Martha Jones (walkedtheearth) wrote in tw_newworlds, @ 2013-07-25 16:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | ianto jones, jack harkness, martha jones |
Who: Martha Jones, Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness (Once he wakes up)
What: The return AND a BIG talk!
When: Forward dated to Saturday morning, April 8, 2011
Where: Cardiff Hub
Why: Because from this point forward the relationships of Jack Harkness (and I do mean Ships) get a little bit more interesting.
Friday night had been interesting. Not interesting in a bad way, but having been called to London by an old friend from her residency days for an emergency - that had turned out to be something very Torchwood related. She'd spent the night sleeping on a plane, and then in her new apartment - which she had been at very little recently because Jack was home finally. But becuase of her absense for the last two days she'd needed to get caught up with files at the Hub. And there was the added bonus of seeing Jack.
She'd accessed the entrance through the visitor's center, dropping her carry bag on the table. It was quiet, just like usual on Saturdays. Gwen wasn't in, Jack would come up when he was ready and until then Martha had the place to herself. It was quiet, peaceful, more peaceful than a place like this had any right to be.
Sitting down at Tosh's old station, Martha logged in, grabbing one of the files from the bag. She hadn't eaten yet, but she could get something from the kitchen soon enough, but not now. Updating the information was easy enough. Then the copies she printed out from home would be disposed of. Never the most glamorous of jobs but a necessary one, especially with the odd things that had been going on recently. Those shades they'd been fighting recently had disappeared, almost as if they had never been there. And that always left Martha uneasy.
Ianto was regretting sleeping down in Jack's bunk now. The night before he'd been sore, but this morning it felt like the whole building was sitting on him again. Climbing the ladder with on hand was tricky, but he managed, not wanting to wake Jack up. He was shirtless, not bothering to try and get one on now. His body looked like it had been through the ringer.
He wondered when Martha would be coming in. He knew that Jack wanted him to be looked at and the sooner the better now. Walking out into the Hub, he saw Martha sitting there. It had been a while since he'd seen her and if he was missing as long as Jack said, she was going to freak when she saw him.
"Anything exciting happening?" he asked, leaning on his old desk to watch her work.
There were several things that Martha expected on a Saturday morning. Several things that included Jack getting up and saying hello in his rather unique way. But among these things did not include what she had heard.
Was this possible? Martha froze, stiffening where she sat. Slowly she found herself turning around. And standing there behind her, leaning on the desk that had been vacant - yet dusted - for eight months was Ianto Jones. She would be surprised if her jaw hadn't dropped. Martha stood up and turned around fully, the files forgotten for the moment. "...You're back."
It was him. After eight months! But the question was was it their Ianto! But he was standing there, and as she moved towards him, Martha picked up speed, making her way over in record time. She just looked at him, her arms moving to give him a hug. After eight months... Of course as she got closer she saw the condition he seemed to be in. He looked like he'd been in a fight!
"Ianto- how... when..." She tried to verbalize her words. "My god look at you!" She was actually a bit more worried now from what she was seeing, the way he was standing, and she noted that he wasn't wearing a shirt - but that was secondary.
Ianto smiled, wrapping his good arm around her. "Hey, yeah. I didn't even know I was gone that long. I thought I was trapped in a bad dream and when I came around I was in the Plass, beat up again and confused. Rift must have snagged me during a spike, took me right back to when John Hart decided to blow up that building. Just when my body had healed," he sighed, watching her eyes look him over.
"Sorry for the lack of clothes. It hurt too damn much to put one on."
He knew she had a lot of questions, but he really didn't have any answers. He didn't know himself. Ianto just knew he was back and home and happy to be with his friends. He just wished he could have changed time to save everyone.
She had missed him. More than she would have admitted to anyone, mostly because everyone had dealt with it in their own way. Then there was her and Jack. But he was here standing in front of her.
Martha waved off his apology, not paying much attention to it, instead taking an inventory of his visible injuries. She raised her hand to his face and turned his head to the side slightly. "You had to go through it twice?" That was never a good thing. If the Rift was spiking they needed to see about recalibrating the equipment. This was ridiculous.
