Title: The Power Cut
Spoilers: None, and no time setting.
Prompt: Ianto's hidden fear.
Copyright: I do not own Torchwood, Captain Jack Harkness or Ianto Jones, if I did CoE would never have happened.

Ianto was lying on the bed in Jacks bunker, the brightly lit tiny room was perfect for their dabbling now and then, especially during office hours when the rest of the team were completely unaware of what they were doing.

He had told the rest of the team he was going to the shop to buy some more coffee, as they had run out. Which of course was true, they had run out of coffee, but Ianto had a supply hidden away from the rest of the team in the case of that happening. Owen had quickly shooed Ianto out the door at the first mention of them running out of coffee, offering to pay for petrol or taxi fare for Ianto, in order for him to get his sweet indulgence of caffeine which he craved.

Jack had told them he was finishing UNIT reports and was to not be disturbed for the next few hours. The team agreed to keep well away from the Captain, they knew exactly how he could get when he had reports from UNIT to complete, and that was definitely not something they wanted to get in the middle of. The Captain was difficult enough to work with on a good day, but when he was in a bad mood, he was unbelievable.

Ianto, having lots of practice at this sort of thing now with all of their secret meetings, had managed to sneak past them all when they were deep into their work, to meet Jack in his bunker for a quickie. This was something which Jack was intently desperate for. The Captain had practically begged him for it, all sense of pride and dignity going out the window as he did so.

Jack was slowly undoing Ianto's shirt, almost painfully slowly for the Welshman, but he allowed Jack to do what he wanted to. Button by button as he lay on top of him, his own shirt discarded somewhere in the enclosed space, Jack knew exactly what this slow pace was doing to Ianto, but this type of foreplay was the best kind for Jack, he adored seeing his young lover so vulnerable, and all his for the taking. He was enjoying all of this. Not just the activity which they were both about to participate in, that part he definitely enjoyed, but also knowing that Ianto was his. Even if they weren't completely exclusive, and their relationship was anything but simple, he was Jack's.

Jack was certainly enjoying thing until Ianto stopped him, a worried expression on his face. God only knows how many different thoughts ran through the Captain's head when his lover told him to stop. Had Ianto changed his mind? Did he not want to be with Jack anymore? Was Jack not enough for him?

"What was that?" he whispered, his eyes darting around the room.

At that point, even more worrying thoughts ran through his mind. Had one of the Torchwood Three staff gone looking for Jack in his office and noticed he wasn't there? Was someone else in his bunker? Was Ianto going mad? What would they do if someone caught them? Would Ianto still want to continue, but be public about their dabbling?

"What was what?" Jack asked, his voice hushed, as he too gazed around the room.

"That buzzing-" Ianto was cut off as the lights went off in the room, "Jack!" He cried, grabbing for his lover as the room was plunged into darkness. Jack was just as shocked as Ianto at this point. He wondered what could possibly have scared Ianto so much to cause him to cling onto him so tightly. He was more concerned about the sobbing Welshman in his arms, than he was about the lack of electricity in the Hub. The problem with the electric was easily sorted, and Ianto was much more important to Jack.

"Hey, Yan it's okay" the Captain cooed, stroking his fingers up Ianto's arm, trying his hardest to calm down his lover.

One of Ianto's fears, unknown to anyone else, was a fear of the dark. He knew it was childish, and that he should have outgrown this fear at the age of 9 when all the other kids at school did, but the night he was locked alone in the basement at his Aunt's house when he was 7 still played in his mind. The hours he waited in the dark, the monsters he imagined in there that were out to get him, they plagued his thoughts every time he was in the dark. Even at the age of 26, Ianto still slept with the light on.

"No no no no no, Jack!" The young Welshman clung onto Jack as if for dear life, his eyes beginning to fill with unshed tears. Ianto had reverted back to a child state, as Jack attempted to soothe him with whispers and light kisses.

Eventually when the lights came back on, after not being in the dark for that long, both Ianto and Jack breathed a sigh of relief. It meant that there was nothing majorly wrong with the Hub electric, and Ianto was now able to calm down being in a fully lit room.

After he had gotten dressed, Ianto was more embarrassed than he had ever been. Not because he had cried in front of Jack, no he had done that before. Many times in fact. But he was embarrassed because he had whispered four little words during his mumblings, that he had definitely not meant to utter. Or at least he had not meant to say to the Captain yet, and definitely not in this situation.

"I love you Jack"

He had hoped the Captain's lack of response meant that he hadn't heard him, but he knew that was a long shot with how close they had both been. He wished it hadn't have happened. He had wanted the first telling of that to be special, over dinner or something romantic like that. How unromantic was it to say 'I love you' when Ianto had just finished freaking out and probably looked a state due to all the crying.

"So, fear of the dark" Jack commented, as he buttoned up his shirt. Their sexual energy was now completely gone, and probably wouldn't return for another few hours, so they'd both agreed to continue this later on, "I'll have to make a mental note of that"

"I am so sorry" Ianto apologised for the sixth time since then incident, "I had better get going, otherwise they'll think I've gotten lost on the way to the shop" he muttered, attempting to get out of the room as quickly as possible. He couldn't endure being in the same room as Jack at that very moment, his lover had seen him at his most vulnerable, and now he had spoiled a moment that was meant to be one of the greatest parts in a relationship, and he hated himself for it.

"Yan?" The Captain called as Ianto began to climb up the ladder.

"Yes Sir?"

"I love you too"

The blush that formed on Ianto's cheeks as he continued up the ladder, was completely worth Jack's sexual frustration not being tended to. Ianto smiled as he left Jack's bunker, maybe the power cut wasn't as bad as he thought it was.

fin