John Hart's Training

[spacehopper]

((Directly after this post))


The message to John Hart was sweet.  Jack smiled into his cuff.  "You're the best there is, John, and I need the best.  I'll make it worth your while."  He stated the year code for the other former Time Agent.  "In the Four Seasons, the Ty Warner penthouse.  It has a pool on the balcony.  Seriously."

After that, Jack slipped into the bathroom with Ianto and his 'eye candy' outfit.  Tight black jeans.  No shirt.

"I think it might be too obvious," Jack murmured.  "What about that tight red shirt we bought the other day with New York and his fiancee?"  It would only be a matter of time for John to arrive.

Comments

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to put a shirt on," Ianto said with an eyeroll, slipping past Jack and going through the closet, searching for the red shirt in question. "I don't like Hart enough to let him see me half naked."

He found the bright red shirt, and slipped it over his head. The edges of it came down to exactly where his jeans began. He debated putting shoes on, but immediately put that thought to rest. This was a hotel suite. Shoes didn't belong here, and they'd already mussed up the floor.

He smirked a little. But it had been fun, mussing up that floor.

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

The message hadn't been a surprise, John had gotten used to being there when Jack asked for him. It made him feel needed and a little important. Setting the coordinates in his manipulator, John shifted to where Jack had wanted him.

Grinning he appeared in a swirl of gold, his eyes bright as he watched out for Jack, "Hey hunny, I'm home."

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

Jack had seen John on and off for the past two hundred years -- though it probably had only been five at the most for John Hary -- and no longer had animosity for him. They were lovers at times, partners in crime, companions and many other things.

And Jack was happy to see him, striding out of the massive penthouse bedroom to give his old friend a hug.

"John! Do I see gray?"

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto followed Jack into the living room. He grabbed his glock off the bathroom counter on the way, tucking it into the back of his skintight jeans. No small feat, that. He didn't trust Hart as far as he could throw him.

He smirked a bit at that thought. Well, Hart was short. Ianto might be able to toss him fairly far. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the wall, watching Hart and Jack reconnect.

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

"No more than you have," he said with a laugh, hugging Jack back tightly, "And just how longs it been for you this time?" John didn't make any effort to pull back from Jack, anytime away from him felt like too long.

But then his face fell and he rolled his eyes, "You've got to be kidding me Jack, I thought you'd got this joker out of your system."

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

"Ten years," Jack lied smoothly. It was double that long. John had been there briefly when he was still trying to get Isadora to grow up and stop stealing everything they passed, when she had been just a little girl with too much spirit and energy.

He'd called John Hart in for that too and they'd spent a year or so together.

The joker bit annoyed Jack, and he glanced over his shoulder at Ianto. "I guess asking you to be nice is out of the question?"

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

"I'm going to be very nice. I don't plan on being short with Hart at all." His accent purposefully put a distinct emphasis on the word short.

He walked over, muscles tense, but his expression smooth, calm. The last time they'd met, Hart had pointed a gun in his face, called him a disparaging nickname, and then almost blew up Gwen. Granted, Ianto had enjoyed counting down the minutes until his demise.

"If Hart plays nicely with me, I'll play nicely with him." Ianto stood a few feet behind Jack, blue eyes on Hart.

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

"Why should I be nice to eye candy here?" John crossed his arms over his chest and looked a little like a scorned lover and a child. Both he was good at acting like at times.

"So what's this? You ask me here to tell me what? That you and pretty boy here are shaking up together? I could have done without that, thank you."

He didn't even reply to anything Ianto said, why should he? John knew in one swift moment he'd lost Jack, and to Ianto of all people. He wasn't a happy man.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

Jack's telepathy never kicked in when it mattered, so he simply thought that the two men glaring at one another were simply being hostile and not openly jealous. Jack's arms did not move from around John's waist, he did like the feel of the smaller man, even in all of his crazy attire.

Actually. He was very fond of the boots. He'd have to get a pair for Ianto.

"I told you, I need your expertise. There's no one as good as you when it comes to combat training." Jack had been an interrogator. John...well...he was a bit of a murderer, wasn't he? "You did wonders for Izzy."

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto's fingers twitched, but he calmed them. Jack and Hart had a history. He accepted that. He just wished Jack would stop having histories with people that wanted to kill him. They were always unpleasant people.

Made him wonder why Jack had suddenly decided to start shagging a polite, clean cut, young Welshman. He tried to calm the burgeoning jealousy.

"I need...training," he said simply. If he spoke too much he'd end up being rude, and Jack didn't need that sort of assistance. Did they really have to keep on hugging though?

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

Oh, he liked the hug. And he was going to make the most of it. Yes, John could be a bastard and he loved acting like one too. It was part of who he was.