Some of the injuries seemed superficial, but others... Martha pursed her lips. She tried to remember his file from that incident, maybe the injuries were the same? No, that would be too simple. "You look like you've been put through the ringer," she said evaluating. She looked at his shoulder and laid her hand on it, trying to feel the injury. "Any specific discomfort?" She was jumping right into medical mode. Right now it was necessary.
Ianto cringed badly as she touched his shoulder, feeling himself go a little green from the pressure. She didn't even touch him that hard. "Well that," he said, closing his eyes. "J-Jack popped it back in last night. Second time it's done that. Whole body is sore... um, my chest on this side, if I take to deep a breath." He'd had that probably once or twice last night. It didn't hurt as bad then, but now it was awful tender.
"It's weird, most of the places I scared from the first time, opened up again. But that's time keeping up with itself, yeah?" He would have moved from his spot, but the pain had thrown him a bit and he'd gotten light headed.
Sore body, joint sensitive to the touch, internal bruising was a large possibility. Jack had just popped it in? Yes she'd been away but why hadn't he called her?! Or put it into a sling. Wait for her! He'd just done what he thought best. She knew this, but he needed medical attention.
"Let's get you to medical," she shot him a smile, removing her hand from his shoulder. "We have a few new toys that should help and some old fashioned bedside manner." She indicated the way - not that he needed it, he'd been her longer than her. "You may have gotten lucky. Something like that could easily have caused a temporal imbalance, it could have been much worse..." Martha's tone was understanding, knowing that it had been bad, but in truth it could have been much worse. He could have just disappeared from existence! She'd learned a lot by reading in the TARDIS library during her time as a Companion. Truth was she was just happy to see him.
She was about to step away but saw his pupils shifting and moved to grab the arm he'd hugged her with - the one that seemed to be his good arm.
"We'll take it slow," she tried to soothe. She knew this was not fun. Not at all.
"Thanks. Sorry, just woke up a lot more uncomfortable then I went to bed last night," he said, appreciating the hand down to the medical bay. It was a lot quieter in the Hub without everyone there. It was something Ianto hadn't gotten used to yet, but he was sure everyone else had.
He didn't want to think about never coming back. That wasn't an option in his book. He'd have clawed his way back through if he had to. Getting to the table, he pulled himself up on it with a hiss, his hand on his side now. "I'm slowly remembering how much it sucks having a floor of a building come crashing down around you. Not a fan."
"Well you weren't properly looked after last evening," she said with a small smile, trying to lend some comfort to her friend as they headed down the stairs. "But you can't fault Jack. He does his best, but we both know he isn't a doctor." She chuckled to herself shaking her head, knowing exactly what he would say in response to that if he were here, but kept it to herself - naturally.
As she grabbed a few things from the medical supply bins she shook her head. The hiss had been completely audible, and it caused her to frown. The worst was when one of the team - one of her friends - were in pain. This was why she did what she did. Bringing over a tissue generator they'd gotten from a raid and a few other items including an icepack and a salve that would help the sensitivity (leaving the singularity scalpel ALONE!), she turned back to him. "Well we're going to find out why it happened, and then you're never going to have to do that again." She smiled ever so slightly. "Doctor's order, Mister Jones." She grabbed the portable x-ray and held it up to his side, waiting a few seconds. "It could be a lot worse," she said finally after a few moments. "Doesn't feel it, but medically it could. Internal bruising..." she put down the machine and picked up one of the pieces of technology and started to wave it over the area.
"Same as last time," he said, glad it wasn't his ribs. "No, it's not Jack's fault. He was just so happy to see me and I was happy to be home and around him and just not trapped and watching..." Ianto's thoughts spread out and he stopped talking, clearing his throat. Watching Tosh and Owen die. It's what he would have said, but he figured Martha needed him to be quiet so she could concentrate.
His shoulder was the worst of it. Just like the last time. At his place he had- Wait. Gone for eight months? He doubted anyone paid his rent. He didn't have a home. That would be a fun little adventure to go on later.
"Well you can't imagine how much we all missed you," she said honestly. She was paying attention, but her major focus was on the instrument in front of her. It would ease the pain and repair some of the damage. "Alright," she said, the voice coming out a bit slow. "I need you," she pressed something on the interface. "to sit still for a few moments." She could see the damage and she could ease it. It would have to heal on its own, but this would give it a head start. It had been in a box of things that she'd found. Things that Owen must have been working on, because it had had his name on it.
