Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of its characters.

Authors Notes: This plot bunny bit me while listening to Katy Perry's "I kissed a Girl" and just would not let go. This is not beta'd, so please pardon small typos. Also, I am not Brittish, so please don't scream at me if I got any of the slang wrong, I will happily accept corrections. Please let me know if this is worth continuing. It was meant to be a one off, but now I'm thinking that it could become a multi chapter. And for the record I don't dislike techno, actually listened to it quite loudly while writing. Thanks. P.S. anyone have a better title suggestion I'll happily consider it. Ack! Forgot to preview it!

The Dare

Techno music pulsed through the tightly packed club causing Ianto Jones' head to throb in sync with it in similar fashion as a migraine. He didn't want to be out at all. Lisa, his girlfriend of two years, and he had only moved to Cardiff the day before and he was more than tired. But he could never deny Lisa anything…a fact she loved and on occasion exploited. And going out to this club with people either of them barely knew, but that Lisa would be working closely with, was just such an occasion.

Weaving his way cautiously through the mass between the table the group was occupying and the bar, Ianto carried a fruity mixed drink for Lisa and a straight up whiskey for him. Everyone at the table roared with laughter as he moved closer. He tried to ignore the laughter and what he was certain were the stares of everyone, including Lisa, at the table, but it nagged at him like the music pumping through the speakers.

He gave Lisa her drink before sliding into the chair next to her, nipping a sip of his whiskey as he went. The feeling that he'd missed the joke grew as he glanced quickly around the table. Everyone had a drink in hand, wearing a Cheshire grin, and staring in his general direction.

Nervously he took a longer drag of the dark amber liquid contained in his glass when he heard someone to his left say, "do you think he'll do it?"

"Do what?" he asked feigning casualness, setting his glass on the table.

Lisa's hand slipped on to his thigh, stroking in light stripes before giving him a gentle squeeze. She was nervous. He didn't have to look at her to know that she was nervous about something; something that had to do with her new coworkers and what had occurred at the table in his absence. The fact that she wouldn't look at him when he looked at her told him how nervous she was.

"Of course he will," she said, ignoring Ianto's question as though he'd never asked. "I only need ask."

"Do what?" he asked again, louder, annoyed that he'd been ignored the first time. His mind raced with scenarios of what the people his fiancé would be working with had come up for him to do that would cause such nervousness in her. The first involved drinking, the next dancing with someone that wasn't Lisa, others included public sex or something that would be daring and yet just barely legal. None of what he came up with was anything he had any interest in doing. But it appeared that Lisa had let her new coworkers know that he would do anything for her. There was nothing he could deny her, not if it kept her happy—even forgo his own happiness.

"Well," a woman with short, dark brown spiky hair said, setting her drink on the table and leaning in closer. Her top was sequined, and shone bluish in the lights of the club. "Go on and ask him then."

Ianto looked from the woman whose name he couldn't remember and Lisa. The look on Lisa's face was one of nervous wonder, while the woman wore a mask of curiosity—her eyes twinkling brightly in the pulsing lights of the club. The headache Ianto'd felt coming on since setting foot in the noisy dance club began to grow and anxiety took a stronger hold over his mind. Going to that bar had definitely left him out of something, and he wasn't sure now that he wanted to know what he'd missed any more.

"Ask me what, Lisa?" he asked, turning to face his fiancé more fully, hand reaching for his glass of liquor absently. Despite his mouth asking for the information, on a whole he didn't want to know. He really wanted to down the last of his drink, head for the door to the club, hail a cab, and head back to their flat.

"While you were up getting the drinks conversation came round to snogging and whether anyone'd ever snogged someone of the same sex," Lisa said, casually reaching for her drink and taking a long sip. If he didn't know better, Ianto would have thought that she were attempting to avoid the rest of what she wasn't saying, but he knew better—she was drawing out to what she wanted him to do. What she knew he would not deny her, even if it cost him a bit of his dignity.

"And?" he prompted when it became clear that she wasn't going to continue with her request.