"So you brought me here to teach your boy toy to fight? Now why would I want to do that?" Why would John want to help Ianto, after all it was obvious to him that Jack was dumping him for him.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

Jack would have found the dumping of John Hart amusing. They had spent more time together than anyone else in Jack's long life, but that hardly meant that they were together. John never figured that out though.

"Because I'm asking you to. And because you like doing it. I know you. You've got to miss being an instructor, even if it's just to show off." Jack grinned at his friend, gently patting his cheek. "I'm sure we can work out any extra costs."

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

I'm an attentive student," Ianto said wryly, uncrossing his arms. He needed to relax. The way he was acting was irrational. Jack wanted them to be something. Not just shagging. He brought John here to HELP him.

"Look at the plus side...you're going to be allowed to hit me without repercussions."

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto rolled his eyes at Hart, and went into the bedroom, changing into the swim trunks. He grabbed a copy of The Canterbury Tales out of his suitcase and slipped into the pool.

That felt good. He sighed in relief. He needed that. Let them...do whatever it is that they were doing. He was going to relax. He flipped open the book. It was written in the original Middle-English.

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

When Ianto left, John looked up at Jack with a serious look on his face, "So what? You ask me here to help him stay alive so you to can shag like bunnies?"

Come on Jack, listen to what you're asking of him. "Didn't think even you'd be that cold."

To john, time was different, he saw Jack a lot more often than Jack saw him, and now he was shacked up with Ianto. Ugh, he felt so unloved.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

That was so very true. John saw Jack every few months actually, stayed with him for a few more months, a year or two, and then it was big chunks of time for Jack and hardly any for John. Jack tugged John back over, arms around his narrow waist.

"Not everything's about sex. I just want to travel without having to worry about someone dying."

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

"So you're not shaggin' him then?" John glanced over, getting more than a little comfortable against Jack, head resting on his shoulder as he wrapped his own arms around him.

"And most things are about sex, s'one of the rehabs I ended up in."

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto lounged in the pool, blue eyes pouring over the paperback. He had a much nicer copy back in his flat in Cardiff, but he'd never read the leather-bound addition in water. It was expensive, old, and had sentimental value. This, on the other hand, he'd picked up from a bookstore in New York.

He glanced over. Lovely. They were cuddling again.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

"You might feel differently one-- Oh, who am I kidding?" Jack laughed and kissed John's temple before he let him go. He glanced in the mirrored glass doors and saw Ianto on the other balcony in the pool with his book. He looked like some sort of fantasy creature, lounging like that.

His eyes lingered.

"Can you try to be nice, John? Go say hello again? I enjoy your company, but not if you're going to be shoot em up happy."

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

"One what? One day?" John looked up at him as he moved away, following his gaze as he looked at Ianto.

"Have you actually thought what you're asking me here? It's like asking your ex wife to be nice to your new wife and sleep in the next room while you're happily shagging away. But what you don't think about it how much your ex might love you or how hurt they might be by seeing you with someone else."

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto glanced over. By their posture, he guessed they were arguing...again. Hart really was like an angry ex-wife. It wasn't like Ianto and Jack were getting married. They were shacking up in a very nice hotel suite.

Yes, they were shagging, but it wasn't a bloody relationship. He rolled his eyes and stood up, stepping out of the pool.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

"So you're still jealous? Even when you were my wife -- and I'm amused you'll call yourself that now -- you slept with more people than I have in several life times." There was a difference, of course. Jack went through cycles were his shags turned into relationships.

John Hart had been in one of those cycles.

"That was years ago. I'm sure you've met other decent, pretty criminals to be with." Jack wasn't taking this seriously because he assumed John was just being difficult as always.

[cptn-john-hart.livejournal.com]

"Years ago for you maybe, not as long for me." He sighed once more, moving to sit down, away from Jack. He felt a little like he was being pulled back and forth.

"None of them are you Jack, none of them," and that was all john had to say on that matter.

[stopwatchdabble.livejournal.com]

Ianto slipped on a robe, and answered the suite door, taking the room service from the waiter. He thanked him politely, handing over a tip, and walked back to the main room.

They wouldn't be picnicking this time. He cleaned off the small table for four in the main living space, and set the food on it, removing it from the cartoons. He'd ordered potato gnoochi with a butter creme sauce and a light asparagus salad. He really needed to ask Jack if they could move into someplace smaller, but with a real kitchen. He was perfectly capable of making this himself. The cost was atrocious.

"Food's here," he called out.

[cpt-51century.livejournal.com]

"Only one Jack Harkness," he agreed before pausing. "No, scratch that. Several Jack Harknesses, but only one of me." He winked at John, not reading into his pout. He'd known the man for years and using sex and sexuality against anyone was one of Hart's big MOs. Jack wasn't falling for that love stuff either.

John had lied so often to so many people that it meant very little anymore.

"Food," Jack said cheerfully, heading back into the penthouse. "What did you end up ordering, Yan?"