A Road to go Nowhere (open)

[IANTO JONES]

Another job well done, or so he thought. Any job accomplished was a job well done really when it came to Torchwood. As long as there wasn't mass chaos and hellfire raining from the sky things were operating smoothly, as smoothly as they could without their real leader at any rate. Gwen had stepped up to make up for Jack's slack which was rather fortunate as Owen tended to let power go to his head. He'd really hate to have to shoot him again. He was getting comfortable with going out on these missions though, it was refreshing to get back in the swings of things. . . even if it did require him to run his arms under water for a good 20 minutes afterward to wash the alien muck off as it did now. He sighed with relief as he last of it came off in the sink and he could slide down his wine colored sleeves.

He heard the door rolling open and the sound of footsteps and peeked his head out of the loo. Tosh seemed to be the last of them running off. He arched an eyebrow at her retreating back. "Oi Tosh," he called, satisfied that she had turned around. "Where's everyone, going?" She smiled, rummaging through her purse for God only knew what. "We're going down to the pub for some drinks," she informed him, retrieving a container of lipstick with a cry of 'aha!' With that she turned and ran out to calls of 'move it Tosh!' 'haven't got all bloody day!' Ianto stood there staring at the door as it slid closed again. "Oh no that's all right, I don't drink," he said conversationally to himself. "It was lovely of you to ask though." The last he said with a shake of his head as he turned back to the sink.

He had never exactly gone out drinking with the team in the past, but it wasn't like they'd asked. He'd mostly just spent his nights here either doing work, sleeping, or with Jack: he had never been big on making a spectacle of himself due to inebriation. He didn't need to be thinking about the Captain now, but it was more or less inevitable when he was left to himself. He hadn't come back yet and it had been a while: long enough to make him uncomfortable at any rate. What if he never came back? He stared at his reflection a moment before raising both eyebrows. "Aren't you just perfectly depressing?" he asked, rolling his eyes at himself. He could feel a desire for a nice cup of tea coming on and smiled at his reflection before turning away from the mirror.

He picked his PDA up off the sink, stuck it in his pocket and tossed his black with grey pin-striped suit jacket over his arm and stepped out into the hub. Only it wasn't the hub: he found himself standing in the middle of a town, on a platform of sorts. He drew his gun immediately, pointing around him at a fat lot of nothing. He pressed a hand to his ear only to remember that he'd left his communicator on the bathroom sink. "Brilliant," he admonished himself. He couldn't even contact the others now if he was attacked, and . . .the realization hit him suddenly: if he died no one would know. He swallowed down the panic and forced his brain into a logic mode. Look at the facts: he was in a strange place with . . .a platform great. He pulled the PDA out of his pocket and switched it on. The screen stayed blank, frowning slightly, he pressed the button again: still nothing. He sighed pointedly and pouted as he stuffed the useless equipment back in his pocket.

He jumped down from said platform, gun still raised before him and made his way over to some nearby stalls. "Shops?" he said, tilting his head slightly. "Just. . .shops?" No aliens ready to tear him apart just when he thought he managed to make it to safety? That was a pleasant surprise, perhaps this wasn't the work of aliens. . .but then who had the technology to just transport him out of Torchwood like that?

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

Jack had been sitting in the bar for far too long in just his coat and towel. He had done some talking with those who looked most comfortable there, and had learned that there was a tailor he could see, one that would clothe him in anything he could think of. At this point Jack wasn't about to question how that was possible; he just wanted to get into some real clothes - and shoes, that would be nice - so that he could properly explore where he was, and hopefully find out what in the hell was going on. Because people were more willing to talk to a man in appropriate vestments than they were to divulge things to a half-naked (albeit good-looking) guy. Well... all right, maybe it depended on exactly who he was talking to. Anyone intrigued by his certain lack of clothing might be willing to tell him what he wanted to know. Jack wasn't going to take any chances with the people here, at any rate.

So. Clothes. He needed to find some, and that meant parting with his drink and, in extension, all the free drinks he might have gotten had he stayed there at the bar. It was a painful departure, but as much as he wanted to stay and abuse that beautiful privilege, he knew that no matter how much he drank he wouldn't be able to silence the endless questions that kept popping up in his head. When he stepped outside, Jack was able to more fully take in his surroundings, ones that he had only glimpsed through the Monarch's front windows. Oh, he definitely wasn't in Kansas anymore. Brow furrowed, Jack began his tentative walk toward the town's center, where he would find the tailor's shop. At least that's what he had been informed of in the pub. Whether or not the testimony he got in there was worth anything remained to be seen.

He could see the town square after only a minute of walking, which was indication that this town wasn't very big. In the low light - had he been in the pub for that long? - he could see woods in the distance, wilderness that was unnervingly dark. But when his gaze traveled down, to something that was closer than that intimidating treeline, he stopped in his tracks. His mind was whirring, moving too quickly for him to keep up. His lips formed the word, "Ianto," but not loud enough for anyone to hear. Hardly loud enough for his own ears. Ianto, yes, Ianto! Jack recognized that ass anywhere. Before he could stop himself, he was moving forward, toward this figure. A cautioning alarm went off in the back of him mind; this could easily be some kind of trick, and that thing in front of him could easily be something other than his employee, his friend. But at that moment Jack was content with clinging to something that he recognized in such a strange place.

