A/N - here it is, the final chapter of Bad Seed ... beware of a scene of an adult nature in the second half of this chapter ... if you're skipping the sex, scroll down to the end to discover what's in an email sent to Jack from DI Swanson...

Chapter 50

Jack insisted on buying champagne at the pub, even though Owen couldn't drink it and Ianto had been told in no uncertain terms that he was only allowed one glass. That meant Gwen and Tosh got to polish most of it off between them. Rhys settled for pints with whisky chasers, but slowed down when he noticed how tipsy Gwen was getting and decided to take her home while she could still put one foot in front of the other.

"I think I'd better pour Gwen into a taxi and get her home. If I let her embarrass herself in public she'll never forgive me."

"I'm not that… hic… it's early yet. Let's have another bottle. What d'you say, Jack?" Gwen ran her fingers up and down the neck of the champagne bottle before clutching it pornographically and raising it to her lips to drain the dregs. Keeping her eyes locked on Jack's she almost missed the table as she set the bottle down with a thud.

"Let Rhys take you home, Gwen." Jack leaned forward to move the empty bottle away from the edge of the table. "Do you need a hand, Rhys?"

"To the door would be good - I can manage from there."

Rhys helped Gwen to her feet and Jack took the other side, lending his support.

Owen nudged Ianto and pointed out the fact that Gwen had her hand firmly planted on Jack's backside.

"You should have words with her, Ianto, she's trespassing on your property."

"As long as she keeps her hands outside of his pants, I'll let her cop a feel without fining her."

"What if he returns the favour?"

"He'd better make sure I never find out." Ianto fixed Owen with a look that made it clear that he wasn't going to rise to the bait.

Glancing back towards the corner table, Jack saw the other two men deep in conversation. He was relieved when Ianto looked up and winked at him. It had looked like a serious discussion, but the look in Ianto's eyes was enough to let him know all was well. He smiled back and held the door open so that Rhys could get Gwen out into the fresh air.

"Good work today, Rhys – thanks for your help. Tell Gwen she's got the day off tomorrow, OK?" Jack patted Rhys on the back as he followed them outside.

"Thanks, Jack. I doubt she'd be up to much even if she did try to make it in." With Gwen leaning heavily on his arm, Rhys set a course for the taxi rank. "Come on, love, let's get home."

Jack watched on wistfully as Rhys and Gwen shared a kiss as they waited in line for a taxi. He was glad he'd persuaded Gwen not to let it drift, she needed Rhys. Sighing to himself, he returned to the warm, muggy atmosphere inside the pub just in time to see Owen and Ianto helping Tosh find her handbag that she'd apparently dropped under the table.

"I'll make sure Tosh gets home in one piece as well," Owen said.

"I'm fine-"

"I know you can take down a grown man with one jab from those bloody heels, but how about letting me practice my chivalry? You can let me pretend I'm seeing you home safely."

"Since you put it like that, I'd be ever so grateful if you could escort me home, thank you." Tosh maintained a straight face, just. "I'll just go to the loo first – won't be a minute."

As soon as Tosh was out of earshot, Owen sat down opposite Jack and Ianto, who were both looking unbearably smug. It didn't escape his notice that Jack's hand was resting on Ianto's thigh and that they were sitting a lot closer together than they usually did in public. He didn't want to think about what had been going on under the table all evening, but from the way Ianto had almost choked on his glass of fruit juice at one point, it was nothing he wouldn't put past Harkness. Jack had seemed particularly attentive, it always took nearly losing any of them that made him more appreciative of his team. The person he usually took most for granted had been the centre of his attention all evening. Owen couldn't resist teasing Ianto.

"Oi, teaboy – you might not have been drinking much, but I've seen him sticking his tongue down your throat, whenever he thinks no one's looking that is, which means you've probably had more alcohol than you should, considering your condition-"

"I'm not pregnant, Owen." Ianto rolled his eyes dramatically, "– not unless there's something about those bloody plants you never told us."

