Title: Bonus 1
Author: tarotgal
Fandom:  Torchwood
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my 'verse. I don't get paid a cent to play. Please don't sue and make things worse.
Summary: Jack notices some things about Ianto.
Note: Part of the 12 Ficlets in 12 Days project 2011-2012. Requested by zipstermom

Bonus 1

It had been a long time since Captain Jack Harkness had found himself in anything that could be remotely defined as a relationship. But he found he rather liked the feeling of having someone around all the time. He found himself watching Ianto, even when the man was just typing at a computer or making a cup of tea. And he found himself noticing things he wasn’t sure even Ianto knew about himself.

Jack noticed Ianto passing by his office just after lunch and called him in. “It’s a little chilly in here. I could use some tea.”

With a nod, “That’s what I’m here for.”

“That’s not all you’re here for. Make yourself a cup and help me with this filing, would you? The dates are all wrong and half the files are mostly burnt anyway. Some of the confidentiality methods from the nineteenth century left much to be desired.”

A full pot of tea and pleasant company almost made the task bearable for Jack. They sorted and sifted and chatted about this and that. Though Ianto worked diligently at the task, his heart didn’t seem to be in it. Jack knew why. “Ianto, why don’t you take the afternoon off?” His finger traced the curve of the man’s cheek, sliding down to his chin, then back up to his ear. “You might as well. It’s so quiet here.”

No sooner had the words escaped him than he regretted their utterance. A proximity sensor alarm began sounding, shrill and urgent.

Ianto narrowed his eyes at Jack, who was clearly to blame for this. Then he pushed himself up off the floor and checked the terminal on Jack’s desk. “It’s just a weevil.” Ianto smirked, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck. “Just a weevil. Five years ago, I would never have been grateful to find just a weevil.” He gave a little cough into his shoulder. “It’s not far from here. Let’s go.”

Jack grabbed his coat. Ianto grabbed his. And a hat. And scarf. And gloves. Jack said nothing as he slid into the SUV and turned the heater’s dial up.

As Jack drove, Ianto watched the monitor and gave directions. Turn left there, right there, straight another three blocks then another left. The little blip of light blipped more quickly. Left turn. Right turn. Another right turn. Jack pulled to a halt before a downed lamppost, blocking both lanes.

They went the rest of the way on foot. Weevils’ behaviors were unpredictable; Jack still wasn’t sure what drove them out of the areas where they hid, whether it was anger at being encroached upon or fear of being captured for fighting rings. But living in a Hub cell wasn’t a horrible existence. This thing needed to be off the streets, where it might hurt people or knock over some more lampposts.

They found the weevil lurking in the shadows between two buildings, feasting on something rodent-like, which was hardly enough to satisfy it. Jack glanced back at Ianto, who was rubbing at his nose and wincing slightly. Startled to be caught, Ianto lowered his hand and pulled out a small pistol of sorts, loaded with a canister of anti-weevil spray. Jack considered the situation for a moment then shrugged off his greatcoat. “Give me the pistol and take this.” They traded, though Ianto looked too stunned to say anything. “It’ll get in the way. Keep it warm for me, will you?”

And with that, Jack charged at the weevil. It made a sound like a hiss, a roar, and a screech all rolled into one and bared its fangs at him. Jack might as well have been invulnerable. Attacking it before it could attack him distracted it by giving it nothing to focus on but him, nothing to react to apart from Jack’s body coming at such a pace. Jack fired the spray at it before it could stop him, and it collapsed with a strangled cry and a thump.

A double thump. Jack turned to see Ianto, wearing Jack’s greatcoat, but passed out on the cold concrete. He looked from the unconscious weevil to his unconscious lover and back again with a sigh.

*

Ianto came to, finding himself lying on one of the tables in Owen’s lab. Funny how he still thought of it as Owen’s lab; he supposed he would until they got a new doctor at the Hub, and even then he might still associate this place with the man who’d made every one of Ianto’s visits there the most nightmarish of occasions.