His need for that connection might have rattled him if he had allowed himself time to think on it, but he didn't. "Ianto!" Jack said again, louder, and his pace quickened. The other man was only paces away now, his back to the captain, but that changed as soon as the distance between the two was closed. Jack grabbed Ianto's upper arm and turned him around, then pulled the younger man into a hug. Jack's hand slid into Ianto's hair, and his grip tightened. The captain embraced his soldier for a moment before adjusting himself a bit, but still holding on. "Ianto," Jack repeated, pulling apart only slightly and glancing at his friend. "Is that a gun in your hand or are you just happy to see me?" He was halfway into one of his grins before he looked down between them and saw the gun in Ianto's hand - a hand that had been crushed between the two when Jack had practically forced himself onto the poor guy - but then his expression turned to something resembling confusion, or horror. "Who gave you a gun?" he asked incredulously. If Ianto had arrived in any way similarly to the way Jack had, he might have showed up with a tray of coffee, or maybe a newspaper, or some pizza. But a gun? That was definitely throwing Jack for a loop.

Of course, the possibility that this Ianto was a different one than the Mister Jones he had left behind in Cardiff didn't occur to Jack. And why would it? He barely knew where he was, let alone how the damn place worked.

[IANTO JONES]

Ianto had decided that the only logical thing to do in this situation was to investigate the shops further. . . for purely scientific purposes obviously. It wasn't like he had any idea if his currency would be accepted here anyway. Perhaps he'd been transported to some alien planet and all the shop vendors would be domestic weevils or some bizarre blue skinned humanoids with spikes on their backs. If given the choice he preferred the second option: he didn't want to run into a town full of weevils even if they were domesticated. Whatever he might have been expecting, it hadn't been the voice that he heard calling out his name from somewhere behind him. "Jack," he murmured under his breath. His whole body froze, his muscles tensing in anticipation: that was impossible, wasn't it? Of course he recognized the voice, but this could be some sort of trick the natives were playing on him for sport or even his own mind projecting what he wanted it to see--well hear. Lovely, if the latter was true his mind had progressed to full on hallucinations, proving that his job had finally driven him insane.

His doubts were quickly laid to rest as he felt his arm grabbed and was pulled around into a hug. He smiled despite himself, his arm that was not being squished between the two of them wrapping around Jack's back. He refrained from doing anything more: he didn't know exactly where he stood with him just now. He was so relieved to see him that he forgot for a moment that he was supposed to be mad at this man who had abandoned them without so much as a word. As Jack pulled away slightly, he couldn't help but notice that he was still holding on and glanced away briefly. None of the team was here, it wasn't as though he had to be worried about anything, but it was hard to break old habits. "Maybe a little of both," he managed to successfully say without smiling.

He furrowed his eyebrows as Jack noticed the gun and then went on to ask who had let him have it, as if he hadn't been properly trained to handle one. "I did know how to use one of these before I came to work for you, sir," he replied dryly. "For your information, once you ran off to do. . . god knows what with your Doctor hand, I started going out on assignments with the others. We needed the extra help." And suddenly the confusion and betrayal and worry he had felt earlier was back. Had this been what had happened to the Captain though? Disappeared to some strange place with nothing but a hand in a tank? Was someone slowly abducting them one by one? If that was true though where was his hand now?

He gave himself a mental shake and focused his thoughts back on Jack. Jack who now realized, as he looked down at their feet, seemed to be standing barefoot on the ground and if he wasn't mistaken seemed to be showing a decent, or rather indecent, amount of ankle and calf. They could get to the why's about his leaving later. He was probably going to regret asking this. "What happened to your pants?"

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

Jack looked once or twice to the gun and back up to Ianto's face, as if he didn't entirely understand what was going on. Of course the captain knew Ianto could use a gun, but it was rare that he actually did so. Seeing as he didn't do any field work. So the gun-toting was left to Jack himself, and Owen and Tosh and Suzie. But as far as Jack knew, Ianto wasn't in the habit of carrying one around in his suit jacket, and if he had been whisked away from Cardiff and placed here at random, why would he have a g-- and that was where Jack's line of thought stopped and turned an abrupt ninety degrees to speed down another track. "Ran off?" Jack repeated, his arms dropping from around Ianto. "With the Doctor's hand?" Maybe to mask his confusion, or maybe just from habit, he added a somewhat sarcastic, "I was gone for, what, a couple of hours? I can't imagine the whole of Cardiff went to hell in that amount of time."

The Doctor's hand? No, Jack distinctly recalled that he hadn't been anywhere near the Doctor's hand when he had disappeared. Mostly because he wasn't in the habit of showering with the thing. So what was Ianto on about? 'What happened to your pants?' the other man asked, and Jack glanced down as if he had forgotten that he wasn't wearing any. It was a bit drafty down there, though, so he definitely remembered now. "I wasn't wearing any," he replied simply. As if that was the most obvious answer. "When I disappeared."

