It was fortunate, Jack reflected later, that the only person who was actually in the hub as he staggered in was Owen. The banging and crashing, and occasional swearing, that floated from the direction of the medical bay indicated that Dr Harper was indulging in his least favourite pastime - carrying out an audit of the medical supplies. The very fact that he was doing the hated task, when Ianto had been nagging him for weeks, told Jack that Ianto must have hit on a suitably devious bribe or some kind of Machiavellian blackmail threat. Nonetheless, the irascible and straight talking doctor would have been the one person Jack would have chosen to help him. He leant against the wall, breathing heavily and trying to centre himself before pushing himself to his feet and weaving his way to the med bay.

Owen was in a foul temper. He had been ignoring the teaboy's hints about auditing the supplies in the med bay for about six weeks now. Despite Ianto's patient explanation that monthly checks on supplies meant that Owen would always have exactly what he needed at the exact moment he needed it; Owen had maintained he was a medic not a general assistant and that it was Ianto's job to make sure the med bay was fully equipped at all times. Ianto had countered that he did not have the medical knowledge needed to know what was important, what wasn't and what was missing. The impasse could have gone on for days had not Ianto secretly filmed Owen in the shower, dancing and singing along to the soundtrack of "Footloose." One minute forty five seconds of Owen's naked butt sashaying around the bathroom as he sang along to "Let's hear it for the boy" had carried Ianto's point for him.

'Owen' Jack stood on the small balcony, swaying slightly, 'I need you to call Gwen and Tosh, tell them to take the day off.'

'Why?' asked Owen

Jack rolled his eyes, it was beginning. 'Just for once, can't you do as I ask without the attitude?' he snapped, 'Would it fucking kill you to trust me?'

Owen was taken aback, 'I do trust you, Jack,' he protested

'Then do as I ask, please'

Jack's knees started to buckle and Owen leapt up the stairs to support him. He noticed that Jack had a collection of small blisters around his nose and mouth. He cradled Jack's face in his hands, 'Jack, what happened to you?' he asked, concerned, 'let me see.'

Jack pulled away from him, 'I'm fine,' he said, 'It's nothing major. I was trying to help a m-ltio that came through the rift. It's an aquatic creature, a kind of jellyfish from Acquiius Prime. The salinity of the sea on its homeworld is equivalent to that of the earth's. I was trying to manoeuvre it into the bay. It mistook my help for an attack and defended itself accordingly – it was instinct not hostility, they aren't very bright.' He sighed and slumped against Owen, 'there isn't anything you can do to help me physically, I'll be fine in a minute or two but mentally I won't be myself for twelve hours or so. It would be helpful if you could run interference for me, normally I'd ask Ianto but...' He broke off as the alarm on the cog wheel door began to sound and the laughter and chatter of Gwen and Tosh echoed around the hub.

'Too late' whispered Jack

'Hey Ianto,' Gwen's demanding voice filled the space, 'I hope you've got the coffee on! It's freezing out there'

Jack went ashen, 'oh gods, Ianto. He can't be near me while I'm infected.' He gripped Owens arm in a painful grasp, 'I don't want him near me, do you hear me?' I don't want to see him, keep him as far away from me as possible, promise me Owen.'

'I'll do my best' stammered Owen, 'but you know how stubborn the Teaboy is...'

His voice died away as Jack transferred his grip to the confused medic's throat and began to squeeze, 'I don't like you calling my boyfriend names' he snarled, 'I don't think I ever did and now I'm sure.'

'O...O...O...OK' wheezed Owen, trying desperately to pry Jack's fingers off his windpipe, 'I won't do it again, I swear' The iron grip eased somewhat allowing Owen to pull a weak gasp of oxygen into his lungs.

'And you will apologise to Ianto?'

Owen coughed, 'c'mon, Jack – Ianto can be a vindictive little sod...' his eyes bulged as Jack's hands tightened once more and he nodded vehemently. 'I'll apologise as soon as I see him' he promised his irate leader.