"And," she said stretching the word out to more than its simple syllables, "I let it slip that you hadn't. At least not as far as you've ever told. So, we thought that perhaps you might oblige us with a little lip action between you and a random man."

On autopilot Ianot's hand shot out for his glass. Bringing it to his lips he realized that there was less than half a sip of the amber colored liquid left. Downing what was left of his drink, Ianto set the glass back on the table and ran a slightly shaky hand through his short brown hair. He couldn't help but stare in shock at Lisa. She'd done some pretty mean and wild things with and to him when they lived in London, but he'd never thought that she'd ever stoop to this.

"You want me to what?" He didn't bother to hide the shock in his voice, as struggled to raise it above the volume of the music.

"Find a random man to kiss," she said as though she were ordering another drink.

"Can I speak to you a moment?" Ianto asked, standing from his chair; hand loosely round Lisa's upper arm. She nodded lightly, allowing him to pull her away from the table and toward a darkened corner of the club.

The music was softer in the corner, and Ianto could almost hear himself think, almost. He stopped tugging on Lisa's arm once they reached the corner. He couldn't bring himself to believe what she'd asked of him at the table. His head began to pound more earnestly away from the loud music filling the dance floor.

"Why would you ask that of me?" His blue eyes bore into her chocolate browns icily. Of all the things she could have asked for, and has asked for, this was the one thing she knew would be the most uncomfortable for him. Men held no particular interest for him. He'd never been curious about kissing one. Not once had he ever considered what it would be like to press his lips to another man and feel their stubble or beard against his face.

"It just came up, Ianto," she said sullenly. "I didn't plan for the conversation to turn to this. They dared me to ask you if you'd do it."

"And of course you'd already bragged about how you could get me to do anything, right?" He snapped at her. He pulled away from her, shocked at his own outburst. He wanted to blame it on the alcohol, or the headache, but couldn't bring himself to. Nor could he allow himself to vocalize the word "sorry" like he wanted to. He was sorry that he'd snapped, but not sorry about what he'd said.

"It wasn't like that," she said quietly. "Look, we can go back to the table tell them that we had fun, and then say we're going home, yeah?"

He stared down at her, trying to decide if she was being honest with him or if she were attempting to play him again. Sincerity was written over her face and in the depths of her eyes.

"Yeah," he said, allowing her to pull him back to the table full of her now very drunk coworkers.

"So?" Dana, the one with the sequined top, inquired the instant they reached the table.

"He's said that he'll do it," Lisa announced brightly, digging her fingers into his forearm.

"What?!" he snapped at her announcement. "You said that we could leave."

"We will. Look just take two seconds to do this, and I promise you a very good time when we get home." She looked up at him through dark lashes the way she knew he liked.

His resolve melted at the look. It was one of the reasons he could deny her nothing.

"All right," he sighed in defeat. A small peck, that was it; nothing more. "Who's it going to be?" He looked round the club for someone suitable.

"Him," Lisa and Dana said in unison, pointing toward a man a few tables over.

Ianto stared at the man the women had pointed at. The man was very attractive, Ianto had to admit that. He could make out full lips pulled back into a tooth baring grin, and dark hair mostly spiked up through the every changing lighting of the club. Though the man read as handsome from where Ianto stood, he held little hope that he was as handsome close up. Thank God it's dark in here, Ianto thought as he stared at the man chosen for him to kiss.

"Well go on," Lisa encouraged giving Ianto a light shove in the direction of the man she'd help point out.

He stumbled slightly at her push before catching his balance. Shuffling his feet slightly as he moved Ianto made his way to the handsome man's table. The music pounding through the club shifted, as did the lighting, to a slower less irritating techno beat. His headache eased slightly. His hands shook with nervous energy the closer he got to the man's table. Stopping short of the man's table Ianto took a steadying breath, and looked behind him to Lisa and her cluster of coworkers. All of them wore smiles and expectant stares. He shook his head as he witnessed two of the men, Jason and Scott, hand money to Dana. Turing away he reminded himself that Lisa was the reason he was standing just feet from a man he'd never met, would hopefully never see again, with the sole intention of kissing said man. He took another shaky breath before turning his attention back to the table and the man sat at it.

