tonjavmoore | Torchwood Fic - Discovery in Vault 339 (Reply)

Name: Discovery in Vault 339
Author: Tonja Moore
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I am eternally grateful to Steven Moffat and Russell T. Davies for bringing life to characters that I can write about. They belong to you, not me.
Summary: Jack is impatient. Ianto is shy. The contents of Vault 339 may move things along.

Discovery in Vault 339

“Sir? I’ve brought you coffee.”

Jack looked up from his reading. The jumble of notes about Torchwood Two’s requisitions wasn’t making any sense. His head ached slightly and he was glad of the break, especially since it was coffee. And Ianto. He always looked perfectly delicious in his suits. Jack held out his hand for the coffee.

Ianto brought it to the desk and offered it to him. They brushed hands and Ianto became very still, his eyes on Jack’s face. Whenever they had contact lately, Jack had seen this same reaction. Ianto wasn’t frozen, wasn’t stiff; he was just… still.

Jack lifted the cup from Ianto’s hand a fraction of an inch and took the risk of running his fingertips lightly over the back of Ianto’s hand. Was Jack imagining it, or was there a small tremor in the muscles of that hand? He hoped it wasn’t his imagination.

In the weeks following Lisa’s death, Jack had carefully nurtured Ianto back into life and health. Part of his reasoning had been purely selfish, of course. Ianto was the only one of the team who could make decent coffee, for one thing. For another, he could keep the office organized, the machinery ticking over, and the specialized SUV running smoothly. He had that intangible but useful knack of keeping things going. Without his contribution, the Hub would be a disorganized mess.

And of course, there was the most selfish reason of all, Jack admitted to himself. Sometime during the past weeks, as he watched Ianto pulling himself back together, Jack’s regard had blended with lust, pure and simple. Ianto was attractive, smart, and decent. Jack had been attracted to him at the start, but Ianto, while acknowledging the regard, had been distracted.

Jack knew why now, of course. Ianto had still been in love and had risked all their lives to try and hold onto it, even after he knew it was impossible. After Jack had been forced to kill the monster that Lisa had become, he had been sadly certain that their tenuous flirtation would never be revived.

Ianto had surprised him, however. He hadn’t condemned Jack for killing Lisa. He had apparently reconciled himself to the knowledge that Lisa had been dead for a long time before Jack had destroyed the machinery that kept her moving. As Ianto had emerged from the numbness of grief, Jack had discovered Ianto’s vulnerability – Ianto needed to be wanted. Lisa had wanted him, so he loved her.

Now, Jack wanted him. He had to tread carefully, though, and not shatter the fragile confidence Ianto had regained. Jack had made small advances to let Ianto know subtly that Ianto was what Jack wanted. Now it seemed that Jack’s patience was to be rewarded. Ianto was not only acknowledging it, but had begun to give off those subtle vibrations that he wanted Jack, too. The question was when was the right time and place? Jack had been let the circumstances resolve themselves, but he was growing restless in spite of those good intentions.

He said, “Thank you.”

Ianto stepped back and cleared his throat. “I thought I would start clearing out vault 339 tonight, sir.”

The vaults in the Hub were full of mysterious boxes, bundles, and furniture that had been accumulating for more than a hundred years. Ianto had made a hobby of cataloging the contents of these vaults and had unearthed some very interesting artifacts, including a crate of the WWII RAF-issue revolvers that were Jack’s preferred weapon.

“You could do it tomorrow,” Jack reminded him.

Ianto shrugged. “I’d rather get started tonight. I’m not tired.”

Jack smiled at him. “Go ahead. Maybe I can give you a hand later.”

Ianto surprised Jack by smiling back. “I’d appreciate the help.” He turned and left the office.

Maybe the time was closer than Jack had appreciated. Ianto rarely smiled, even while exercising his razor-sharp wit. He turned back to the curse of the 21^st century – paperwork. He needed to wait and not dash down after Ianto. He didn’t want him to feel trapped.

----

Twenty minutes later, Toshiko came into the office. Jack looked up at her in surprise. He’d assumed everyone else had gone. “Why are you still here?”

“Running some tests. I’m on my way out. Gwen and Owen left about half an hour ago.” She put a black cloth on his desk. “Look, I’m tired and I don’t want to chase Ianto down. The security camera near that vault he’s working in is playing up and the dust isn’t helping. Can you shut it off for me and put this dust cover on it? I’ll run the diagnostics on it tomorrow.”