Jack released his death grip on Owens throat and sagged against the wall rubbing his hands across his face, 'I'm sorry Owen,' he mumbled, 'I warned you I wouldn't be myself for a bit.'

'S'Ok' croaked Owen

'Today is the last day I need all this shit' said Jack and then muttered 'oh no..' and appeared to shrink into himself as Gwen appeared at the top of the stairs.

'Morning boys' she trilled, 'Ianto not in yet?'

'Gwen' Jack's demeanour changed in a heartbeat from distressed and worried to cocky and confident. He flashed his incandescent smile at her, 'that top makes your tits look amazing'

Gwen frowned, 'what'

'Yeah' Jack tilted his head, 'must be the cold weather making your nipples stand up like that and the sweater just makes 'em look even better.'

Gwen turn a cold stare on Owen, 'is this some kind of joke you two have cooked up together?'

'Hey!' Owen backed away his hands up, 'nothing to do with me, lady.'

'Really?' Gwen was sceptical, 'it has an element of juvenile humour I would expect from you, Harper' She let out a shrill scream as Jack, who had stealthily moved up behind her, slipped his hand inside her top and began rolling her nipple between his fingers, 'Jack!'

'Whoa, Captain,' even Owen was shocked, 'not cool.'

'Nah' Jack grinned wolfishly, and pinched harder making Gwen squirm, 'I see how she looks at me.' He shoved his unoccupied hand between Gwen's denim clad thighs, 'mmm she feels all hot and wet down here.' He pressed his hand against Gwen's breast, 'heart rate's up too.' Jack grabbed Gwen's hand and rubbed it against the front of his own trousers, 'see how hard you make me Ms Cooper.'

'Fuck this' Gwen snapped her arm back and punched Jack in the face, 'what is wrong with you?'

'What's up Gwen,' laughed Jack, 'can't handle the truth?'

Gwen blushed a deep and revealing crimson, 'stay away from me Harkness, or I swear to god I will shoot you.'

'No you won't' Jack swung her round in his arms and looked solemnly into her face, 'we could, you know...fuck. You want to, I want to. Where's the harm?'

Watching them, Owen was gravely alarmed, not just at Jack's peculiar and lewd behaviour but also by the fact that he could see that Gwen was seriously considering Jack's offer. Despite her protestations her pupils had dilated and her breathing had speeded up, additionally he noticed that she had yet to remove her hand from Jacks cloth clad erection. Owen cleared his throat, 'Ianto might have something to say about that.' he offered.

Jack's smile did not diminish, 'Yan would understand it was a meaningless fuck,' he said, 'he knows how annoying I find it having Gwen throw herself at me all day long. I mean yeah, she looks OK and I bet she's a demon in the sack but one quick shag would be enough, get it over with, quick and clean. I reckon eventually she would turn into a very selfish lover, and who wants that?' Owen, remembering their brief liaison, could not help but nod in agreement

That bought Gwen quickly back to reality, 'whaat?' she shrieked, 'how dare you?'

'C'mon Gwen, do you really believe the stories you are telling yourself?' asked Jack, 'that Ianto is just my play thing? That I am only using him to pass away the time before either you ditch Rhys or he wakes up, sees what a shameless slut you are and realises he could do a lot better? Wake up and smell Ianto's coffee – I will happily go to bed with you, scratch your itch for you but by the time the wet patch has dried I'll be on my way home to Ianto.'

Furious, Gwen kneed Jack, hard, in his balls and stormed out of the med bay 'you fucking bastard!'

'Truth hurts , doesn't it' Jack wheezed after her, from a foetal position on the floor, over the sound of the cog wheel door grinding closed on Gwen's dramatic exit.

'Fucking hell, Jack,' Owen helped his stricken Captain to his feet, 'what the hell was all that about?'

'I know,' Jack had the grace to look ashamed of himself, 'do you think she will forgive me?'

'I'd give it a decade or so,' said Owen, 'just to be on the safe side'

'Hmm, you may have a point.'

Owen led Jack up into the Hub and sat beside him on the sofa, 'what's going on, Jack' he asked softly, 'what is the matter with you?'