There was something very wrong with this. Something very, very wrong. None of this fit together. Unless time here went a lot slower than it did on Earth..? Maybe that was it. "Ianto," Jack said slowly, looking back at him. "I was only gone for a couple of hours." He was repeating himself, but it was almost as if he had to convince both Ianto and his own rather confused mind. "Listen." The captain wrapped the fingers of each hand around Ianto's shoulders. "The last thing I remember is the team going out and taking care of a weevil. We went back to base and Owen was digging around in the body, and Tosh was on her computers, and Suzie was looking over the glove. And you took my shirt - I got blood on it - and you said you'd get me a new one." He paused, furrowed his brow, looked past Ianto as if that helped him better remember. "Everyone left and I took a shower and then... I was here." His gaze focused back on Ianto. His recollection, though wordy, wasn't panicked in the least. Jack had been a Time Agent, had traveled with the Doctor, and he knew time was a very, very relative thing. But when he had been a Time Agent he didn't have a close relationship with anyone. Not like the relationships he had with the team. Maybe that was what gave him the slight desperation to find out what was going on, the urgency in his grip on Ianto's shoulders.

"How long ago was that?" he asked, searching Ianto's face. It couldn't have been long. Ianto looked the same, didn't he..? Upon closer inspection Jack realized that his friend didn't look exactly the same. Something had hardened in his face, or maybe that was some of his anger showing through at Jack's disappearance. Whatever it was, Jack knew this wasn't the exact same Ianto that had offered to buy him a new shirt not half a day ago. The same being, yes - but not the same mind.

[IANTO JONES]

Ianto frowned as Jack continued to look somewhat shocked and confused. It really wasn't that alarming that he was using a gun, was it? He hadn't heard Jack complaining when he'd used one to try to stop Owen from opening the riff. As far as he was concerned it was more alarming to find Jack here of all places. His frown deepened, as did his confusion as Jack let go of him and repeated his words in a question. "Without so much as a goodbye, thank you very much," he said sardonically. If this was all the Captain's idea of a joke, Ianto wasn't laughing. "A few hours?" he asked incredulously. "Is that how long you think you've been gone? It's been more than a month." A few months actually, and with no word from him at all: nothing. He straightened his posture as he looked back at Jack. "Nothing's gone to hell, sir," he informed him, trying to maintain as professional an air as he could. "As I've said, we've been keeping things under control during your absence."

He was finding it difficult to maintain that professional air with the turn in subject. Leave it to Jack Harkness to manage to disappear in nothing but his military jacket. Yet something about what he'd just said wasn't quite right. He'd been fully clothed when he'd disappeared hadn't he? It wasn't as though Jack just wandered around headquarters in nothing but his jacket, not while everyone was still there anyway. "I saw you before you left," he countered. "You were fully dressed." As Jack went on, he opened his mouth as if to argue his previous point, but stopped himself as the captain tried to explain things. If his tone hadn't been so serious, Ianto would have suspected Jack was trying to drive him insane.

He remembered that day, though there was nothing special about it. He'd taken Jack's shirt and done exactly as he'd said: gone out and gotten another one before returning to the hub to visit Lisa. "But that's impossible," he said slowly. "No I remember that, and you didn't disappear." He was less sure than he would have liked to sound. Suzie had long since been dead, yet Jack was talking like her as if she hadn't gone power crazy, murdered a handful of people, and attempted to suck out Gwen's life. He wondered if it might not be possible that. . . After all, it wasn't as though slipping in and out of time was something that had never happened amongst their team.

He blinked in momentary confusion at Jack's question. How long ago had that been exactly? "Almost a year and half ago, I think" he said. "Give or take a few months." He too searched the other man's face for any signs that he might not just be trying to pull on over on him. Not that he thought Jack would lie to get out trouble for leaving, but it would make more sense than what his brain was trying to tell him.

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

'Almost a year and a half ago,' Ianto said. 'Give or take a few months.' It was clear to Jack now what was going on. Well, as clear as it could be. Which really wasn't all that clear at all. But what was clear was that Jack's gut feeling had been right; this Ianto wasn't the exact same Ianto that had took his shirt from him and offered to replace it only hours before. This was a future Ianto. A Ianto from a year and a half into the future, apparently. "Ohhh, this is big," Jack said, and the grin that slid onto his face wasn't an entirely pleasant one. "I don't know how someone accomplished it, but - don't you see?" He searched Ianto's face just as Ianto had searched his. "You and I," the captain said slowly. He gestured between the two of them, pointing to Ianto and then to himself. "We're not from the same time."

Jack took a step back and looked over his friend, examining every inch of him. He put his hands on his hips, and the grin on his face became a little more friendly. "Future Ianto looks good," he remarked playfully, raising an eyebrow. He leaned to the side a bit, trying to glance around the younger man to get a view of his backside. Leave it to Jack Harkness to pause in his speculations about traveling through time to take in an eyeful of a nice ass. "A gun in your hand becomes you, in a strange way. Maybe it's the suit, too. You've got a very Bond thing going-" Jack stopped speaking abruptly and straightened out (literally, not figuratively), returning his gaze to Ianto's face. Forget the grinning - an all-out smile broke across Jack's face and he grabbed Ianto by the shoulders again, an excited expression on his face.