“Go home,” Jack said, hoping he didn’t sound too unusual. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks.” She was gone before he could say anything else.

Circumstances. Time and place. Jack grinned and gathered up the dust cover.

He made his way down to the third level in record time, but changed to a stroll when he got near the vault. Ianto had made neat stacks of boxes along the wall. He was coming out with another stack on the hand truck when Jack came around the corner. “Hi,” Jack said. It was all he could manage for a moment.

Ianto had removed his jacket and tie. His shirt was a royal blue, Jack’s favorite color. His sleeves were rolled up and the top three buttons of his shirt were open. The sight made Jack both hot and cold at once and he had to instruct his body sternly to behave. There was time.

He held up the dust cover. “Tosh told me you’re messing up one of her cameras with dust. She sent me down with this to cover it up.”

He reached up to switch off the camera. It was above his head, but on tiptoe, he could just manage it. Ianto said, “There is a lot of dust in there. I’ve got almost all the boxes out. It looks like the back half is filled with cocoons.”

Cocoons were used to protect large objects, all inanimate, thank God. Jack didn’t feel like dealing with rampaging aliens tonight. He had other, more interesting, things to contend with. He followed Ianto into the vault, enjoying the rear view. “Looks like furniture,” he said after he took a look around.

“Sorry for the murky light,” Ianto said. “It’s already warm in here and I didn’t want to make it worse with a lamp.”

“No, it’s plenty.” Jack picked up a surprisingly light box and put it on the hand truck. Ianto made four more trips with the hand truck with stacks. Jack shed his shirt in favor of the coolness of his undershirt. And maybe for other reasons.

With all the boxes out of the way, they could see that the cocoons weren’t piled on each other. They had been pushed against the walls. Jack approached one of the larger ones with his pocketknife in his hand. “Let’s see what we have here.”

He slit the cocoon open and pushed it to one side. It revealed an old-fashioned wardrobe, with painted doors. Ianto came to stand beside him. “My guess is that this belonged to a female,” he said.

Hearts, bouquets of flowers, and cherubs covered the ivory background. “I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet,” Jack agreed. Something about the design teased his memory. “Is the other one like it?”

Ianto had moved to another cocoon of the same size. He opened it and said, “More cupids. Different design though.”

The tease finally pushed its way into Jack’s conscious memory. “You’re kidding me,” he said.

“What?”

“Let’s pull this one out and see.” Jack tugged at the end of one of the sofa-sized cocoons, pulling it away from the wall. Ianto followed suit. Jack slit the top all the way across and peeled it back.

It was indeed a sofa. The frame was gilded and had pencil drawings of the heads of beautiful women painted on it. The cushions and back were a soft red with fabric so smooth it could have been silk. The legs were elaborately carved with more hearts and cherubs.

Jack stood back and admired it. “I don’t believe it,” he said, grinning. “What we have here, Ianto, are furnishings for a high-class Victorian-era bordello.”

“Are you serious?” Ianto stared at the sofa and back at Jack. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Jack opened another cocoon and stripped it off. “Take a look at that.”

A chaise lounge, upholstered in the same soft red silk of the sofa, with a similar gilded frame revealed itself. Jack pulled it away from the wall and walked around it, admiring the carvings.

“What would Torchwood want with these?” Ianto said. Jack could see he was stifling laughter.

Jack felt like giggling himself. Of all the things to stumble across, especially in this mood. “Maybe they once had an entrance from a house of ill-repute.”

“Hmmm. I’m going to need a new category.”

Unable to contain himself any longer, Jack laughed. Ianto joined him and they both laughed. Jack sat on one side of the lounge and Ianto sat on the other and they continued laughing until they were gasping for air. “Listen to us,” Jack said finally. “You’d think we were a pair of teenagers sneaking into a strip joint.”

“Well, look at all of it.” Ianto indicated the unopened cocoons. “I guess if we were to run short of petty cash, we could use it again….”

That sent them off into another laughing fit. “Our new motto,” Jack said finally, “Torchwood: We Fight Aliens and Provide Other Support Services.”

“Seriously, Jack, where would this stuff have been?” Ianto was still having trouble keeping himself from laughing. “There’s an entire houseful in here.”