She was very careful, while she wasn't entirely certain how the equipment worked she'd used it before and knew how. The area was gone over once, twice, three times before she finally shut it down. "That should help your breathing a bit, but really you'll need to rest." Just like last time according to his file. The was the question of what to do about his shoulder. The same instrument wouldn't work here. She grabbed a bottle from the tray and retrieved two pills. "Think you can take these? They'll help the pain." She had some more work to do but this would be a first step. The joint was swollen internally. Compresses could assist, but this injury, since it had been set - and she was rather certain Jack had popped it back in properly - she would have to examine it. And she didn't fancy the idea of Ianto turning green.
Pills, Ianto could handle. Taking them from her, he put them in his mouth, taking them dry. He'd become a master of dry swallowing from all the nights of headaches working overtime here. That wasn't a complaint, he really thought of it as a useful task.
"This going to hurt that bad?" he asked. Those were some rather awful tasting pills and when it tasted that bad, it meant it was strong.
He focused on other things. He didn't really want to think about how badly this was going to hurt. "I can't believe I was gone that long. When Jack ever told me. Seven hours. I had to relive it all and I couldn't say a thing because I didn't want to shift time. As much as I thought it was a dream, I didn't let on." Ianto stared across the room. "I had to, let Tosh die."
She wished that she could tell him that it wouldn't, that it would be painless, but medicine was rarely painless, and she wasn't about to lie. She nodded silently, deciding to wait for the pills to wear on before attempting the examination. It wouldn't take long. With any luck they would be strong enough to take away some of it, but even with how strong they were, she didn't have high hopes.
Martha moved next to him, listening to what he had to stay. He was staring across the room and the words hit her. And they hit her hard. Before she could stop herself she wrapped her arm around him, lightly, trying to offer some support. In many ways she, the Doctor and Jack had gotten very lucky, once the Paradox Machine had been destroyed during the Master's conquest time had reversed itself. They had the memories, but no one else did. For ianto it had been the opposite. He'd had to relive moments on his own timeline - something that (according to the doctor) wasn't supposed to be possible. The hug was for support. He'd had to watch Tosh die. Not get involved in attempting to save her. She remembered from her trip to see Shakespeare that time could be rewritten. It had almost been, as she'd said back then, the world hadn't ended in 1599, but it could have.
Tosh and Owen's deaths had been terrible. It had affected everyone, Martha included. She could picture - knowing what she did - just how hard it was to watch events go by and be able to do nothing to stop them. Even if it was possible, and time would have taken another outlet, something else would have happened in its stead. She missed her friends, and it was a few moments before she realized that they were just standing there in silence. What was there to say? "I know..." the rules of time were clear. She squeezed his good arm, pursing her lips and lowering her eyes, swallowing. She had to admire him. She didn't think - if this had happened to her - that she would have been able to stand by and just let it happen... Her first oath was Do no Harm. "There was nothing you could have done..."
I tried to," he said, remembering leaving other Jack and Gwen down in the morgue, racing through the Hub. If he could get there before she was shot and then BANG. He could still hear the shot echo in these walls. Gray turned on him next and he knew he couldn't die. That wasn't how it went. "I really wanted to try to, but then everything would have fallen out of place..."
He let out a shaky sigh and looked back up at Martha. "Best get on with this. No sense in putting off the inevitable." Hopefully, these drugs were as good as she said they were going to be. He was starting to feel a little bit numb already.
"Messing about with time is a dangerous thing. There's no telling what could have happened. The fact that you tried..." She couldn't say anything bad about it. "You did everything you could," she tried to assure him of this fact. It certainly sounded like it. They all missed her. She gave him another half hug, hoping that it would help.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, Martha nodded, taking her arm back, mind now full of thoughts of their fallen friend. She needed her head in the game right now. It was more than important, it was vital. Her hands had to do the talking because the machine only went so far. "If they work the way they ought you should feel very little," she promised. She certainly hoped they did. She wouldn't have given them to him had she thought he could handle it, but given that it had made him unsteady on his feet earlier she wasn't about to take that chance.
Martha let one finger sit lightly atop his shoulder, testing the waters to begin with. "How is that?" She hoped he couldn't feel anything...