"I went with the Doctor!" Jack exclaimed, the information only then sinking in. In the future, he had left. With the Doctor. Just as he had predicted - just as had been predicted for him - the Doctor had returned to Cardiff and Jack had gone with him! "I waited an entire century for him," Jack said, tightening his grip. "A hundred years, and I finally caught up with him." Maybe he should have taken a moment to apologize for his future self's abrupt departure, but... Well, he was far too excited by the prospect of this future reunion with the Doctor. Plus he hadn't even done it yet. Well, he hadn't personally. But the him that Ianto knew had. This was really bloody confusing, but what it came down to was the fact that Jack either forgot to apologize or subconsciously didn't think he had a reason to. So no apologies were happening.

Using his grip on Ianto's shoulders, Jack guided the other man to the raised platform not far from them and sat him down, dropping beside him and facing him with an almost frantically happy look. "You have to tell me everything that happened in that year and a half that I don't know about, Ianto," he said, his voice near a whisper as if he were breaking some kind of rule just by mentioning the idea. Who cared that the two of them were stranded on some unknown place with no way to get back to Cardiff! Who cared that Jack didn't have anything on his body besides a towel and his jacket. He wanted - no, he needed to know everything up to his disappearance with the Doctor's hand in tow.

[IANTO JONES]

The thing that was becoming so very clear to Jack was still being rejected by Ianto's mind. "See what?" he said evenly. Even if he had seen, or rather known, Tosh and Jack get sucked back in time to the original Jack Harkness and knew that Jack's Doctor seemed to find the space time continuum to be more like a road map for adventure than a thing set in stone with only direction -forward-, he was still trying to discredit it. He wanted this to be the Jack Harkness he knew now, he wanted to demand some answers from, well at least politely request some answers, him about his little disappearing act. "From a different time," he repeated evenly, his lips pursing in thought. Assuming he was going to humour this lunacy, why would someone possibly want to take them out of separate times to dump them on some foreign place? Perhaps this was all some sort of cosmic joke. He was certain Owen would be laughing if he could see this. "You seem unperturbed by this," he said, an eyebrow arched delicately. "Not that I'm surprised."

He felt himself growing somewhat self conscious as the Captain took a look at him: coming to the conclusion that after a year and a half he looked good. "Much appreciated, sir," he said, fighting the twitch in his lips that hinted at a smile. The lean was not lost on him, as it had happened a few times since this Jack's time: this Jack. . . .such a bizarre notion. "I'm fairly certain that hasn't changed," he added matter-of-factly. It was growing harder to remain stoic about all this with Jack being his same old self: Bond? Honestly. He didn't have time to comment on any of the possible innuendos or contractions he could point out about the Captain's comments because the reality of his own previous comments seemed to have finally hit the other man.

Of course Jack would be more excited than sorry about the whole thing, and as he thought about it, Ianto couldn't really blame him for it. He had waited over a hundred years for the Doctor, biding his time til he could meet up with him again. Perhaps they were just a passing fancy for Jack until he could be reunited with the other man. He didn't even know much of anything about this doctor. Jack spoke so little of him and what he did say was often vague either intentionally or accidentally. He smiled softly at Jack, nodding at his enthusiasm. "Yes you finally did," he agreed.

He allowed Jack to lead him back to the platform, tucking his gun -safety now on- into the back of his slacks. His brow now furrowed in mock solemnity at Jack's request, he certainly hoped it was a request. "I believe that's called cheating, sir," he admonished him. Of course, Jack had never been one to play fair exactly. "I've probably already done too much in telling you about The Doctor: butterfly effect and all that." If he told Jack about everything, perhaps some sort of domino effect would cause an alien race to never be born-- oh wouldn't it be nice if it was weevils?- then again perhaps he was over thinking things. He sighed as he looked back at Jack.

"The usual really: threats to safety of humanity, alien captures, and we recruited a new member, well you did," he admitted. Of course, so much more had happened, there had been Lisa and Suzie and the cannibals and Balis Manger,the rift, and Abberdon and that terrible fear that Jack Harkness had finally managed to die, but Jack didn't need every intimate detail. Especially not about certain personal matters. What if, in telling him about whatever had gone on between them, he felt obligated to make sure it happened -assuming of course that they got out of this place- and what if it really had been nothing. He heaved a mental sigh - his mind was always making things unnecessarily complicated. One problem at a time, Ianto he chided himself inwardly.