Jack sighed, ' it's a side effect of the m-ltio poison – on it's fellow Acquiius Prime invertebrates the poison causes a brief episode of paralysis, renders the predator immobile just long enough for the m-ltio to escape . One complex vertebrates like humanoids it has a slightly weirder effect.'

Owen raised an eyebrow, 'and that would be...?'

Jack gave an uncomfortable laugh, 'it acts like a disinhibiting truth serum. All the nasty little opinions and fantasies that we keep buried in our own minds come spilling out. It's like you have all your filters removed, you tell the truth, the while truth and you cannot censor yourself and you can't help yourself.'

'So why are you so adamant that I have to keep Ianto away from you?' asked Owen curiously, 'what nasty little opinion of him do you want to keep hidden?'

'It's not that...' began Jack, then he hesitated before continuing, 'Owen you must promise me to keep this to yourself – Ianto mustn't know about the truth telling thing. It's really, really important because...' and then he broke off with a deep groan. Toshiko was approaching with a tray that held four large coffees from a local coffee franchise. She smiled uncertainly at the two men before her, sensing that she was interrupting something, 'Ianto has called in to say he is running late so I nipped out to get coffee. I can't find Gwen tho' and she is not answering her comms.'

'She left for the day,' Owen told her and then, noticing a gleam in Jack's eye as he surveyed Tosh, added hastily, 'I think you should go too.'

Tosh looked confused, 'why...' she began but Jack broke in.

'Do you deliberately dress asexually?' he enquired

Tosh looked down at her modest trousers and thin knit jumper ensemble, 'What's wrong with how I dress?' she asked, sounding hurt

'Jack' warned Owen, but Jack was on a roll.

'There nothing wrong with it as such,' he said, 'I'm sure it's warm and very practical. All I'm saying is, if you ever want Owen to notice you are a desirable woman and pay you the attention you want him to, you might want to..erm...how can I say this... sex it up a bit? Like Gwen does, you know? Owen notices her alright, we all do'

Tosh carefully placed the coffees on the table and stood up her face flaming, 'please don't say anything else Jack,' she said, 'I think you have made yourself more than clear. I'm drab and unattractive – I get it. I realise that Gwen is the queen bee around here as far as you two are concerned, Ianto and I both see that. Thank you for your honesty, though.' She forced herself to look at Owen and he was saddened to see her eyes were bright with tears, 'don't listen to what Jack is saying,' she said to him, 'I know I'm not Gwen and I know you won't ever look at me like you look at her but a girl can hope can't she?' she picked up her coffee and gestured towards the remaining cups, 'help yourselves,' she said softly, 'if you will excuse me, I need to get some files from the archives for the translation project I am working on.' and she turned and hurried away.

'Crap' Jack buried his head in his hands as Owen smacked him.

'You wanker, Jack!'

'I'm sorry,' moaned Jack, ' I can't help it, it's the m-ltio venom, I open my mouth and it all spills out. I'd never deliberately hurt Toshiko. Go after her, explain for me, please Owen.'

Owen snorted, 'do you really think I am who she wants to see right now? You humiliated her Jack and for your information I do notice her, but not because of her clothes but because she is smart and gentle and kind and beautiful and way out of my league.'

'Then go and tell her that,' suggested Jack softly.

'I bloody well will'

Jack finished his coffee and headed up to his office with a dejected tread, maybe if he kept his head down for the rest of the day he could get through this without destroying any more of his friends. 'Today of all days' he mumbled to himself, then swung round in alarm as the cog wheel door alarmed screamed and the usually welcome figure of Ianto Jones entered the Hub. The young man looked up, saw Jack and a breathtakingly sweet smile spread across his face. 'Morning, sorry I'm late, flat tyre.' his low Welsh tones echoed around the space causing the usual goose bumps to prickle Jack's skin. Abruptly Jack turned away; he couldn't risk this, not today.

Ianto looked confused, 'Jack? Are you alright?'

'Go home, Ianto.'

'What? I just got here!'