The finger didn't feel that bad. "It's okay. I feel it, but it's not anything bad," he said, a little relieved. It was fine at first and then she moved him just the right way and he felt that horrible pull. It shot all the way through him and his body tensed. He was going to pass out.
Putting his hand down on the table, he exhaled slowly, shivering. It might have been the only thing that kept him from blacking out. Yep; just as fun as the last time. If he ever saw John Hart again, he'd be kicking his ass through the Rift and then some.
The shoulder had been set. It wasn't badly done, but it had needed adjustment. And for that reason Ianto had been in enormous pain. Under other circumstances she would have given a patient something to bite on, but there wasn't anything available. She'd tried to do it as gently as possible, but there was no good way to do this - much like getting hooks out of a person's hand, you couldn't just take it out, you needed to push it through.
Feeling him tense, Martha winced, keeping a close watch on him, holding onto him just in case. "Alright Ianto," she tried to get him to focus in on her voice. "Stay with me." She'd seen grown men cry from this procedure. She was glad she'd given him the pills. It would have been much worse otherwise, and even so he would feel it once the painkillers wore off. She needed him to relax but that would take time. "You alright?" She was cautious too ask becuase it was a relative question. No was the real answer, but the actual question was 'does that feel any better.' If it didn't there was probably some nerve damage, and she wasn't equipped to hand that, not here...
His shoulder was on fire with protest. He held his hand up, not really sure he trusted his voice at the moment. He took a few deep breaths, sitting up straight. His face was an interesting shade of green and white, but it started to subside.
Slowly, he tried lifting his arm, but he only got about halfway before he put it right back down. It was an odd pain, because while it still hurt like hell, parts of his arm had gone numb from the drugs as well as his side that once hurt.
"I'm gonna be sick..." he whispered, feeling the urge build. Perhaps the medicine on an empty stomach combined with this pain was a bit to much. He turned his head quickly and up it came, far away from Martha. It wasn't a lot, there wasn't much in the Welshman and once he did so, he felt a little better. Not much, but better.
Despite evidence to the contrary, medically this was actually a good sign. It meant that the connections were back in place. However looking at it any other way this was terrible. Extremely bad. Especially for him. Martha removed her hands from his person, letting him get as far as he needed. This was a medical bay, it had seen much worse than a little vomit in its time. It would survive. Ianto on the other hand, she was a bit unsure of. It was a reaction to trauma. And that had been physically traumatic. Sometimes the cure was worse than the illness.
Martha grabbed a towel from the cart and pushed it into his good hand, saying "Here." She gave him some space before putting a hand on his back, mentally debating the best form of treatment. His shoulder was back in place, but she wanted a way to hold it there. A sling seemed the obvious option, in incapacitate the arm thus not allowing for other movement, but it would get in the way. "Your shoulder needed to be adjusted," she told him pausing for a moment. "The pills I gave you will wear off soon." She moved to grab some cleaning supplies and a hose that was on the back wall (usually used after autopsies) and sprayed the contents of the floor down the drain, then disinfected the surface. "We need to keep your shoulder from moving for the next few days..." She turned to him, her manner still serious and professional. "I can give you pain killers for the uncomfortability."
"Do you have to do what you just did again?" If so she'd better knock him out if that was the case. It took Ianto a moment to feel human again, before he sat up, clearing his throat. The taste in his mouth was God awful. It seemed like everything was back where it needed to be.
Ianto brought his arm up to his chest holding it there as he flexed a few of his fingers. It felt stiff, but he took that as an okay thing. Since he was being jerked around so much.
"How do you suggest that? Sling?" He could work around that. Thankfully he was right handed anyways. Fixing coffee for everyone would prove interesting. Right now, he just worried about being able to stand up.
At his question Martha shook her head. "No, just the once. Everything is back where it is supposed to be now." she gave him a once over, grabbing some antibacterial gel to take care of the minor scrapes that seemed to already have become a bit red - possibly infected - putting it on gently by way of a cotton swab. "Believe it or not this is a rather common problem, its just that there is no way to fix it properly without there being pain involved." It was true. They could build a better mouse trap, but they couldn't come up to fix this ailment without adding to the pain of the patient. She couldn't help but shake her head.