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

Jack made a defiant and almost childlike face when Ianto alluded to this preview of the next year and a half 'cheating'. 'I've probably already done too much in telling you about the Doctor: butterfly effect and all that.' "Trust me," Jack said immediately in reply. "Nothing will stop me from going with the Doctor when he shows up. It doesn't matter what kind of storm is caused by this butterfly effect." And wasn't that the truth. Jack had endured 100 years, countless deaths of himself and of those he cared about. If there was one thing that kept all of that from getting to him, it was the thought of the Doctor, and the fact that he would eventually have to return to the rift. And Jack would finally get the reunion he had been waiting for. A reunion that was now absolutely certain, come to think of it, and that thought made the captain truly happy. Nothing would stop him. If he had to hold onto that TARDIS as it traveled through time and space he damn well would.

But the more immediate future was what Jack was interested in, and it was explained to him in the least amount of detail imaginable. "Really, Ianto," Jack chided him mockingly. "Slow down. Don't give me all of the information at once." But as short, sweet, and to the point as that information had been, it had also been revealing. At least the last bit was. He had recruited a new member? That didn't make much sense to him. He had built his current team - the one consisting of Ianto, Owen, Tosh, and Suzie - with great care, and they were all that he wanted and needed at Torchwood Three. He didn't recruit people on a whim, so there had to have been some reason. Had he replaced one of the team? The thought startled Jack, made him furrow his brow. He looked at Ianto - sweet Ianto, who was so deliciously snarky but somehow managed to treat this situation gently. And he thought of the others. What if he had lost one of them?

He didn't want to know. Not if someone had been hurt. Not if someone had died. It was bad enough that he might have to go through it in his own future, but he didn't want to have to anticipate it happening. But then again, maybe it was something that he might be able to keep from happening, if he asked Ianto for more detail. In his heart, though - the one that was beating fast at the possibility of him losing one of the people that he cared about - he knew that he wouldn't try to manipulate the future like that. He couldn't. And he had to remember that these people would pass through his endless life, just like the rest of them had. The captain had to remind himself of that more often than he liked. Part of it was to harden himself to better deal with the loss when it happened... but even under that, it was just him trying to avoid the moment when his heart broke and he watched yet another person fade away.

Jack had looked bothered and thoughtful for far too long. He focused on Ianto, who was with him in the here and now, and managed a characteristic smile. "But it is cheating, isn't it?" he said, reaching out and resting his hand on Ianto's shoulder. "Not another word on it," he said decisively, and then stood. He would think of all these things on his own time, because at that moment there was a bigger issue - the issue of getting him some pants.

All right, and also the issue of him and Ianto being stuck in this 'Terra'. But the pants thing was more immediate. "As much as I'd like to further explore my exhibitionist side," Jack mused, "I think I should get myself clothed." He put his hands on his hips (looking rather ridiculous in just a long coat, to be sure) and looked around. How he could still exude confidence while in such a state would probably baffle the sharpest of minds, and that's just the way Jack liked it. "There's a tailor's around here somewhere, apparently, and I've heard he's damn good at his job. And I can't do my job of getting the two of us out of here properly until I look a little more presentable."

[IANTO JONES]

Ianto sighed lightly, trying and failing to fight the head shake that wanted to accompany Jack's comment. "No doubt in my mind, sir," he agreed. Just make sure you come back, eventually he added mentally. Of course if Jack was happy with the Doctor, who were they to demand he return? They were doing a more than adequate job of saving the world on a daily basis, though if another creature like Abberdon appeared they were very likely done for. Wasn't that a reassuring thought to fall asleep to? Yes, perhaps if not for themselves at least for the safety of the human race it would be nice to come back.

Ianto rolled his eyes slightly at Jack's flare for sarcasm. "Sorry, I'd give you the full details but the reports are all in the archives," he explained, his mouth twisting in false remorse. The little humor he had found in the situation slid off his face at the expression darkening the Captain's features. He hadn't thought much about the implications of his words. Yes, Gwen had been added to their team, but Torchwood really only required the five of them: each of them being vital in some way. The Jack standing before him hadn't yet been shot by Suzie, hadn't learned that she had murdered three innocent people just to test out the Rizen Mitten, hadn't had to shoot her several times to stop here from sucking the life right out of her replacement. Of course he hadn't then gone on to test a few innovative uses for a stopwatch either, but that was neither her nor there. Time and a place, Ianto.

"Jack, I -- " he began uncertainly, his hand reaching out halfway towards him, but was saved any discomfort or having to reveal anything else by the man in question. He sighed with relief as he felt the reassuring hand on his shoulder and heard his words. He doubted the other man was purposefully trying to be comforting, but something about Jack had always been so, no matter when he'd known him.

He fought back any initial comments about Jack being an exhibitionist or what he thought of him remaining unclothed, which took a goodly amount of willpower on his part. Had Jack always set him up so perfectly? instead he forced his features into a mask of concern and nodded at him. "For the sake of the children," he said in a deadpan voice. As Jack looked around and went on about a tailor, Ianto also got to his feet. "Well then let's get you to this Tailor so you don't have to right things in your birthday suit," he agreed.