He blinked and almost breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the table empty. He glanced round the immediate area in hopes that the man truly was gone. Kissing a stranger, let alone a man, was low on his list of things to do at the moment. What he really wanted was something for his headache and to go back to his flat and sleep.

"Are you thinking of stalking me?" breath scraped across Ianto's ear as an amused voice spoke.

"Erm…" Ianto muttered as he spun round to face the person who'd sneaked up on him in the crowded club and spoken in his ear. Ianto suddenly found that he couldn't breathe as he recognized the man standing before him as the man from the table.

"Well?" the man prompted, lips pulled tight into a line.

Ianto absently licked his lips as he tried to think of how to make sense of the entire awkward situation. "No," he said finally, seeing annoyance in the man's blue eyes, "no, I'm not considering stalking you…pretty much figured you might already have one of those." Not his best of comebacks, he knew that, but he could always blame the headache if called on it.

The man smiled, bringing a glass to his lips to take a swig. "Cute," he drawled, stepping closer to Ianto.

Ianto fought his urge to take a step back as the very handsome man invaded his space. The lighting in the club wasn't as bad as he'd hoped, nor was the man ugly up close. In fact he was far more handsome up close. Ianto compressed the thought to the back of his mind.

"Why were you staring at me then?" the blue eyed man asked leaning in closer to Ianto in order to be heard over the music.

"My girlfriend made a dare with her friends," he said, locking his gaze onto that of the man before him. "A dare that I really don't want a thing to do with…"

"A dare, huh?" the man leaned closer. Ianto nodded. "What kind of dare? Stalk a stranger?"

"No," Ianto bit out. He once more fought the urge to reclaim his personal space by taking a simple step backward. "No, nothing like that." He tried to smile, but only managed a brief pulling back of his lips before settling back into the impartial line he'd had them pressed into.

"That's good to know then," the man said, lips pulled back into an easy smile. "Care to share what this dare is then?"

"They want me to kiss a stranger," Ianto admitted, adverting his eyes to the floor in embarrassment. He could feel the heat of a blush settling over his entire body. Hope flitted briefly though him that this stranger would also not want to complete the dare and let him off the hook, but a brief barking laugh dashed the hope.

"Is that all?" the man questioned. Ianto could feel the man's eyes on him—studying him.

Against his own desire to not look at the man, his mark as it were, Ianto looked up from the floor to the man's sparkling blue eyes. There was a mischievous glint to the man's eyes. Ianto couldn't tell what the man had in mind, but he could tell that the man was not as adverse to the dare he'd been tasked to complete as he was.

"What do you mean 'is that all'?" Ianto asked, anger suddenly pouring through him. "It's bloody embarrassing that I'm even standing here talking to you while their over there gawking at us like we're creatures behind the glass at a zoo!"

The man took a half step back, looking across the tables to the group of people staring at them in complete anticipation. Ianto felt rather than saw the man's body straighten tight with tension as he looked at Lisa and her new coworkers. He once again felt a blush spread over his body.

"Of all the things to happen since I moved here this has got be the strangest…and possibly close to the sexiest…" the man said barely above the music once more pulsing quickly through the club. "They want you to kiss a stranger, yeah?" the man asked, suddenly invading the last inch of Ianto's personal space. He nodded, not trusting that he could speak loud enough to be heard over the music. "Jack," the man said, suddenly pulling away from Ianto's personal space.

Confused, Ianto looked fixed his gaze on the man. "Huh?" he grunted. He'd been sure that the man, Jack, was ready to grope him or plant a sloppy wet kiss on his lips. But the thick presence of Jack standing so close to him suddenly pulling away coupled with the name Jack, had thrown Ianto. It was unexpected—very unexpected.

"My name," the man laughed, not moving any further away nor coming any closer, "is Jack. You are…?"

"Ianto," he said, unsure if Jack was able to hear it over the music permeating the club.