Watching him - more specifically watching as he moved his hand - she could see normal movement and that was a good sign. "That would be the primary option," Martha pulled back, having finished applying the ointment. Truth was that he needed to rest. "The other option is to continue to give you an injected pain reliever, but then there is no stimuli to tell you when you're overdoing it." She moved and sat next to him on the table, her feet not touching the floor. "You got lucky, again. This injury could have been much worse. I realize it doesn't feel that way, but it could."
"Yeah, very lucky. Building falls on you twice, there's got to be some Chinese prophecy about that. Building fall on twice, mean lots of money... or something like that." He knew how bad it could have been. He could have been dead and crushed and trapped. Time could have changed itself. He could have ended up in a totally different parallel universe.
"I'm not a big fan of drugs. I'll stick to some Advil or something," he said, sliding off the table, catching his bearings. His stomach was still a bit uneasy, but at least he was hungry again.
Martha chuckled. "Building that falls on a man twice means that the man should stay away from crumbling structures and retire to an estate in the country," she managed a smirk. "But somehow I rather doubt that that will happen any time soon." Not with their jobs. There was a reason that pay at Torchwood was so good - it was hazard pay. Anything that could go wrong would go wrong and there was always a chance of them being killed... But the pay was good.
She took a moment before she followed suit getting off the table and walking over to a closet where she (and Owen before her) had kept specialized medical equipment... this generally meant slings and straitjackets. It was a cautionary measure. One that she hadn't had to use before and prayed she never had to - the straitjackets anyway. She walked back over to him and adjusted the strap slightly. "This will just take a second." She started to put the sling in place, Ianto was a few heads taller than she which made the job a bit more difficult, but she managed, carefully putting his arm into the brace. "We'll look at it in a few days," she promised. "And with any luck, you'll be able to have your arm back."
That said she moved to put things away and took out a bottle of over-the-counter pain killers. "These will help." She pocketed them, she'd give them to him later, and upon putting everything away she managed a smile - despite it all. "After that, are you hungry?" It would be normal if he was. "I can make us something light."
"If you're cooking, then count me in," chimed in a familiar voice with an American accent. Jack grinned as he rested his forearms on the railing, looking down at the pair of them. He was mainly dressed, but was only wearing his white-shirt at the moment and his braces hung loose at his sides.
"So Doctor Jones... what's the prognosis here on Mister Jones?" he asked with a smirk.
Ianto was about to answer when he heard Jack. He felt better knowing Jack was right there. His eyes moved up, tired, rather pained but he smiled back at him. "I'll live," he said.
The whole time he'd been with Martha that morning, he wondered when was a good time to bring up that he knew about them. Ianto wasn't mad. It was like he'd said before, Jack wasn't his to keep and he'd been gone so long, he didn't expect Jack to mourn over him forever. Still he loved the man and as long as he hadn't lost him, sharing was just fine. There was plenty of Jack to go around. Only question was, would Martha feel the same.
Ianto took the pain killers and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm with Jack. Something to eat would be nice." He started up the stairs towards Jack, giving his arm a loving squeeze, before he stepped back out into the Hub to find the couch.
Martha - at this point - didn't see the interaction between Ianto and Jack, she was busy putting away the equipment. She'd learned many things during her time actually practicing medicine, and here at Torchwood, and one of those things was that you did not leave medical supplies OR alien tech out in the open. When they were both? You locked it with a padlock and then locked the key in a desk.
"He'll live," she parroted Ianto's words. "But I think we should keep him away from any tall buildings for the next week or two." She was making light of it, but the true nature of Ianto's injury had been bad. She'd said it could have been worse, but she hadn't said how much worse. She'd read his file. His arm could have snapped. He was lucky it was just a dislocation. And it would hurt for a while, but it would heal and he's have a full range of motion again.
Martha climbed up the stairs, turning off the lights as she left and gave Jack a squeeze before following Ianto out. She wasn't stupid. At the back of her head there had always been that question of what would happen when Ianto came back. But right now she was just so thrilled to have him back where he belonged that those thoughts were pushed to the back burner. For now. Unfortunately she didn't know what was to come. She started for the kitchen, turning to Jack. "You coming?" she asked with a grin. It was Saturday morning. That meant she made breakfast.
"Just try and stop me." Jack took a quick step and playfully reached out to pinch her side. He grinned at Martha and fell into step alongside of her, nodding as they walked.
