Necessary

Timeline: AU, mostly canon compliant pre-Reset

Rating: This chapter is T, but the arc as a whole is best rated M.

Pairings: Jack/Ianto, later Jack/OFC (Trust me, this is a Janto fic as a whole!)

Disclaimer: Obviously, we know who owns these characters and it's not me - with the exception of Tess, she's my fault. If I did own them, we'd never get anything of substance done, so it's probably just as well. ;)

Author's notes: Unbeta'd, for the record. Also: WiP, more chapters to come… obviously. The first is very plot heavy, stay with me for angst and smut. Xx, cd

CHAPTER ONE

Tess NicNairne stepped into the reception area, manicured hands clipping her umbrella shut as she took notice of the man behind the desk. A quick glance round the small room confirmed they were alone; she doubted they got many visitors. A bit unsure of herself, she approached him and did exactly as she had been instructed to do, though she felt a little sheepish about the whole thing so far.

"Maple pancakes."

It was the code phrase she'd been given last week. The exact timing of her visit had been disclosed two hours ago, and she'd had to wiggle out of her lunch date to be on her way. The lunch date was a good one, too; this trip had better be worth it.

The man behind the counter nodded once, efficiently dropping the guise of caretaker and locking the front door before opening the entrance to Torchwood, and set his mouth in a grim line before stepping through the entrance. Obviously Tess was expected to follow, though the man didn't so much as glance behind him. After a second's hesitation she started off after him, grateful for at least the pleasure of his suited silhouette if his manners were going to leave her wanting.

.-.-.-.

The warmth of the china cup in her hands seeped into her fingers, a welcome feeling after the downpour that had occurred on her way to the tower. That and the impeccable quality of the coffee made up very, very slightly for the fact that Tess had been there 23 minutes already, and the boss was nowhere in sight. She had been introduced to everyone, and the cursory tour of the immediate area was coming to a close, or so she thought.

"…And downstairs are the vaults, some of them I assume you'll want to see as soon as possible, but there are several that have been converted. The gym is one of those. I could take you to see them while we wait?"

Tess tried her best not to let her annoyance show. Ianto was polite to the extreme, though she thought she got the idea that he wasn't too happy with her. Despite his cool demeanor, he was exceedingly informative, which was nice since it seemed she wasn't going to get that from any of the other sources.

"I think that would be best. Let me just hang my coat and -"

"That won't be necessary, Ianto. I'll take it from here."

No one said anything at Jack's sudden appearance. Owen busied himself in the medical bay, Tosh stared at the strings of numbers compiling themselves on her computer screen, Gwen shifted slightly in her seat as she turned another page in the centuries-old manuscript she was studying, and Ianto deftly placed a cup of coffee into the boss' hands without looking him in the eye.

"Yes, Sir."

The chatter of their voices, one animated and familiar, one a lilting brogue that would take some getting used to, died away quickly as Tess was no doubt forced to walk time and a half to keep up with Jack as they disappeared into the recesses of the Institute.

Ianto was acutely aware that the others' attentions had turned to him, and he made sure that his handling of the coffee set was not suspiciously rushed. They were almost deathly quiet in their observation, as this was the first time the team had really dealt with relationship tension between Ianto and Jack crossing into the workplace - and no one wanted to put their foot in it, so to speak. Eventually, their attentions fell fully back to their work. Ianto sat down, making a show of rounding up some papers and putting together a disc of information from the Hub's main computer, which took nearly an hour thanks to Tosh having redone all the passcodes again.

After much cursing at each firewall, he finished. Grateful for the opportunity to finally step out of the room, and thus out of the team's scrutiny, he took the disc from the computer tower and laid it carefully in a plastic sleeve. He gathered both the papers and the disc into a neat bundle and headed off to the empty office on the second level, storing them neatly on the desk before slipping off for some alone time.

.-.-.-.

The Personal Diary of Ianto Jones

2 August

She's blonde. And a Scot. I'm sure she's extremely competent, but did she have to be blonde? She's far too attractive to have worked for UNIT, and now she's our problem.

…Apologies. That's my personal life getting the better of me again. I know she doesn't mean to be a problem. And, truthfully, if Jack continues to plan for my involvement in the field, a full-time archivist will be sorely needed.

At that point, Ianto was interrupted by the unmistakable click of heels against tile, followed closely by the swell of conversation. He panicked for a moment, cursing himself for not thinking in advance of some good excuse to be holed away from the others. Deciding the best course of action was to keep quiet, he stilled his pen and tried not to eavesdrop.

Of course, he failed miserably.

"…look forward to diving right in, then."

"Glad to hear it. The archives have taken a bit of a backseat lately, and they're very much in need of attention."

Ianto could practically hear Jack wink at the woman.

"I'll do my best."

"Good! You may as well take off for tonight - the rest of the team usually leaves in about half an hour anyhow - but you have your security badge, and we'll outfit you with arms tomorrow; I expect to see you bright and early."

"Righto, Sir. I'll, em… see you tomorrow, then."

Ianto knew how much Jack enjoyed the title of Sir in certain contexts. Not that anyone else used it around here… until now, it seemed. He rolled the pen idly between his fingers, reminding himself not to listen in, though he could just imagine another wink and one of those dangerous smiles from Jack.

"Tioraidh an-drasda, Tess."

Where in the world had Jack picked up a working understanding of Gaelic? Ianto knew there were scores of things he didn't and might never know about the man, but Gaelic?

Tess' laugh was musical and light; he suspected she had already taken a few steps towards the exit. "Tioraidh!"

Ianto listened for a moment, and, hearing nothing, decided that Jack had done one of his quiet disappearances to his office. He had just poised his pen back over the paper when the doorknob turned and Jack stepped neatly in, a questioning eyebrow arched at Ianto, who obviously was at a loss for what to say.

"…Maple pancakes, Sir?" His tone was light, but he knew that Jack was aware he was a bit sore about the whole "new archivist" thing.

"Please tell me that's code for something." It was hard to keep the flicker of a grin from his lips; Jack could be damned charming when he wanted to. The captain's gaze flickered down to the diary in the other man's hands and seemed to remember that he still had a bit of work to finish up. "Right, well now that you've finished eavesdropping, why don't you bring a cup of coffee to my office? I've got something I'd like to discuss with you."

Ianto canted his head a miniscule amount, his tone and expression deadpan. "Please tell me that's code for something."

Jack grinned that grin, the dangerous one Ianto had been imagining for the past ten minutes, before turning from the room in the direction of his office.

Ianto released a sigh he hadn't realised he was holding in. Turning back to his diary, he re-read through what he'd written earlier, silently assuring himself he had nothing to worry about. With a quiet smile of anticipation about the coming "discussion," he penned a final note for the day:

…Blondes.

.-.-.-.