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

Jack was usually rather good at reading people. He prided himself on that skill, in fact. And that made it all the stranger that he didn't pick up on the more negative feelings Ianto was emitting toward the whole 'Jack leaving with the Doctor' thing. It would probably hit him eventually, but at the moment Jack was too caught up in the fact that he was now absolutely, one hundred percent sure that this was going to happen. Also, it didn't help that Jack was totally unaware of the relationship that had developed between his future self and the Ianto in front of him. But that whole issue had currently passed, just like his sudden darker mood had passed, and now Jack was only concerned with getting clothed. After all, that had been what he had set out to do in the first place, before he had rather serendipitously stumbled upon his friend. If he had to take anyone along on a chore like that one, it would be Ianto. The man practically stocked Jack's closet for him anyway.

Hands on his hips, Jack peered at the shops around him, turning a slow three hundred and sixty degrees to see each of the buildings around him. His eyes fell on one particular shop into which he could see through a large window at the front of it. He caught sight of rolls of fabric, and a man with what looked like a measuring tape resting around his neck. The captain turned back to Ianto and grabbed the other man's hand, - had he really missed the feeling of Mr. Jones after so short a time without it? - then took a number of long strides to enter the shop. The tailor, who was a rather mousy looking man, took one look at him and muttered, 'Human Earth male, circa 1945, am I right?' Jack blinked a few times, glanced at Ianto with a somewhat baffled sort of grin, then looked back at the tailor. "Close enough for government work," he replied amusedly. The tailor, who was sliding the tape measure from around his neck, gestured for Jack to stand on a slightly raised platform, and Jack obliged. And then he remembered that he wasn't wearing anything but a towel underneath his coat.

As comfortable as he was in his own skin, he had a feeling him standing there naked would offend this obviously shy tailor, and he wasn't entirely sure what Ianto's reaction would be. Fascination, maybe? Hopefully? The thought made Jack smirk a little. But yes! It was an issue. "I'm not exactly... wearing anything." He told the man, looking down at him. The tailor gave him what looked to be a slightly annoyed and also scrutinizing look, then disappeared behind a counter and reappeared a second later carrying a pair of linen pants. Jack grabbed them, and took a moment to work out exactly how he was going to do this. With a shrug, he reached under his jacket and tugged the towel from around his hips, throwing the thing in Ianto's direction, and then slid the pants on before shrugging off his coat and throwing that in Ianto's direction as well. "You'd better tip well for that show," he said playfully to his friend, then glanced at the tailor for a reaction. He wasn't amused.

And as the tailor started doing his work on the now pants-clad Jack, the captain turned to his employee. He gave Ianto a once-over, and then smiled. "I'm glad you popped into existence here in that suit," he mused. "Although I can't say I wouldn't have liked to see you appear just out of the shower, now that I think of it." ...But really, he would have enjoyed that very, very much. "I don't know much about this place," he continued. "How we got here, where exactly we are. What are the chances that you heard anything?"

[IANTO JONES]

Ianto allowed himself to be led by Jack again, by the hand, reaching across and behind himself to grab his suit jacket off the platform. He could only imagine what sort of ruffians might be waiting around here to steal it, should it be left behind. It did feel good to be back in the swing of things, if he was honest with himself and he often wasn't, even if it was just a simple mission: Operation Clothe Captain Harkness. He didn't mind something simple after the day he'd been having though: aliens, slime and now time and place travel. All in a days work, he supposed.

It didn't take long for Jack to locate the Tailor's shop. Once inside, Ianto took a moment to look around. There certainly was an extensive variety of materials and fabrics and clothes already prepared inside. He didn't have long to look before the Tailor surprised him by rather accurately describing Jack at a glance. He arched an impressed eyebrow as he spared the captain a glance, who in turn offered him a look of amused confusion. He shrugged his shoulders and then set his own coat on a nearby chair as Jack took his place to be measured. He leaned his back against the wall, getting comfortable for the wait.

He sighed audibly, though expected it to go unnoticed or unheeded, and shook his head at Jack's lack of tact. He supposed he was doing it for the Tailor's benefit, best not to give him a heart attack, after all it wasn't anything he hadn't already seen. Of course, Jack didn't know that yet, and perhaps he'd just keep that little tidbit to himself. He leaned to the right in anticipation of the towel being thrown at him, his expression never changing as he bent over to pick it up off the ground and fold it. As he had finished, a 40s style military jacket slapped across his face, hanging diagonally across his shoulder. He huffed slightly as he removed the coat from his person and draped it over the chair, dropping the towel on the seat. At Jack's comment, he made a show of feeling around his vest pockets and then pants. "I seem to have left my wallet in my other suit," he replied, his lips pursed in false regret.

Ianto nodded somewhat uncomfortably as Jack went on to talk about his suit, focusing his gaze on him. Jack just seemed to excel at making things difficult for him, didn't he? "I'll bet," he commented wryly. "You realize you're harassing me in front of strangers now, don't you sir?" He added the last part with a grin, as he could remember having done in the past. This really was getting exceedingly strange. He couldn't wait to file the report on this one. "What are the chances that you heard anything?" "None, I'm afraid," he explained apologetically. "I only just arrived before you found me."