"So what're we having?" he asked curiously. "Something with bacon, right?" Jack loved her bacon. She always made it nice and crispy for him, without it ending up being burned.
Ianto was going to stop at the couch, but instead he made his way up to the kitchen to start the coffee. Force of habit. Of course what he found was a bit of a mess. Mugs everywhere, the machine had the grinds in it from the day before. He'd only been gone... oh right.
Sighing, Ianto emptied out the coffee grinds and rinsed out the filter. Thankfully, the pot had been rinsed. Torchwood people were always good about finishing off a pot. No leftover coffee drips. Taking the bag of grounds, he poured in his usual amount and started it up. Best to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible.
Martha jumped and turned to Jack with a slightly wicked grin. Then again what did you expect from Jack Harkness on a Saturday morning? "If its Saturday then you're having bacon," she smirked. "One thing I've learned, and I'm not about to deprive you of it," she teased.
Approaching the kitchen Martha ran through ideas in her head. "Well we have fixings for pancakes, and it is Saturday," it seemed like a good idea. She was about to say more when she saw Ianto at the coffee machine. "You're supposed to be resting," she wasn't sure whether to be happy to see this or be upset that he was possibly going to strain himself. Then again, this was Ianto... and the coffee machine was his domain. "What do you think, Ianto, pancakes and bacon?"
"Martha's bacon and Ianto's coffee... talk about the perfect start to a day. And we'll actually have to get more pancake mix. I fixed some for Ianto last night because he was hungry," he told her.
"And you're going to learn quickly that I can't sit still for very long," Ianto smiled. "I think I can manage a coffee pot without stressing myself out to badly.
Ianto turned his attention back to Jack, grinning at him. "And you, are spoiled rotten. Lucky for you we don't mind doing it." Ianto didn't mind pancakes again, especially with the promise of bacon with them.
Martha rolled her eyes muttering something about men and not following doctor's orders, but the truth was she was amused by it. There was now no question in her mind that this WAS their Ianto. Even more so when - acknowledging it for the first time - she saw Ianto and Jack starting to fall back into a familiar pattern of behavior. It was something she'd seen time and time again since her arrival. And while it was both reassuring and heartwarming, it also made her realize more than a few things that she'd not wanted to.
Despite this she didn't say anything. Didn't let it show. There were other things right now, and it was only an inkling.
"Mix? Really?" She turned to Jack with a skeptical look. "You wound me, Captain. Surely you know that I only keep the mix around so you have something easy to make." She winked over at Ianto and pulled out ingredients and a mixing bowl (including an apple and a cinnimon). "He's lucky, or he'd be eating lots of take away or worse, starve." It was nice to be able to talk to Ianto again, joke with him. When he'd disappeared she'd lost a good friend.
Jack leaned against the wall and smirked, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers. "I think I deserve to be spoiled a little. Besides... I could get used to this!"
He watched as Ianto made the coffee and Martha began getting things out for the pancakes and bacon. "Pancakes from scratch?" he asked, smiling over at Martha and moving to stand behind her. He slid his arms around her waist and hugged her from behind, nuzzling the nape of her neck. "Now I'm definitely spoiled."
"Mmmm, very," Ianto said, raising his eyebrow. When the coffee was done, he poured Jack his nuclear cup and passed it off to him, making his own and Martha's. He left hers on the counter, taking his own off to the couch.
He wanted to stop to give Jack a kiss, but he had Martha right now and she didn't know what was going on. Instead, he just gave Jack a warm smile and went to go have a seat. Best to be out of the way right now.
Martha chuckled, smirking stirring the bowl in front of her. She leaned back against him, her head falling slightly to the side. She let out a squeak, her hand holding to the spoon. Maybe her take on the situation was wrong?
She tilted her head back, smiling. "You just like me because I feed you," she smirked, opening her eyes and turning to him, leaving the spoon in the bowl. She gave him a quick peck as if to say good morning, then realized what she'd just done and the fact that Ianto was over there, and there was the question of who knew what. Something she didn't know yet.
She smiled up at Jack. "You know if we stand here that we're not going to have any breakfast," she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips. He liked distracting her when she was doing something like cooking or looking something up. Something she generally liked.
"That's jsut one of the reasons I like you, he replied, giving her another hug. "But yeah... good point."