"It's nice to meet you, Ianto," Jack said, lips parted in a broad smile and hand offered up.

"Likewise," Ianto said, taking the hand in a firm grip, still confused over what was going on. One moment Jack had filled every inch of his personal space before pulling back far enough to offer up his name and hand. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs he was certain the music in the club, tiredness, the actions of the stranger, and the headache that had made a return had caused. Without the headache Ianto had no doubt he'd be able to follow along with whatever game it was the stranger, Jack, was suddenly playing.

"Now," Jack said, lips unexpectedly brushing against Ianto's ear, "we know each other."

"Huh?" Ianto repeated still lost in his confusion. Though now he knew that it wasn't the club's music, or tiredness, or embarrassment, or even the headache causing the confusion his brain was continuing to muddle through—it was the warmth of Jack's cheek resting against his. Blush once more covered his entire body, and he was sure Jack could feel the heat radiating from his own face. "Oh," he said quietly as realization began to blossom in his mind at what it was Jack was doing. "Oh!" he exclaimed as it finally slammed through his sluggish mind.

They knew each other's names. He was no longer some strange man in a club looking like a potential stalker. He was Ianto, man with a ridiculous dare to complete. And the handsome stranger was no longer just the handsome brown haired man picked at random to be his mark. He was Jack, the tall handsome man who had no problem invading the personal space of other people…and if Ianto wasn't mistaken American.

"So now," Jack drawled out slowly, cheek still pressed to Ianto's as he spoke in the other man's ear, "this dare of yours…"

Ianto could feel Jack's lips pull back into another grin. Jack was relishing this. Ianto could tell by the way Jack spoke and stayed too close for Ianto's comfort. Ianto dropped his chin down toward his chest, inadvertently resting his forehead against Jack's shoulder. For the briefest of moment's he'd forgotten the dare, bet or whatever you wanted to call it, and been full in to meeting a new person. He'd hoped that perhaps Jack would have forgotten altogether or at least would have dropped it.

"Yeah, the dare," Ianto whispered.

"You're not comfortable," Jack said, pulling away to catch Ianto's eye.

Blue met blue in a scrutinizing gaze, before Ianto lowered his eyes to the floor in the sudden urge to study his shoes. Relief at Jack's realization should have flooded through him, but Ianto didn't feel relieved. He wasn't sure how he felt actually. He was mortified over what he'd allowed Lisa to talk him into and how far he'd already taken it. He didn't have to kiss anyone he didn't want to. He didn't have to give Lisa that hold over him. Yet, he had done exactly that by going for Jack's table.

"You could just walk away," Jack suggested, disappointment saturating his words. Ianto almost laughed at the thought that Jack actually want to kiss a total stranger, even if they did happen to know one another's first names. "You can't can you?" Jack studied him again. Ianto snapped his eyes up from his shoes to stare at Jack. "No," Jack breathed a laugh, "not because you actually want to go through with it, but because of the girlfriend…am I close?"

Ianto nodded. Jack was right. He couldn't back out of the dare, even though he wanted to, because of Lisa. He didn't want to blame Lisa for his absolute in ability to say no to her. It was his weakness, not hers. One day he'd have to shock her and tell her no. That day was not upon him yet, but if she had asked for more than this of him he would.

"I'll help you, Ianto," Jack said, drawing closer to him once more. Jack's hand came up slowly, as though Ianto would run away like a spooked deer, to rest on his shoulder. "We didn't know each other until five minutes ago, so…"Jack blew out a breath, as though he were about to say something he really didn't want to, "I'll help you complete your dare, and we will probably never see each other again."

Ianto nodded unable to look away from Jack's gaze. Honesty shone in the blue eyes boring through his and rang through the words Jack had just said. With any luck, Ianto thought, Jack would be transferred back to American and this scene in the club would merely be a story to tell of his wild days in Wales.

"All right," Ianto said after a few beats, giving in to Lisa, her new friends and now the man standing so close to him it was beyond uncomfortable.

