madbottoms | Opportunities/One door closes...and a window opens (13/22)

Title: Opportunities/One door closes...and a window opens (13/22)

Rating: PG – I think. There is talk of sex and some ‘adult’ moments but nothing explicit.

Genre: AU! No aliens but some familiar names may still be used

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Estelle

Summary: The holiday season is coming up and Ianto Jones is stuck without a job, with very little money and not too many prospects. So when he is offered a job for two weeks, he readily accepts. But this new job may become complicated when he realises that the man who broke his heart years before is the grandson of his new employer.

A/N: Bags are packed, plans are made and they still have no clue. Men!

~

Chapter Thirteen

Ianto didn’t have the energy to battle with Jack, and in any case, taking a few more of his belongings didn’t mean he wasn’t ever coming back. So, without another word, he packed his stuff and they loaded it into the SUV. Then he dropped Jack off to pick up his car and went straight back to Estelle’s house, hoping to have all his things unloaded before her return from shopping. There was no sense in upsetting his hostess—which the news that Ianto was all but officially homeless was quite sure to do.

It took several trips for Ianto to transfer the rest of his belongings from the SUV to the guestroom. By the time he’d finished, the guestroom, with its solid furniture and luxurious drapes, looked like a warehouse.

As he came down the stairs the doorbell rang. Estelle was standing on the front porch, her eyes bright and her arms full of gift-wrapped packages. ‘I couldn’t get to my key,’ she said cheerfully. ‘In fact, I couldn’t reach my wallet to pay the driver, so the poor man’s still waiting for me to come back. Put these under the tree, will you?’

Ianto juggled the packages into the living room, where the lights were gleaming on the tree. By the time he had them neatly stacked Estelle had come into the room.

‘Did you and Jack have a nice brunch together?’

‘You had us scared, you know, disappearing like that.’

‘But not for long, I hope. I asked Henry to wait until I was safely out the door before handing you my note.’

‘I think he gave you an extra-long head start. It looks as if you finished up your shopping list.’

‘Do you want to know which ones are yours?’

‘Which ones? Plural? Estelle—’

‘And now I’m ready for tea.’ Estelle smiled and dived into a pile of packages. ‘I got Emma a gadget that’s just too good to save for her stocking. She can use it while she’s cooking Christmas dinner.’

Just what we need. One more gadget to clear out when it comes time to tackle the kitchen. ‘I’m sure she’ll be thrilled,’ Ianto said.

There were two voices in the kitchen, pitched softly but still quite audible. One was Emma, of course; the other was deeper. Ianto hadn’t seen the Jaguar outside, so Jack must have come in while he was making his last trip upstairs settling his stuff.

Ianto paused for an instant just outside the swinging door. It had been difficult enough to work with Jack after that kiss this afternoon, loading up the SUV and then taking him back to his car. To face him in front of an audience...

Well, there was no help for it. He put his hand on the door just as Emma spoke.

‘He brought in a lot more stuff today,’ the housekeeper said.

‘I know. It was my idea.’ Jack’s voice was casual. ‘There was a problem with the place he lives in.’

‘Jack’s home already,’ Estelle said, and the voices in the kitchen stopped abruptly.

Estelle greeted Jack with a kiss on the cheek and handed Emma a long thin box. ‘It’s a special fork,’ she said. ‘It reads the temperature instantly when you stick it into a roast or turkey.’

‘The old-fashioned way is good enough for me,’ Emma muttered. ‘Sit down. I’ll get you some tea.’

Estelle pulled out a chair at the kitchen table, opposite Jack. Between them, stacked on the gleaming oak surface of the table, were a dented stockpot, a rusty biscuit sheet, and a glass cake pan with a chip out of the corner. ‘What are these for, Emma?’

‘They’re just things we don’t need anymore,’ the housekeeper said.

‘And neither does anyone else, I’d say.’ Estelle sounded quite cheerful about it. ‘Isn’t that cake pan likely to explode if it’s heated again, with that crack in it? Put them in the garbage, Emma, not the donation pile.’

Ianto was just concluding with relief that Estelle’s hearing hadn’t be quite good enough to distinguish the words they’d overheard, when Estelle went on, ‘What’s the problem with your apartment, Ianto?’

It was Jack who answered. ‘The thieves hit again.’

“Oh , no, my dear! What did they take this time?’

‘Nothing,’ Ianto said.

‘But of course you don’t feel secure leaving your possessions there.’ Estelle pushed the stockpot aside so Emma could set a cup of tea down in front of her. ‘You brought all your things, of course? Good. You can stay here just as long as you like.’

Jack shifted in his chair. ‘You won’t be here, Gran.’

‘Oh, Jack, I won’t be ready to move anytime soon. I’ve been just too busy with other things. Ianto can drive the car to his classes when they start up again, and then we can take our time with the cleaning.’ She sounded delighted.

Jack’s gaze met Ianto’s. The message in his eyes loud and clear—Remember our deal.