Jack gave her another quick kiss and walked over to sit down on the couch beside Ianto, casually draping an arm behind his shoulders. He sipped his coffee, closed his eyes, and sighed contentedly. "Oh god... I've really missed your coffee!"
It had been a rather rough morning. The coffee was helping, but having Jack there helped a lot more. Ianto leaned into him as Jack wrapped an arm around him. He held his coffee tight to him with his useful hand, closing his eyes.
He could fall asleep again. "Missed you. Rough morning," he whispered. He didn't blame Martha in the least. Ianto was glad to be looked after.
Martha watched the two for a few moments before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the batter in front of her. She put in the final ingredients into the batter before starting to cut the apple up into little cubes then adding them and the cinnamon. This was her mother's recipe. Admittedly Martha went a bit heavily on the vanilla, but she had yet to get any complaints.
Moreover, this gave her some time to think.
There was not a person who could say that Martha was dumb, that added to the fact that she knew Jack a bit too well added to the line of questioning running through her head. She knew Jack. And she knew Ianto. And she knew the two of them together. And she knew that the two of them together acted a certain way, and they were acting - as she was paying attention - putting the batter on the grittel that they were indeed falling right where things had been eight months ago. But then... Then there was how Jack had reacted to her literally seconds earlier...
Jack took another sip of coffee, playfully ruffling Ianto's hair as they sat there. "How's the shoulder today?" he asked, despite already knowing that Martha had looked him over.
He smiled as he as he inhaled the scent of the freshly cooking pancakes. "Mmm... you making the vanilla apple ones?" he called over to Martha. "I love those."
"Hurts. She had to rearrange something or.. I dunno but it hurt worse then when you popped it back in last night. Almost passed out. But I'm getting good at holding myself up." Ianto opened his eyes looking up at Jack as he called to Martha.
Ianto took another sip of his coffee as he ran his finger over Jack's face. Always smooth. He wished his could be that smooth when he shaved. Speaking of which, he needed to still. His eyes moved to Martha and he kept his voice low. "When are you going to talk to her?" he asked.
"That's why I'm making them," Martha called over her shoulder, checking the items on the grittle and flipping them over. She let them sit, grabbing another pan and the bacon out of the freezer.
The two of them were talking over on the couch, and while she couldn't hear it, she could only imagine it was intense.
Jack wasn't an enigma to her. Not really. Admittedly learning about his daughter had been a surprise, but it had fit what she'd assumed (and it was something she'd promised not to repeat. Jack's private business was his own). But still there was that lingering question. Jack - despite the fact that she had never heard him say it - loved her, she also knew that he loved Ianto. And that led to a conundrum. When it was just her and him, and before he'd disappeared, it hadn't been that big of a problem. But now...
The bacon sizzling and the need to pull the pancakes off the grittle for a moment distracted Martha from her own thoughts.
Especially because she knew Jack. She wanted to give the guys their time but...
In response to Ianto's question, Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know... during breakfast? Maybe after?"
Jack took a playful nip at Ianto's finger, winked, then returned to drinking his coffee (which he polished off in no time). He stood up and walked over to the machine to get a refill, then paused behind Martha and peered over her shoulder. The small pile of bacon that was already finished was too tempting to resist and Jack's hand shot out, snatching a piece. Before Martha could say anything, he popped it into his mouth and started chewing, grinning mischievously at her.
Ianto grinned, pulling his hand back when Jack went to take a bite. He finished off his first cup of coffee, but getting off the couch was proving hard. He was rather comfortable now, he just wished Jack hadn't moved away.
He sighed, putting the mug down on the coffee table and rested his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes. This was going to be an interesting conversation.
She sensed someone behind her but couldn't do anything in time to keep Jack away from the bacon. She turned around and gave him a somewhat stern look which instantly faded into a more playful one when she saw the look he was giving her. "You do know that this means you get one less piece with breakfast," she teased, pulling a few more out of the pan, and attempting to move the plate out of Jack's reach.
The doctor took the pancakes off the grittle. The realization was easy coming. It really was. And there was the question as to whether Ianto knew too. If it had been anyone else she'd have been trying to figure out motives and final decisions. But this was Jack. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too. And because he was Jack Harkness and no one else it was more understandable...
