WARNING: This takes place AFTER Season Two and BEFORE Children of Earth.

Jack gave both Gwen and Ianto a kiss on the cheek before heading out into the night, to do whatever Jack does when he goes out late. That left Ianto alone with Gwen, with both gave him joy and fear. What if he lost control and...no, what if he was too distant?

"Ianto?" Gwen asked innocently, breaking his wild train of thought.

"Huh?" he replied, feeling quite dumb.

"You all right?" she asked, looking at him with her wide hazel eyes full of concern. She always cared, always....

"Um, yeah, I just...."

"Oh, yeah. Me too."

Ianto looked at her, hope brimming in his stomach. Did she know? Did she feel the same? Suddenly, she looked down and away, shuffling papers absently as she sniffed quietly. Ianto realized she was crying.

"It's all right, Gwen," he said awkwardly, relishing the taste of her name on his tongue.

Gwen let out a sob. "No it's not, Ianto!" He felt so upset, seeing her like this. He longed to hold her, stroke her cheek, convince her that everything would be fine.

Gwen’s shoulders shook with quiet tears as she continued to work, and finally, Ianto swallowed his fears and walked over to her, holding her. She turned around in his arms and settled her face into his chest, letting the tears flow. Ianto stroked her back gently, feeling like he and Gwen were two pieces of a puzzle that fit together just right.

“What are we going to do without them, Ianto?” Gwen whispered.

“We’ll keep on saving the world, only now we’ll do it for them,” Ianto replied, letting the words spill out of his mouth without really thinking about them first. Luckily, they seemed to sooth Gwen. She looked up at him and managed a watery smile.

“Thank you,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Any time,” Ianto replied, meaning it with every fibre of his being. “Come on,” he said after a while, leading Gwen to the couch where they both flopped down, exhausted. Gwen snuggled up to Ianto and quickly fell asleep. Ianto felt her heart beat against him and fell asleep to its lullaby.

“Ianto, wake up,” Jack said, gently shoving his shoulder. Ianto opened his eyes to be met with Jack’s baby blues looking at him. Ianto looked down and realized that sometime during the night, Gwen ended up on Ianto’s lap, her head on his shoulder and her arms round his neck.

“Come on,” Jack said, walking to his office. Ianto sighed, and very gently picked Gwen up and placed her on the couch, where she, still asleep, curled her knees up and wrapped her arms around herself, as if hugging herself.

“You wanted to see me, sir?” Ianto asked once in Jack’s office with the door closed.

Jack smiled. "You don't have to play this game anymore, Ianto."

"A game, sir?" Ianto asked innocently.

Jack moved closer and took Ianto's hands. Ianto felt himself sweating nervously. He didn't want Jack; he hadn't wanted Jack for a long time. He wanted....

Jack attempted to kiss him, breaking Ianto out of his thoughts. Ianto turned his head away, avoiding Jack's kiss.

"I - I can't..." Ianto stuttered, uncomfortable.

"I know, I'm sorry," Jack said, sighing and flopping down into his chair. "It's too soon."

Ianto swallowed nervously. "Yeah," he said, walking out of Jack's office. "Too soon."