From the corner of his eye Ianto saw Tosh and Owen emerge from the archives, they appeared to be holding hands. Tosh gave him a watery smile but Owen looked stricken to see him and threw a worried glance up to where the Captain was standing. He walked up to Ianto and put a careful hand on his shoulder, 'best you go home, mate' he said quietly

'What is going on,' said Ianto in exasperation

'GET OUT' roared Jack suddenly, making everyone jump, 'why is everyone finding it so difficult to do as I ask them today.'

Ianto made an instinctive move towards the stairs, Jack looked unhappy and it was Ianto's job to make him happy. To his surprise, Jack backed away from him, 'get out Ianto,' he snarled, 'I don't want you near me. I can't bear to see you. I don't want to talk you. I don't want you in the building. I just want you to GO AWAY AND LEAVE ME ALONE.' and with that he stormed into his office and locked the door behind him.

Slowly Ianto turned to face Owen and Tosh; he was pale and looked very young. 'Was that Jack breaking up with me?' he asked in shaky voice.

Tosh stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, 'no, it wasn't Ianto, He didn't know what he was saying. Jack he's, well, he's not himself today because...' Owen cleared his throat ominously and Tosh trailed off

Ianto was shaking his head, 'I don't buy that. He knew exactly what he was saying,' he said sadly, 'Jack always does.' He gave a heartbreaking little laugh, 'don't looked so sad, Tosh. I had a good run, five, no almost six months. I never thought it would last that long, especially once, Gwen saw what was going on and started doing her best to ruin it.'

Owen gave a loud laugh, 'Ianto, after what I saw earlier I can categorically state that Cooper has got no chance ever of taking Jack away from you for anything other than a single pity shag.' Owen had a stab of guilt when he saw how surprised Ianto was at his support, he had always thought that their sparring hid a solid foundation of friendship but now he realised that Ianto's insecurity had made the young man think that Owen just despised him. Cautiously Owen put his arms around the distressed young man as well and the three colleagues stood quietly for a few seconds.

The moment was shattered by the crash of Jack's office door being kicked open. 'Is he still here?'

'Jack'

'Captain'

Tosh and Owen's protests clashed in the air

'No, it's OK' Ianto was standing tall and dignified, 'Captain Harkness has made his feelings perfectly clear.' He fumbled in his inside jacket pocket and pulled out his security pass and then he carefully removed his gun from the waistband of his trousers and moving away from Tosh and Owen, placed them both on Tosh's workstation. He then took a deep breath and turned back to face Jack, 'I would have preferred to do this in private, Jack,' he said with a small smile at Owen and Tosh who moved just slightly out of ear shot, 'Thank you for your time, sir,' he said formally, 'I can't tell you what our time together has meant to me. I will always remember you and ...' his voice broke but he carried on bravely, 'I will always remember you and love you.'

Jack opened his mouth and Owen nudged Tosh. 'be ready,' he murmured sotto voce Tosh nodded but Jack just snapped his mouth shut and retreated back into his office, slamming the long suffering door behind him.

Tosh hurried to Ianto's side and slid her arm around his waist, 'Ianto, don't do this,' she begged him, 'I'm sure Jack didn't mean...' her voice died away as she realised the impossible situation in which Jack had placed both her and Owen. When the medic had found her crying quietly in the archives, he had kissed her and then filled her in of Jack's encounter with the m-ltio, explaining that, for some unfathomable reason, Jack wanted Ianto kept in the dark about his truth telling problem. She cast an anguished look at Owen who walked up to Ianto and gave him a sympathetic smile.

Ianto looked confused, 'what is going on?' he asked

'I wish I could tell you, Yan mate,' said Owen sincerely, 'but...' he trailed off as the cog wheel door rolled back in a cacophony of noise and a determined looking Gwen Cooper entered. 'Great,' muttered Owen, 'this is all we need!' He threw a scowl in Gwen's direction, 'what are you doing back here, Cooper?'

'Forgot my jacket,' said Gwen her eyes fixed on the closed door of Jack's office

'Really?' asked Tosh sceptically

'Yeah,' Gwen turned to face her and noticed Ianto's gun and I.D lying discarded at Tosh's work station. She frowned, 'what's going on?'