"What if I was to tell you that those bacteria could genetically change your internal organs, and that you could get impregnated by Captain Biggles here?" Owen laughed out loud at the sight of Ianto visibly paling.

"Don't even joke about that, Owen." Jack shook his head and wrapped an arm around Ianto's shoulders to pull him even closer to his side. "Make sure you take good care of Tosh and I'll look after Ianto."

Jack and Ianto didn't stay long once the others had all left the pub. Jack settled the bill behind the bar and then they made their way back towards the Tourist Office entrance.

"We could've used the lift you know – there's nobody around. Literally, no body – the place is deserted." Ianto commented.

"Yeah, they're still scared of catching the dengue fever or ebola – whatever rumour Kathy was spreading."

"So why are we going this way?" Ianto tugged on Jack's hand that was firmly clasping his own.

"Because nobody's around." Jack smiled enigmatically and swung Ianto around, capturing him in a tight embrace so he could kiss him soundly, halting any other questions.

As they continued along the boardwalk towards the side entrance to the Hub, the sound of water slapping the underneath of the wooden planks was loud in the still air. There was a light breeze coming off the water, but otherwise it was peaceful.

Ianto was about to reach into his pocket for the key, when Jack stopped him and pushed him gently towards one of the benches. Ianto didn't resist as he felt Jack's large warm hands insinuate themselves under his jacket, pulling his shirt from his trousers and then clutching him close. It was as if Jack was desperate to feel his skin once more.

Pushing Ianto down onto the bench Jack straddled his lap, trapping him beneath his body. He leaned in to capture Ianto's lips and mouth in a kiss that distracted him from what Jack's hands were doing. That was until the cool air made its presence felt on bare skin revealed as Jack unzipped his trousers and let them fall open.

"Jack? Let's get inside," gasped Ianto.

"That's what I intend to do." Jack's breath hitched as he nuzzled Ianto's throat, licking and sucking at the sensitive skin.

"I meant indoors," gasped Ianto.

"No... I want you... now and here… like you said, there's no one around."

Jack's hands moved down and were now pushing into his boxers sliding them down over his hips, allowing even more cold air access to his skin. Dropping to his knees on the ground between Ianto's legs, Jack grabbed hold of Ianto's hips and went down on him, knowing exactly how the sudden warmth after the cool air would feel. He smiled to himself as Ianto whimpered. Jack's talented tongue worked Ianto until he sensed he was on the verge of coming and then he moved back onto his heels.

Jack grinned as he heard Ianto swear and bash his head against the back of the bench in frustration.

"Not yet – get up." Jack's voice was low and breathless as Ianto staggered to his feet. He held out one hand to help him, whilst using the other one to drag his trousers down completely exposing him to the cold night air. Wrapping Ianto up inside his coat, Jack ran his hands all over the other man's body, even as Ianto returned the favour, their bodies pressed close together, their mouths seeking each other out, kisses messy, teeth clashing and lips bitten in their eagerness to ravish each other.

Reluctantly, Jack broke the kiss and turned Ianto around so he was facing the bench, the cold breeze making him shiver as the warmth of Jack's coat was withdrawn from him.

"'s cold."

"I'll warm you up …" Jack breathed warm air onto Ianto's neck as he whispered into his ear. "I don't want you to touch yourself at all … got it?"

Ianto nodded as Jack placed his hands on the back of the bench, carefully positioning him, nudging his legs further apart with a knee as he did so. Taking a sachet of lube from his coat pocket Jack then proceeded to slowly prepare Ianto until he could see his knuckles turning white as he gripped hold of the wooden bench. Unzipping his own trousers, Jack could feel Ianto tremble in anticipation as he heard the sound.

Jack ran the tip of his tongue over the edge of Ianto's ear and sucked hard on the lobe, delighting in the soft gasp that escaped Ianto's lips as he pressed closer.

"Ready?" he whispered. A short nod of the head was the only response he got, but that was good – if Ianto had spoken, he'd have known he'd not done enough.