“Yes, well, they’d have needed it. Those wardrobes would have been in the girls’ rooms, giving an atmosphere of coziness. That sofa would have graced the parlor, probably with young ladies in various stages of undress draped across it.”

“And this?” Ianto patted the piece they were sitting on.

“Oh, this would have been in a special area, reserved for gentlemen (and I use the term loosely) who had a particular appetite for virgins. There wouldn’t have been any, of course, but the women were good at pretending. They used to call these ‘fainting couches’ because the pretend-maidens would beg for their honor and swoon like this.” Jack put his hand on his forehead, palm out and performed a graceful collapse onto the pillows at the head.

Jack opened his eyes to discover that the atmosphere had changed. Ianto was closer and bending over him. His voice wasn’t quite steady as he said, “You don’t look very virginal.”

“That’s because I’m not,” Jack replied, hearing a tremor in his own voice. He swallowed, but made no other move. This was Ianto’s call.

“That’s a good thing,” Ianto said in a whisper, “because I haven’t done this for a while. One of us should know what he is doing.”

Jack felt Ianto’s lips come down on his with surprising firmness. Although they had exchanged light kisses before, this was something new, something more, and Jack was sure the world around them was spinning at an enormous rate. Ianto opened his mouth and Jack took full advantage of the invitation. Kissing Ianto in this way was like drinking the finest vintage champagne, complete with the sting and tingle of the bubbles, almost unbearably sweet and exciting. Jack’s hands were holding Ianto’s head still, so he could explore more thoroughly. His tongue chased Ianto’s and Ianto’s chased his and the pleasure was spreading like fire into every cell of Jack’s body.

He forced himself to pull away a fraction. “Reminder number one,” he gasped. “This will be a lot more fun with the clothes off.”

A flurry of motion and they were back on the lounge, face to face this time. Jack couldn’t take the time to admire Ianto’s body as he would have like because he craved another of those intoxicating kisses so much. He gently tugged Ianto’s head close and took one. While the molten heat from that was turning him into flame, Jack pulled Ianto’s hips in so that their cocks fit tightly against each other. He twined one leg around Ianto’s to keep them that way and felt Ianto’s hands on his buttocks doing his part to make sure not a single molecule separated them.

Another kiss and Jack held Ianto’s tongue hostage as his hips thrust forward. Ianto matched him thrust for thrust in a magical dance. He suddenly arched against Jack with a soft moan of surrender. That sound pushed Jack over the edge and he exploded into waves of ecstasy.

When Jack finally came back to himself, he was still pulling in deep breaths to get enough oxygen into his lungs. Ianto was doing the same. He had moved very little, just his head to rest against Jack’s arm. Jack wanted to see his eyes, so he said, “Wow.”

Ianto’s eyes opened obligingly. The deep sapphire of his irises looked almost black in this dim light, but they were shining. Jack grinned at him and Ianto smiled back. “Wow,” he echoed. “I don’t remember it being this good.”

“Well, you weren’t with me,” Jack pointed out. At Ianto’s raised eyebrow, he went on. “Actually, I don’t remember it being this good and I have a lot more with which to compare.”

Ianto’s smile was shy. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” Jack leaned forward and placed a kiss on the end of Ianto’s nose. “Does your mouthwash have some sort of mood-altering substance in it?”

“Just mint.”

“Maybe that explains it. I’ve always been a sucker for mint.” Jack wanted to keep that lovely glow in Ianto’s eyes, so he went on, bringing is hand up to lightly stroke his cheek. “You’ve done very well for your first refresher but I think you need a bit more tutoring. Would you like that?”

“Rather.” Ianto turned his head to kiss Jack’s palm. “I’m not a very fast study though. You’ll have to give me some time.”

“You’ve had enough for one night. After all, you’ve moved about a hundred boxes, and then moved the earth for me tonight.” Jack felt rather than saw Ianto’s blush. He wanted to laugh out loud with delight. His patience had been more than rewarded. “I tell you what. One of us is going to fall off this thing soon. It’s too narrow. I have a bigger bed in my room.”

Ianto nodded sleepily and sat up. They gathered their clothes and started for the door. “By the way,” Jack said casually, “before we tell the others about this discovery, do you think it would be possible to create a cover for that little lounge? Something in a discreet tweed? With a couple of pillows for backing, I think it might make a nice addition to my office.”

Ianto turned his head to look and then nodded. “I think that could be arranged.”