'He's all yours,' Ianto snapped, 'Jack has made it clear that he no longer wants me around.'

'But still, here you are,' Jack's sarcasm echoed through the hub, then his eye lit upon Gwen, 'Hey, you and your tits came back – excellent.'

His eyes suspiciously bright, Ianto turned on his heel and walked out of the hub. Tosh and Owen looked daggers at Jack who looked supremely unconcerned apart from a small nerve throbbing just below his right eye. He winked at Gwen, 'Ms Cooper your cleavage brightens up this place, keep up the good work.' He glanced over to where Tosh and Owen stood hand in hand, 'Oh you two have finally got together, well done. It was about time, watching you agonise that you were not good enough for Tosh and watching her pine hopelessly for you was getting really boring .' He waved a negligent hand, 'Tosh, Owen, take the rest of the day off and go fuck each other. Gwen, my offer from earlier still stands but don't assume that Ianto is off the scene or that I have any interest in taking you on full time – you are too much like hard work.'

Furiously Gwen snatched her jacket from the back of her chair. She slammed her I.D and her gun down next to Ianto's, 'Fuck you, Jack Harkness,' she screeched, 'I quit.'

'Great,' yelled Jack back at her, 'I can say in all honesty that is the best thing to happen to me all day.'

Gwen paused in her tracks, 'you don't mean that, Jack. You want me in your bed and you need me in Torchwood. I'm glad you let Ianto walk out without trying to stop him but I know you won't do that with me.'

'Oh, really?' Jack rolled his eyes and pulled a squat, snub nosed gun from the pocket of his pants; he pointed it a Gwen and squeezed the trigger. There was a low hum, the temperature of the hub dropped by a few degrees and Gwen dropped without a sound. 'Gods was she always this annoying and needy?' Jack asked the hub in general. 'What was I thinking let her get away with it so long?' He grinned at Owen, 'time to test your new absorbable Retcon I think, Doctor.'

Owen exchange worried glance with Toshiko, 'Jack are you sure?' he asked, 'you aren't exactly thinking clearly at the moment.'

'Oh but I am, Owen.' Jack smiled, 'you have no idea how liberating it is not having to censor yourself, just to be completely honest with people. I did want to fuck Gwen, well...that's obvious I guess but employing her was a major mistake and I also wanted to fire her whingeing, moaning, irritating arse. Retcon her. Tosh call Rhys, tell him she was hit by some alien tech and has lost all memory of us. I trust him to keep quiet about us, especially if he means he is getting his "loving wife" back.' He turned to re-enter his office but staggered and nearly fell.

Owen was at his side in an instant with a supporting arm, 'Jack?'

'I'm OK' Jack swayed, 'the effects of the m-ltio venom must be wearing off, thank the gods.' He grabbed the front of Owen's tee-shirt, 'Do the necessary with Cooper then you and Tosh are free to leave.'

'We're not leaving you like this,' protested Toshi

Jack gave her a wan smile, 'My sweet Toshiko – always so kind and caring. I promise I will be alright, I just need to sleep for an hour or two and I will back to normal.'

'And Ianto?' asked Owen quietly, 'will he be alright? What happens if you have lost him forever, Jack?'

Ianto sat on the sofa in his flat and stared aimlessly at the wall. He could not believe that he and Jack were over. He thought he should be feeling something, anger or betrayal – sadness at the very least but apart from an embarrassing stinging in his eyes as he walked out of the Hub he hadn't even shed a tear. He felt completely empty, a hollow shell of a man. Jack's cold words and very public dismissal of him had rendered him numb.

He had returned to his flat and immediately stripped off his suit. He had hesitated, tempted to throw it away, he planned on never wearing the damn thing again after all, but the frugal Welsh side of his character would not allow it – it was a Paul Smith, after all. So he had carefully hung it up and placed it right at the back of his wardrobe where he would not have to look at it. After a long shower, he had dressed himself in a long sleeved red tee-shirt, sternly squashing the little voice in his head that tried to remind him that it was one of Jack's favourites, teaming it with soft black cotton pants. He had intended to supplement what was his comfort clothing with comfort food, a mug of coffee and a thick slab of his Nain's Bara Brith, but somehow the kitchen seemed such a long way from his bedroom he had to stop and sit down for a rest on the way.