Still holding the spatula in her hand, she glanced over at Ianto briefly, turning to their boss, trying to figure out the best way to say this, her voice hushed. Unfortunately it didn't come out very... well it was more subtle. "So, really." Her voice wasn't accusing, just inquiring. She indicated herself and Jack then indicated her head to Ianto. Part of her wondered if Jack would even get what she was saying. Was that what he was thinking?
"No... it just means you cook extra," he replied with a cheeky smile. Jack began plating pancakes and rashers of bacon for each of them when she asked the question. He arched an eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee. "Really what?"
She looked back at Ianto again before looking back at Jack. She still didn't know how to say this. "Ianto's back," she said with a slight upturn of the corner of her mouth. She was happy for that. Very happy for that. She'd missed her friend. And there were now questions about her and Jack. Maybe not though if his actions were any indication. She'd be a fool to not know that he's want Ianto back. "You, me, Ianto," she tilted her head to the side, waiting for an answer. "I can see you thinking."
"Is he?" Jack asked, eyes widening in mock surprise as he joked around with her. He broke into a grin and set his coffee mug down, sliding his arms around Martha's waist to hug her.
"Me, you, Ianto... why, Doctor Jones! I had no idea you had such a dirty mind! Naughty," Jack teased. "Actually... at the moment, I was just thinking about breakfast. But I'm all for a three way later on if you want."
When it looked like Martha might actually hit him with the spatula, Jack smiled and kissed her cheek. He handed one plate to Martha and motioned for her to have a seat on the couch, then managed to carry over the other two plates and his coffee mug.
"I told him last night about us and how he's been gone for eight months. But... yeah. This," he said motioning to the three of them with a twirl of his fork, "Is probably something we should all talk about."
"There's not much to talk about," Ianto said, his eyes still closed as he sat on the couch. "Jack and I never had any committment to one another, but he knows I love him. I also knew that sharing was a high possibility and I'm fine with that." Ianto opened his eys and looked at the two of them. "Nothing has to be awkward. We're all together all day anyways. We'll just alternate weekends," Ianto smiled, taking his plate.
"I mean really, if anyone here messed anything up, it was me. Got myself lost for eight months. How would I expect that nothing would change." Of course he didn't know he was gone that long, but in retrospect it was the logical way to look at things.
"I don't believe that anyone here 'messed anything up,'" she admitted, letting her shoulders drop. This was - as she was certain Jack suspected - exactly what she'd been thinking as she'd been cooking. Jack wouldn't want to choose. It was the two of them and for him that was workable.
Martha looked from Jack to Ianto before moving to take a seat next to her friend on the couch. She put her plate down and sat back. If nothing else Ianto seemed rather okay with this. Martha herself had never had any sort of relationship like this. There were some interesting times during university, but beyond that, nothing like this. Still... it was Ianto. (Though she might have thought splitting up weekends was a bit much, just setting ground rules where thereweren't any, but... he was smiling. Jack was now a shared pet?)
She chuckled and picked up her plate, crossing her leg, looking between the two men. The three of them was really how it boiled down. "Well..." she tilted her head to the side. It was Ianto, and Jack. What could she really say? No? Absolutely not. A small smile crossed her lips. "So... how are we going to break this to my mum?" She figured that Jack would know exactly what that meant, and that she wasn't serious about telling Francine. It was none of her business, but also... well... That was enough.
"I'm not telling your mom anything," Jack replied stubbornly. Martha's mom wasn't one of his favorite people in the world, despite everything they all went through on the Valiant together. "She hates me... she's convinced I'm out to corrupt all of her daughters."
Jack ate a bite of pancake and with his mouth full, he pointed at each of them with his fork and asked, "So... you two aren't going to try and force me to choose? Seriously?"
"Jack what's the point in it? When have I ever been able to make you do ANYTHING? You care about us both in different ways, we love you for different reasons. I told you, I'd never make you choose. Couldn't hang onto you for myself forever." Ianto smiled and took a bite of his own breakfast.
"It's Martha," he said, looking up at her with a soft smile. "Who could blame you. You have good taste in gorgeous people." Before Ianto had disappeared, he'd tested the waters with an 'I love you' here and there. he meant it, he did. Deep down, he knew Jack loved them both and that was all Ianto could ask for. Besides, he was an adventureous soul...