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

Jack liked having Ianto around. Perhaps he wouldn't have been the captain's first pick, had he been able to choose which of his team members would end up in this place with him - if only because the Ianto he knew only did the cleaning and filing and coffee-making - but now that he was here, Jack was more than grateful. Also knowing that Ianto had some field experience now, or... in the future... well, whatever, just knowing that the younger man could use a gun was a comfort. More than all that, though, Jack appreciated the familiarity. Although some things were different about Ianto, very much had remained the same. The expressions on his face Jack had seen before, had smiled at before, and had stored in his memory. That exasperated, yet somehow stoic, and obviously amused look was the one Captain Harkness favored most. It was hard to describe exactly what Ianto's face held, but Jack didn't need to. He just needed to revel in it.

It was the expression that graced Mr. Jones's features when they reappeared from behind the coat that had obscured them briefly, and it made Jack grin widely. 'Pity,' Ianto had replied to Jack's slightly inappropriate comment. 'I seem to have left my wallet in my other suit.' Without skipping a beat, Jack added a quick comment in return. "I'm sure we can think of some way for you to make it up to me." Jack glanced at the tailor, who had insistently tapped on his right arm in an effort to make him lift it, and obliged to the silent command. Eyes now focused on the mousy man, Jack made a bit of an effort to meet his gaze, but failed. The tailor was apparently quite focused. At Ianto's scolding, Jack let out a small chuckle, then spoke to the man. "I apologize sincerely," Jack said, in a way tone that made it sound the farthest from sincere. Jack wasn't the most tactful man, but at least he exuded a charm that was hard to resist. And that was something he probably relied on far too much. For all of Ianto's complaining, Jack knew his employee wasn't entirely immune to his charm.

'I only just arrived before you did,' Ianto revealed, and Jack glanced back at him. "I got here a couple of hours before you did," he started. "Appeared right on top of a bar in nothing but my towel, if you'll believe it, and I'm sure the entire place got an eyeful of my-" The tailor had stuck a hand between Jack's legs around his knees, hitting the captain's inner thigh in a gesture that mutely ordered him to spread his legs. He did so, and then put both hands on his mostly bare hips. "I met a girl there," he continued, as if the interrupted hadn't occurred. "A cheerleader." He paused, smirked, caught Ianto's eye. "On my life, she was a cheerleader." An indestructible one, but a cheerleader all the same. "She appeared just like I did. Just like you did. Apparently she asked around and found out some information."

The tailor was done with his measurements, and disappeared from sight quickly, apparently to make the clothes that Jack had hardly even asked for. There sure as hell wasn't this kind of service back in Cardiff. Shrugging his shoulders briefly, Jack stepped off the platform and moved over to Ianto. "This place is called Terra," he said evenly. "And besides that, it's basically a mystery. People just... show up here. No one knows why they do, or who brings them here, but..." He paused, already out of information. "On the plus side, everything here is free," he added brightly, as if that small fact was supposed to make up for the fact that some unknown being had plucked them from their own times and put them in this unknown place.

[IANTO JONES]

Ianto rolled his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to hide the smirk that tugged at his lips. It was hard to be properly exasperated by qualities that were so far ingrained into his character. Not to mention he enjoyed the captain's sense of humor. "I trust you'll think of something," he murmured. He stopped himself from thinking of some of the ways he might pay the captain back. Now was neither the time nor the place to be entertaining those kinds of thoughts. Even if this had been his Jack - his Jack, really? well that was a psycho-analysis for another day- he wouldn't want to give him the satisfaction of reading on his face what he was thinking about, even if it was a terribly distracting thought.

He smiled but said nothing as Jack halfheartedly apologized for the harassment: to be fair he was actually "no-hearted" about it, but then Ianto hadn't actually been offended by the comment. It had always just been for show. He sighed and decided he really needed some sleep after all of this.

Ianto nodded as Jack explained that he had only been here a few hours longer than he had. As Jack mentioned appearing on the bar in nothing but a towel he smirked at the mental image that brought up. He could just see the looks on the people's faces. He knew what his own would be like if he was at a pub and a nearly naked man appeared in front of him: not horror perhaps, but bemusement surely and a disgruntlement at having his peace disturbed by someone who had decided to parade around starkers. "They got drinks and a show then," he commented wryly. He tilted his head, watching in mild fascination as the tailor went about his work. He often found it interesting to watch, even if he did see this on a regular basis: his suits had all been tailored.

He shifted his gaze and attention to Jack at the mention of the girl. He rolled his eyes pointedly at he description. "Only you, sir," he interjected. "Could find the one cheerleader in this place while wearing nothing but a towel." Leave it to Jack Harkness to manage that. He waited expectantly for Jack to divulge what the girl had told him. He did say she had asked around. She didn't seem to have found out much by the sounds of it: just confirmations of suspicions. "Terra?" he repeated evenly, allowing the rest of what he said to sink in. "That's not much help, is it?" But everything was free: a fact jack seemed happy enough about. "Ah yes, the silver lining," he replied thoughtfully. He failed to see how things being free was any good when they didn't know where they were or how to get back, but refrained from commenting on that. What they needed was to figure out what exactly they were dealing with in Terra. "I think I'll have a look around tomorrow to get a better feel for this place," he decided.

[CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS]

"That reminds me," Jack continued quickly. "I wonder if there's a Terra Motel around here." He glanced past Ianto and out the window. "But somehow I doubt they have a Sheraton around the corner." Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he peered at Ianto. "I wouldn't say no to a nice camping trip with you, though. Might be fun. We can make s'mores and tell ghost stories and gossip about boys." That didn't sound entirely unpleasant, but so far Jack had only been able to see the cobblestone and dirt of roads, and he didn't much feel like sleeping on any of that. "I'll ask the tailor once he gets back with-" As if on cue, the tailor returned from whatever back room he had disappeared to, and in his hands was a pile of clothes. Jack raised his eyebrows, peered at the tailor, then looked back at Ianto. "I wish you had your stopwatch going for that," he said. "That must have took him, what, three minutes?"

The clothes were handed to him, and the tailor pointed to a rather ragged-looking folding screen tucked in a corner. Jack took the hint and walked over, getting behind the screen and beginning to change his clothes. "I was wondering," Jack said, raising his voice slightly so the tailor could hear him. "Is there somewhere people can go to sleep? Maybe an inn? A hostel? A nice Bed and Breakfast?" Tugging his new pants - once that fit him like a glove, he quickly realized - he leaned to the side and looked around the edge of the folding screen and at the Terra inhabitant, a questioning expression on his face. The tailor was rather mechanical in his answer, no inflection in his tone whatsoever, like he was used to having to give out the information. "New arrivals in Terra are given the option of staying in either an apartment by themselves or a house with several other people. Both abodes are furnished and ready to be lived in immediately. There is--"

But Jack didn't let him finish. "Hold on," he said, taking a step out from behind the folding shade. He slid his arms into the button down shirt that had been made for him and began slipping the buttons into place. "Apartments and houses? For new arrivals, like us. Like the ones that just popped into existence here out of nowhere." He furrowed his brow slightly. "You talk as if these new arrivals are here permanently." There was a bit of silence, and the tailor looked, quite frankly, rather nervous. "You are here permanently," he said. "And if that's all, I have more work." And with that, the tailor scurried away, slipping into what Jack assumed was his work room and leaving the captain and Mr. Jones alone in the front of the shop.

Jack tucked his shirt into his pants, disappearing for a moment to retrieve the suspenders that had been supplied. He put them on quickly as he walked back toward Ianto, and then folded the sleeves of his shirt up and adjusted the Time Agency wrist strap that he never took off. "Well, that was interesting," he said, the humor that had previous laced his voice slowly dissipating. "It looks like whoever brought us here has no intention of letting us leave." Jack lifted his coat from Ianto's grasp and draped it over his arm. He glanced over his shoulder at the door through which the tailor had fled, and then turned back to Mr. Jones. "Well, what do you think? Should we go persuade him to tell us more, or should we venture out into the town and look for other people. And maybe these 'abodes' he was talking about."

[IANTO JONES]

It took a great deal of Ianto's personal restraint to avoid dropping his head into his hand at Jack's motel comment. He wasn't surprised by it, in fact, by this point it was expected, but old habits died hard especially when one's past resurfaced in a real and tangible way. His lips twitched into a small smile instead as he shook his head lightly. That smile became somewhat strained at Jack's next comment about camping. He could remember the last time he'd gone camping, and with Jack no less, in vivid detail. It had been the last time he was going camping in a very very long time he had promised himself. Being held hostage, tenderized with a baseball bat, and nearly bled like cattle by a bunch of crazed cannibals just had that affect on him. "My camping days are long behind me, I'm afraid," he replied in turn. "I think we're better off with that motel."

Ianto bit back his initial response about other reasons to regret the absence of his stopwatch, focusing on the simple fact that the Tailor really had gone suspiciously fast. Why it was suspicious, he wasn't quite sure though. "Eerie," he agreed evenly, waiting in his spot against the wall while Jack slipped behind the folding screen and asked about potential places to stay. He reminded himself that trying to ogle the boss while he changed was not proper etiquette and contented himself with staring towards the tailor instead. He listened intently to the response which seemed to allude more towards living arrangements than temporary places to stay. He was getting an unpleasant sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach at those words.

It only worsened when Jack pressed him further about the permanence of their staying here. "You are here permanently." the tailor said before muttering about his work and disappearing. "Hang on," Ianto began, tilting his head with his eyes half closed in slight disbelief. "What do you mean permanently?" It made little difference considering the man had already left. He glanced back over to Jack, but he'd disappeared back behind the screen. Once the captain had reappeared he arched an eyebrow at him. "That's putting it lightly, sir," he agreed. Once Jack had taken back his coat, he followed suit and picked up his own jacket off the nearby chair.

"Well by the looks of things, I don't think he's going to be going anywhere anytime soon," Ianto said, sparing a glance to the door the tailor had disappeared behind before returning his attention to Jack. It didn't really look like any of them would be going anywhere anytime soon. "I think we should go see about any others who might know something and be more willing to share than him, and perhaps see about securing a place to stay for the time being. "