Four hours later and he was still there, staring at the wall because it was about the only thing in his flat that did not remind him of Jack. There were pictures of them both everywhere; Jack was an inveterate taker of photographs. Each rare day out was recorded and carefully displayed somewhere in the flat. A large candid print of Ianto in a post coital doze, tousled and smiling was on one wall and mirrored a similar image of Jack, lying naked on his front, his face turned towards the photographer and lit with an expression of such love and desire that it made Ianto blush every time he looked at it. Even the sofa was chosen with Jack who had insisted on buying one big enough to allow two fully grown men to lie on it but which had a back strong enough to bend someone over whilst fucking them hard.

With a soft sigh, Ianto leaned back against the soft cushions and closed his eyes. 'No more Jack' he said aloud, testing the words in his mouth, 'no more sneaky kisses when we should be working, no more slow love making on Saturday mornings before wandering out for breakfast on the quay.' His breath hitched slightly, 'no more, Jack.' he said again and the words settled like dust on the remnants of his life.

He was shaken from his introspection by a soft tapping on his front door. Tosh, he thought to himself, Owen would hammer loudly and Jack would just kick the door open. Ianto levered himself out of the sofa's warm embrace and headed to the front door. Before opening it to let his friend in, Ianto checked his appearance in the mirror that hung in the small hallway. It had a heavy chased sliver frame, Jack and he had found it in a small antique shop in Penarth; Jack had sworn he had seen its twin hanging in the court of the Grand Potrent on Tarsus Prime and had insisted buying for Ianto. To his surprise he looked just the same as he had before Jack Harkness had ripped out his heart for his own amusement. He plastered an almost convincing smile on his face and opened the door.

A very subdued looking Jack Harkness stood outside; he was so completely the last person Ianto expected to see that he took a step back in surprise. Jack interpreted that as an invitation to enter and slid his way into the flat. He reached out a trembling hand towards Ianto's cheek, his face falling even further when Ianto jerked away from his touch.

'Yan...' he began but Ianto interrupted him.

'Please, Jack. You made your feelings perfectly clear to me and to everyone else in the hub. If this is some guilt driven attempted to soothe my feelings so that we can "still be friends" I don't want to hear it.'

'Please' Jack actually seemed to be pleading – another first, 'All I am asking is that you listen to what I have to say, please. Let me explain. You owe me that much at least.'

'I owe YOU?'

'Please, Ianto. I'm...I'm begging you, please.'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'I must be mad,' he said as he led the way back into the living room. He gestured Jack to sit down and moved over to the wine rack, 'I think this might be easier to hear with some alcohol inside me. He waved a bottle of Rioja at Jack, 'want some?'

Jack nodded and waited until Ianto was seated at the opposite end of the sofa before speaking. 'I picked up a rift alert this morning. Nothing major so I thought I could handle it on my own. It was right on the plas and when I got there I saw it was a m-ltio from Acquiius Prime.'

Ianto frowned, 'I've heard of them – they have some weird kind of defence mechanism don't they?'

'Yeah' Jack disguised the fact that he was shifting a little closer to Ianto's end of the sofa by picking up his wine glass and taking a sip, ' like I told Owen, m-ltio venom acts like a disinhibiting truth serum on vertebrates. All day long I have been unable to do anything except tell the whole, unvarnished truth, whether it was wise to do so or not, or even if I wanted to or not' He bowed his head, 'I upset Tosh, I groped Gwen and I attacked Owen'

'Wait, wait, wait,' Ianto was diverted, 'You attacked Owen? Why?'

'He called you Teaboy.' mumbled Jack

'So? He calls me that all the time.' pointed out Ianto

'Yeah and I don't like it' replied Jack, 'It bothers me every time he says it but today all my filters were down and so I let him know just how angry it makes me.'

