gave a soft smile and a bow of her head. Sinking into her chair, she read the card again before sliding it into her purse – knowing she’d keep with her always. She glanced up at the office and smiled as she saw Jack pull Ianto into his embrace and kiss the life out of his young lover.


Fin xx