Jack was there as well, currently squatting by a nearby cabinet, rooting through a bin for something. He muttered under his breath, “Thermometer, thermometer, thermometer.”

“Looking for a thermometer?”

Jack didn’t look the least bit surprised as he turned his head and nodded.  His hand had plunged into a bun and came up with a whole fistful of tongue depressors. “What did he need so many tongue depressors for?”

Ianto shrugged, not wanting to admit that he had accidentally over-ordered. The little ticklish feeling that had been playing in his nose all day hadn’t been stopped by a bit of rest. If anything, it was back with vengeance. He had done all right at keeping it at bay all day, but now he could hardly resist the urge to sneeze. When he tried to sit up or swing his legs over to hop off the table, he found exhaustion in his bones.

Worst of all, Jack seemed to notice. “Can I get you something?”

Ianto nodded. “There.” He pointed to the counter above where Jack was crouched down.

Springing to his feet, he exclaimed, “Thermometer?”

“Nuhh no… tihh… ihh-hihhhh… tissues?” He requested, then quickly clamped his hand over his nose. Before the sneeze had a chance to have its way with him, Jack plopped the box down in front of him and even pulled out several tissues, lifting them halfway to Ianto’s face. “ihhh-Htshhhh!”

“Bless. Now, give me give minutes to find a thermometer so I can take your temp and then, Ianto Jones, I’m taking you straight to bed.”

“What an off… offer… IhTchhh! Oh, sorry. Sniff! Excuse me. Guess I’m feeling a little sneezy.”

“It’s probably that head cold you’re fighting,” Jack said calmly, as if he’d just commented on the color of Ianto’s coffee mug. He bent over and pressed his lips to Ianto’s forehead. Then turned and resumed his search for a thermometer.

Ianto rubbed at his nose. “How… long have you known?”

“Since this morning.”

This morning? Ianto hadn’t even known until mid-day, when he realized the reason he was feeling worn out and the reason it hurt painfully to swallow were one and the same. The tickle in his nose hadn’t even started until the afternoon. “How did you know?”

“Pretty hard to miss. I saw you rub your neck a dozen times; you only do that when you have an especially bad headache. You were shivering a little, and it isn’t at all cold in here. I heard you sniff a few times as well, when you thought I wasn’t listening. And do you know what micro expressions are? Every time you swallow you wince, even if you aren’t aware you’re doing it. Headache, chills, stuffy nose, sore throat? It all adds up to a cold. Ah! Here we go.” Jack turned, smiling his most charming Captain Jack Harkness smile. “Open up.”

Ianto obeyed, giving one last sniff before closing his mouth around the thermometer. He closed his eyes, counting to himself. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty-five. He would never make it; already he felt like sneezing. The tickle played along the edge of his nose, also in his nostrils, then took control of him completely. There was nothing he could do. A short intake of breath and he knew he was lost. “h’shifffffffff!” Out came the thermometer. How long had it been? Ianto sniffled and opened his mouth again, obedient.

“That was good enough. Blow your nose and…” Jack slid his arm under Ianto. “Come to bed with me.”

It took a while to get to Jack’s office, what with the stumbling and stopping to sneeze or double-over with coughs. Finally, Jack scooped him up and carried him. Ianto protested, laughing and sniffling, but ultimately was pleased when he was tucked into Jack’s bed with Jack climbing right in after.

Ianto smiled as Jack wrapped arms around him, holding him loosely so that a box of tissues between them could be easily accessed whenever Ianto felt another sneeze come on. “Make yourself comfortable, because I’m not letting you leave.” How long had he waited to hear those words from Jack? It might be for reasons he didn’t much care for now, but he’d take Jack and Jack’s bed any way he could get them. It had been a long time since Ianto Jones had been in a relationship. But he found he rather liked having someone to care for him.