'Oh Jack,' Ianto was ridiculously touched that his lover had tried to defend him; he reached out and took Jack's hand, 'I hope you have apologised.'

'Of course,' Jack looked abashed, 'Both Tosh and Owen are enjoying a 5-star suite at the St David's for the next four days at my expense.'

'Together?' Ianto raised an eyebrow at Jacks enthusiastic nod, 'well, well about time.'

'Just what I said,' said Jack

Ianto smiled, 'go on'

Jack fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a Torchwood flashdrive, 'oh, before I forget. Tosh thought you might appreciate this.' Ianto turned the small USB stick over between his fingers, Jack continued, 'it's the CCTV footage of my encounter with Gwen whilst under the influence of m-ltio venom.'

'OoooKaay' Ianto was confused, why on earth would he want to see Jack groping Gwen? It was one of his worst nightmares.

'Yeah' Jack squirmed uncomfortably, 'Owen thinks it is a hoot. He says his favourite bit is when I told Gwen that I would scratch her itch for her but by the time the wet patch had dried I'd be on my way home to you.' He smiled hopefully at Ianto, who seemed oblivious to the humour of the situation. 'Tosh likes the bit where I get a knee in the balls.'

'So you told Gwen you wanted to sleep with her and that was the truth because you HAD to tell the truth didn't you Jack. I knew it'

'The truth was that I would always come home to you.' protested Jack. Ianto frowned, 'look just watch the video, OK. Please, you'll see how much under the influence I was.'

'Did you apologise to Gwen too?' asked Ianto, 'Is she living it up at the St David's at your expense as well?'

'Not really' said Jack, 'I fired her and retconned her – she was a liability.'

'Well, we all knew that' said Ianto

'The thing about m-ltio venom is that it forces you to tell the truth to yourself as well as to other people.'

Suddenly none of it seemed very important to Ianto, he had always known that Jack wanted Gwen but recently as Jack had spent more and more time with him, as more and more of Jack's belongings made their way into Ianto's home and especially as Jack had referred to the flat as 'home' for the last four months, Ianto realised that Jack kept his desire firmly locked inside. He knew from his work in the archives how toxic m-ltio venom was. He believed that Jack would not have said anything to Gwen had he not been infected, he probably wouldn't have fired her either but Ianto was quite pleased that he had done that. Rather there was a far more pressing question he wanted Jack to answer.

'Why were you so adamant that you wanted nothing to do with me today?'

Jack sighed and inched even closer to the young man, even going as far as to place a cautious hand on Ianto's thigh. 'Yan, what we have...it started off as just fucking, but recently I think that dynamic has been changing.' he sighed again, 'I'm not great with relationships, always been a fuck 'em and leave 'em kind of guy but...for a while now I've had a growing urge to say something to you. I'd decided to do it today.' He broke off to rub the back of his neck and give a bitter laugh, 'trust me to pick a day when I've got a face full of m-ltio venom.'

Ianto took hold of Jack's hand and held it tightly, 'Jack you aren't making much sense to me. What is it you are trying to say to me?'

Jack took a deep breath, 'I have something important to tell you and, before I do, I want you to know that I am completely free of m-ltio venom.' He pulled a crumpled printout from his pocket and thrust it into Ianto's hand, 'Owen checked my blood – I'm totally clean.'

Ianto glanced at the paper, a pointless thing to do really since he did not understand the biochemical print out on anything other than a very basic level. 'OK Jack I believe you...but I still don't...'

Jack jumped in, 'I need you believe two things, firstly that what I am about to tell you is the absolute truth and secondly, that I'm telling you the truth because I want to and not because some alien toxin is forcing me to. There is only one truth I have told today that is 100% voluntary. One truth and it's just for you, Ianto Jones.'

Ianto could feel his heart pounding and he seemed to be having difficulty breathing, he noted absently that Jack seemed to be having the same problem.

'What truth, Jack? What is it you want to say to me?'

They were so close now there was barely a breath between them; they were close enough for Ianto to hear Jack say is a soft gentle voice that he had never heard him use before...

'I love you Ianto '

Cwblhau