Ianto smothered a sigh. Suddenly the next couple of weeks didn’t look quite so much like a holiday. And as for the chance of an internship—he might as well kiss that goodbye right now.

*~*

The Hub was not nearly as busy on Monday afternoon as it had been over the weekend, though the crowd was still respectable and the gym itself was filling its classes. Ianto couldn’t believe the sheer size of the place; he and Estelle had obviously only covered a fraction of it on Saturday. But then, he recalled, almost the first thing which had caught his eye was Jack hanging off that ridiculous wall—and after that he’d barely seen anything else until he was safely down.

Only because it would have been too awful if he’d fallen and gotten hurt in front of his grandmother, he told himself.

Again this time his gaze went straight to the wall, but since it was apparent that neither of the climbers was Jack—one seemed to be no more than a child, the other was very blonde—he relaxed and went looking for him.

Twice he had to stop a salesclerk to ask for directions, and he felt as if he’d walked a mile or two before he finally found Jack at a counter at the back of the Hub, flicking through pages on a computer screen. Figures and code numbers scrolled by at a pace almost too fast for Ianto to see.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘Figuring out how good the grand opening sales were?’

Jack looked up. ‘It’s hard to tell, with Christmas mixed in.’

‘Well, math never was your strong suit. Want me to take a look?’

Jack surveyed him for a long moment without answering.

It had been a careless offer, and not one he’d expected Jack to take up. But the long stare made Ianto feel defensive. ‘I am almost an accountant, after all,’ he pointed out. ‘And I’m not a corporate spy. Even if I saw something valuable in your data I wouldn’t know who to sell it to.’

Jack pushed his stool back from the computer. ‘Be my guest.’

It took Ianto a couple of minutes to untangle the details—things like how sales were reported and compared with the remaining inventory, and how all the other locations were coded. ‘It looks as if this Hub took in the most cash over the last seven days, but the Glasgow one is the most profitable.’

‘It’s the oldest.’ Jack’s eyebrows had gone up. ‘You could tell that just in a few minutes.’

‘It shouldn’t have taken that long. I could simplify your reporting system.’

‘That’s what you want to do for an internship?’

Was Jack actually considering it? He forced a careless-looking shrug. ‘Depends on what you need.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind. How did the battle go this morning?’

‘The one over the breakfast table, about the pots and pans? I’d call it a draw. Emma insisted she needs to keep every item in the kitchen in order to cook a holiday dinner, and Estelle told her that after Christmas either Emma will clean out the cupboards or Estelle will send me in to do it.’

‘Good. Gran’s getting serious about the cleaning out.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t say that, exactly. I offered to start on the attic and she gave me a shopping list instead. That’s why I’m here.’

‘Too bad. It doesn’t sound like you’re going to get your internship, does it?’ He didn’t sound sorry at all. ‘Unless—’

‘Not interested.’

‘But you didn’t even listen,’ Jack complained and pouted.

Ianto took a deep breath. This was going to be even tougher than he’d thought. ‘Jack, would you lend me some money?’

‘Gran gave you a shopping list and no money to do it with?’

‘Of course not. But I’d like to get her something nice for Christmas, and until she pays me I don’t have enough cash.’

‘Then ask her for an advance.’

‘So I can buy her a gift? That would just feel wrong, Jack.’

‘What’s the difference between asking her for an advance or asking me for a loan until you get paid? It’s the same money.’

Ianto had to admit it was an excellent argument.

‘And you’re supposed to be the accounting whiz.’ Jack shook his head, almost sadly.

‘Okay, fine. I confess—no matter what I do, it’s...Look, the trouble is I don’t have any more stuff to pawn.’

Jack’s gaze drifted over him. ‘I wouldn’t be so certain of that.’

Ianto glared at him.

‘You still have that quilt.’

The sudden change of direction left him speechless for an instant. ‘I’m surprised you remember the quilt. What’s it worth to you?’

‘I’m the one who doesn’t appreciate heirlooms, remember?’ Jack pulled out his wallet. ‘Keep the quilt, Ianto. How much do you need?’ He pulled out a few large pound notes.

‘Not that much. And I’ll consider my quilt to be security for my debt.’

‘I suppose I’ll end up hiring you just so I can garnish your wages instead of being the owner of a quilt I don’t want.’

Ianto folded the money and pushed it deep into the pocket of his jeans. He should be feeling relieved that Jack hadn’t made it too hard on him. And yet...he knew that Jack had read his mind and knew perfectly well what he was thinking. He’d expected Jack to proposition him in return for the loan. More in a teasing way than a serious suggestion, of course. Instead, he shifted course so quickly, a person could get whiplash.

Because, though teasing Ianto was fun, Jack wasn’t about to let things get serious. Well, that certainly told him where he stood.

Jack looked past him and stifled a groan.

Ianto looked over his shoulder to see James and Toshiko coming toward them and Ianto smiled at his friend.