"Yeah?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah," Ianto confirmed, managing to pull himself closer to the man he'd only just met. Just a quick, soft peck on the lips, he thought as Jack brought his hand from Ianto's shoulder to cup his cheek.

The palm of Jack's hand was warm against the skin of his face. Carefully, giving Ianto plenty of time to back away or stop what he was about to do, Jack tilted Ianto's face up as he bent in. Moving deliberately slow, the American man brushed his lips lightly over the Welshman's before pressing them more firmly together.

Ianto waited a beat in hopes that Jack would pull away and the short brush of lips followed by the pressure of two sets of lips pressed together would be all there was. He was ready to pull away and break the kiss when Jack's lips moved carefully over his. Ianto closed his eyes and released his breath through his nose. Matching the movements of Jack's lips Ianto began to move his lips with Jack.

The hand Jack had used to cup Ianto's cheek slowly slid back and down slightly to hold at the back of his head, tangled in his hair. Jack's other hand grappled at Ianto's waist somewhat before quickly finding purchase and drawing Ianto's body flush to his. Ianto allowed himself to become lost in the feeling of Jack's lips moving with his, hands woven into his hair and splayed at his waist. To Ianto's surprise Jack didn't move the hand at his waist lower.

At first Ianto kept his hands at his side, but as Jack deepened the kiss Ianto brought his hands up to Jack's chest. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to push the other man away or weave his fingers into the fabric of Jack's shirt and pull him closer. The decision had still to be made when Jack gently drew Ianto's bottom lip into his mouth.

Jack sucked lightly at Ianto's bottom lip, running his tongue over the soft flesh. Without thought Ianto moaned, slipping one hand up Jack's chest, along his jaw and into his hair. His fingers tangled into Jack's hair, pulling his head closer still to Ianto. Jack didn't hesitate in dipping his tongue into Ianto's mouth, savoring the taste of the other man. Ianto allowed Jack's tongue a moment to explore before tangling around it.

As their tongues moved together, exploring and battling slightly for dominance, Ianto forgot about Lisa and her coworkers staring that he and Jack; forgot that the kiss would not be happening if not for a stupid, childish dare. He forgot about the music pulsing through the club, and the throngs of people moving to it. And more importantly he forgot about the headache that had been pounding in time to the music.

And then it was over. Jack's lips pulled away from his. Ianto wasn't sure who had actually broken the kiss he just knew that they suddenly felt cold and wet as the air in the club hit them. Jack moved to rest his forehead against Ianto's and just stared at him. Ianto met the gaze steadily.

"Hmm…" Jack hummed. He blinked slowly, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "That was the best kiss I'll never have again."

"Quite possibly the only of its kind I will ever have," Ianto said in agreement.

"Hope we meet again someday, Ianto," Jack whispered in Ianto's ear before pulling his hands free of Ianto's body and disappearing into the crowd of the club.

Ianto had no answer to Jack's statement of seeing each other again. He wasn't sure he wanted to meet the man again or not. He honestly wanted to go home and sleep…forget the kiss ever happened even though it was the single best kiss he'd ever had. Running a hand through his hair Ianto stared into the crowd where Jack had disappeared before slowly turning to face Lisa.

The guys of the group began to cat call him as he neared them. Ianto couldn't help the blush that spread over his face. He didn't want to be known with them for kissing Jack.

"I'll take one of those," he heard one of the girls in the group profess.

"I'm going home," Ianto leaned down and shouted at Lisa's ear. "I've a headache." And he did. Seconds after Jack's departure, the pulsing music once again crushed into his head reminding him of the pulsing within his own head.

He didn't wait for her to object or react just headed for the front exit of the club. He carefully weaved his way through the dancers spilling off the designated dance area. The crowd thinned as he neared the exit. It was then that he realized just how stifling hot the club was and how oppressive the air in there felt. Without hesitation and with purpose, Ianto pushed the doors to the club open and stepped out into the cool Cardiff air. He didn't turn to look behind him at the closing club door, nor did he scan the area in hopes of seeing Jack, as he strode off in the direction of his flat.

TBC???