Pressing in slowly, Jack took his time, the cool air on the back of his thighs a sharp contrast to the warmth of Ianto's back. Holding back, Jack moved out slowly and then forward once more, gradually filling Ianto, until he was in as deep as possible, pushing Ianto firmly against the back of the bench. Reaching around with one hand he traced a route down Ianto's chest and then ran his fingertips gently over the silky skin sheathing the hard flesh, before grasping it harder and pumping it slowly at first as he built up his own rhythm thrusting in and out of Ianto. Increasing his pace, Jack could tell from Ianto's grunts and gasps that he wanted this as much as he did. After weeks of sickbeds and gentle sex they needed something like this, rough and hard, outdoors.

Ianto's hands were grasping for purchase on the back of the bench, as he felt Jack slamming into him, faster and faster, losing control as he got closer to coming. Jack then changed the angle so he was hitting Ianto in just the right spot again and again, until the only thing holding Ianto up was Jack's arm around his waist as he came hard, spurting against the back of the bench. Jack then used both hands to hold on tight to Ianto's hips as he grunted loudly and came with a yell. Ianto felt Jack come deep inside him, and was aware of the older man collapsing on top of him as the weight pushing him down increased.

The edges of Jack's coat covered them both in a warm cocoon as their breathing returned to normal, keeping the cold night air at bay until they were capable of moving into an awkward embrace on the narrow bench.

"You OK?" Jack asked, pressing a kiss to Ianto's sweaty forehead.

"I think I've got splinters in my hands now and my knees are going to be bruised …but apart from that, I'm good." Ianto grabbed hold of the lapels of Jack's coat to pull the other man close enough to indulge in the type of post orgasmic kiss that conveys feelings more reliably than words. "You?"

"Yeah – I'm good." Jack grinned and hugged Ianto tight. "So, you were saying something about taking this indoors?"

As they slowly made their way up the stairs towards Jack's office, they both noticed the flashing light on the phone indicating a message had been left while they'd been out.

"Who could that have been?" wondered Ianto out loud. He had seen Jack set up the Rift monitor and other alert systems to divert urgent alarms to his wrist strap. Whoever had left the message had not needed their immediate attention.

Jack slid an arm around Ianto's waist as he pressed the button to play back the message. It was from Kathy Swanson.

"Harkness – this had better not be anything to do with you lot. Check your email."

That was it, short and to the point. Swanson had sounded rushed as if leaving a message quickly, not wanting to be overheard.

"What the hell's going on?" Jack sat down heavily in his chair and booted up his computer to check his email. Ianto sat on the edge of the desk nervously and was comforted as Jack reached out to take his hand.

There was nothing in the subject line or any other content – just two attachments. Jack opened them – coroner's reports, preliminary findings on the causes of death of two men – Evans and Morris. Jack took a sharp intake of breath and he heard Ianto swallow hard. The indications all pointed to the two men having been executed – they'd both been shot in the head and dumped in the river, making it more difficult to ascertain time of death. Very little forensic evidence had been found on their bodies, although they had both been found to have cocaine in their bloodstreams. One piece of evidence found had left the coroner thoroughly perplexed. But not Jack. Several broken red scales had been scraped out from under the men's fingernails.

Red scales, apparently fish scales. A footnote stated that pictures had been sent to the Natural History Museum to see if they could establish the species of fish from which the scales had come. Jack knew that they wouldn't find anything on their database. Not unless the Museum had kept quiet about its discovery of bipedal, air-breathing, drug-dealing blowfish and somehow he didn't think that they'd have been able to keep that from the media.

The pieces of a puzzle that had been bothering him ever since Ianto had been arrested in the club on Albany Road were slowly beginning to fall into place, and the picture that was emerging was one that Jack didn't like, not one bit.

"Jack? What's going on? What does this mean?"

"I don't know for certain – but I'm gonna find out."

Fin ;-)

(if you think this smells like a fishy clue concerning a sequel, you could be right)