‘Hello, Tosh. It’s good to see you again so soon.’ He kissed her cheek softly.

‘You, too.’

‘Jones,’ James said gruffly, and sidled up to Jack. Well, at least it was more than the acknowledgement he’d gotten the first time.

‘So, this is the Hub? Never been to one of your places before. I have to say, it looks quite impressive—a bit like yourself.’

And looking a little sick to the stomach at the moment, Ianto would have added.

‘I’m dying to climb that wall of yours,’ James went on.

I’ll just bet you are. You’re probably dying to climb on Jack, too.

‘In fact, it took us so long to find you that by the time I get into my gear it’ll be my turn on the wall.’

‘I don’t think I’m up for it now I’ve seen the height of it. Would you like to take my climb instead, Ianto,’ he heard Tosh say. James’ fake smile turned his way and there was something about it that just irked Ianto. He was certain that James would rather Jack climb with him instead.

‘Sorry, Tosh,’ Ianto said. ‘Not my thing. Besides, I have some errands to run for Estelle and some shopping of my own to do. But I’ll see you later, yeah. I know—we still need to catch up—maybe we should all go out to dinner one night. I’ll call you, yeah? Gotta run.’

He couldn’t help himself from looking over his shoulder as he walked away. Jack was watching him.

No doubt he was renewing his plan to strangle him, he thought, and with good humour restored, he went off to look for the first item on Estelle’s list.

*~*

Jack watched as Ianto walked off. The vintage coat he wore was oversized for him, but it didn’t look that bad on him, really. The coat swayed along as he walked away—happily by the spring in his step. And was he swaying his hips as he walked? At the very least, Ianto knew Jack was watching him, for not only had he looked back, but actually had the nerve to wink just before he went out of sight through the camping section between some fishing equipment.

Now there’s a fitting description. He’s just one more lure mixed in with the rest of the bait.

Jack had known from the beginning that Ianto Jones was trouble. Even before he actually recognised him he knew that much. And why he hadn’t had the sense to run...

You did run. Well—almost. It wasn’t your idea for him to actually move in.

Still, he could have kept his distance. Instead, he’d managed to get himself even more entangled as the days went on. What had he been thinking?

Either Ianto would succeed in his mission, and he would owe him an apartment, or Ianto wouldn’t—which meant he’d probably be hanging around Gran’s house whenever Jack happened to be in Cardiff. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Him staying at the house, he supposed. Because he could rent Ianto an apartment, pay for it in advance, and never set foot in it. Except he had his doubts it would be quite that easy to avoid him.

Because you don’t want it to be easy, his conscience whispered.

Ever since Ianto had made that crack yesterday about the possibility of them having an affair, he hadn’t been able to get the idea out of his mind. Not that he hadn’t had a few erotic thoughts even before that—but having his grandmother in the bedroom under his had kept those thoughts pretty much under control. But the idea of an apartment, where the neighbours didn’t care and there was no elderly bright-eyed woman to wonder what was going on... Yes, as fantasies went, that one was a whole lot more interesting.

James was watching him, he realised, with his eyes narrowed. Well, if he’d gotten the message that he was too interested in Ianto to pay attention to him that was all the better. Especially because he hadn’t had to say it, or do anything much to create an image. Or even talk Ianto into cooperating.

‘Yes?’ he said, as if he had to pull himself back from a far place. ‘You said you had a climbing time? You’d better not take a chance of missing it. There’s usually a waiting list for cancellations and late-comers.’

‘Actually, I’d like to talk to you, Jack,’ Tosh said.

‘Sorry, I’m quite busy all day, or I’d love to chat. And you really don’t want to miss the wall climb. I’m sure you’ll really enjoy it.’ He shook hands with Toshiko and went to offer his hand to James in dismissal.

‘You mentioned dinner,’ James said smoothly.

I didn’t, Jack wanted to point out. Ianto did—and that’s an entirely different thing.

‘It’s a great idea, right Tosh? Let’s do it tonight.’

Now, these two were a strange pair. Jack couldn’t really tell what the relationship was here. They certainly weren’t together, that was for sure. Maybe some sort of familial tie somewhere along the line. Whatever their deal was, she was definitely too good for him.

‘So, dinner?’ James was saying again.

‘I’ll have to check with Ianto, to see if he’s made other plans for us,’ Jack said, in an attempt to further insinuate his and Ianto’s close relationship.

‘It was his idea, actually,’ James pointed out.

And I’m going to get him for it, too. ‘Dinner,’ he agreed. ‘You choose the place.’

James named a restaurant. ‘They have the best lobster in town, and they can always fit me in with a reservation.’

‘Fine,’ Jack said. ‘We’ll pick you up at seven.’ He jotted down the address James gave him and then he went back to staring at the computer screen—not studying the inventory this time, but figuring out how to get even with Ianto for this.

Opportunities/One door closes...and a window opens (13/22)

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Chapter Thirteen

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