m_findlow

Title: Sacrifice
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Owen
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 3,221 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, someone is dared to give up.... for a week" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto takes on a bet he's sure he'll win.

'You couldn't,' Ianto said, giving Jack a firm stare.

'I could,' Jack replied, laying back on the pillow, tucking his hand under it to prop up his head so he could better see Ianto's face as he leaned over the top of him. Ianto leaned on one elbow and used his free hand to walk his fingers up Jack's chest.

'Not a chance,' Ianto replied. 'You couldn't go twenty four hours. The whole universe would implode or something.'

Jack wrapped a warm hand around Ianto, letting it rest on the small of his back.

'I've gone whole years without it.'

'Liar.'

'True,' Jack insisted. 'I was in a monastery for two years undercover on a job.'

Ianto burst out laughing, collapsing on Jack's chest in a fit of giggles. 'A monastery? You? No wonder the church is corrupt!'

'I bet you couldn't last a week,' Jack said.

Ianto pulled back so he could look Jack in the eye. 'Me? Seriously? You must be joking.'

'I'm serious. I dare you to go one week without sex.'

'Done,' Ianto replied quickly, knowing he had this one in the bag. 'And what do I get when I win this bet of yours?'

'If you win,' Jack clarified. 'I'm so convinced you won't make it that I'm not even going to put up a prize.'

Ianto leaned down and teased Jack's nipple with his teeth. 'So where's the incentive for me, then? You're going to have to make it worth my while to prove you wrong. Not that I need incentive, mind you. Not when you make it so easy.'

'Fine,' Jack said, enjoying what Ianto was doing with his mouth. 'You win, you can name your prize. Anything at all.'

'Anything?'

'Anything.'

'My but we're cocky,' Ianto hummed, continuing his ministrations.

Jack pushed him away slightly. 'Something you won't get for the next seven days,' he teased.

Ianto reached down to touch it, but Jack held his hand at bay.

'Nuh uh,' Jack said.

'Oh? We're starting already? I thought you might like one last go at it, before I starve you for a week.'

Jack chuckled. 'Oh, don't you worry about me, Mr Jones. I'll survive just fine.'

Ianto didn't believe him for a second. This was going to be as much of a drought for Jack as it was him. 'So, technically that means we started counting last night, then.'

'Oh, no. You told me this was gonna be a cakewalk, so we don't start counting until now.'

Ianto rolled his eyes at Jack and sat up to get out of bed. 'Fine, we play it your way. Come find me when you can't take it anymore.'

Jack grinned, watching his figure swagger towards the bathroom, thinking about how much fun the next seven days would be.

Ianto knocked perfunctorily on the door before delivering the morning's first coffee.

'Thanks,' Jack said, taking the mug and picking up something from his desk. 'This is for you,' he said, handing it over.

'A wristwatch?' Ianto asked. 'I already have one.'

'This one's special,' Jack replied.

'How so?'

'It'll keep an eye on you when I'm not. Not that I don't trust you, but this will make sure you don't try to get frisky when I have my back turned. It's very specifically tuned to things like your pulse and testosterone levels. Your hand starts to stray and I'll know about it.'

Ianto scoffed. 'So much for not trusting me,' he said, replacing his regular digital watch for Jack's little toy. 'I won't cheat provided you don't play dirty.'

He knew exactly the sorts of things Jack might try on him: everything from casual flirting and dirty talk, all the way through to more extreme things. He wouldn't have put it past Jack to handcuff him to the staircase railing whilst he made Ianto watch him undress and play with himself. Ianto was mentally prepared for whatever Jack planned on throwing at him. He still didn't think Jack could wank his way through seven days whilst Ianto went cold turkey. Seven days would give him plenty of time to dream up what he wanted for his prize.

Ianto couldn't help but smile all day long, and everyone seemed to notice his infectious good mood.

'I don't even wanna know what the boss did to make you so jolly,' Owen griped.

'That's the best part, Owen,' Ianto replied. 'He hasn't done anything.'

Owen frowned in confusion but decided to leave before Ianto could give him further details, convinced there was some catch.

By the end of the first day, Ianto was in good spirits. The only thing that dampened his mood was the cheery look on Jack's face. He probably shouldn't be so hard on Jack, he thought, chastising himself for the poor choice of words. It had only been one day, half a day really, and even Jack could make it through a day without sex. To be fair, Ianto gave him three days before he caved. Today was nothing, tomorrow might be a non event too, but by Wednesday, Jack would be beating down his door.

The two days flew by, and on the morning of the third day, Ianto was actually beginning to think that this abstinence thing had been the best thing to happen for their relationship. Just because they weren't romping in bed all night, didn't mean they didn't spend time together. In fact, it was nice just to lie there together and talk about nothing at all. And on the plus side, Jack hadn't tried anything sneaky at all.

It wasn't until the wee hours of Thursday morning that Ianto was really tested. The alert woke them both up, and without a word, they knew it was a weevil gone rogue. They quickly dressed and were in the SUV within ten minutes, making the short drive out to a local park in Splott.

The weevil too was a local, and a particularly stupid one, according to the chip embedded in its neck which was giving off the signal.

'Boris never learns,' Jack sighed, having coordinated the short chase and capture. 'How many times have we tranqued him now?'

'Thirteen,' Ianto replied, checking the records on his phone. 'Some would say that's an unlucky number.'

'It is for this guy,' Jack said, as they hauled him into the back of the SUV, to be dumped back in the sewers where he'd wake up, cold and probably very hungry. As Jack slammed the boot shut, he found Ianto pressed against him, hand wrapped around his neck and tongue delving into his mouth. Jack let Ianto continue for a further thirty seconds, before the watch on his wrist started beeping loudly. Jack pulled away, albeit a little reluctantly.

'We can keep going, but don't you have a bet to win?' he asked. Jack heard the slightly vexed growl.

Ianto was well aware of the ground rules. There was nothing against kissing per se, but kissing lead to other things. He'd done it out of habit. They always celebrated a weevil capture this way, but he'd forgotten all about their bet, as Jack had rightly pointed out. It didn't help that his watch was going crazy, giving him away in his lust. Thirteen really was an unlucky number, he decided.

He cleared his throat loudly. 'Let's just get old Boris back where he belongs then, shall we?'

'Yes, sir,' Jack said, grinning and saluting him.

They moved efficiently, perfectly in synch as they carried their weevil back to his designated lair, leaving him to sleep off the drugs. It helped Ianto to clear his head, focusing on not making too much noise, disturbing the surrounding known nests of weevils living down here. Still, it irked him that he'd let his willpower slip so easily. It was just force of habit, he kept telling himself, that's all.

By the time they got back to the hub and collapsed back into bed, Ianto should have been tired enough to fall asleep straight away. Instead, all he could feel was Jack's warm body next to him, his soft snores breaking the silence, and worst of all, that scent that was so uniquely Jack, pervading the whole room. Damn Jack and his fifty-first century pheromones! He smelled so good that Ianto snuggled closer, breathing in the heady scent. He found his hand straying and he had to stop himself. No, he mustn't touch. Not Jack, and especially not himself. He lay there a few more minutes, trying to settle, but he couldn't. All he could think of was how delicious it would be to wake up Jack and claim him. Before he got too far ahead of himself, he got up and fled up the ladder, praying the watch wouldn't go off before he made it to the showers, where he planned on dousing himself in a lot of very cold water.

After a cold shower and a hot coffee, he sat at his desk, feeling much better. It was still early, but he decided to make a start on work, keeping his mind distracted. There was no way he could go back to bed now. Not with Jack smelling the way he did.

Come on, Jones. It's only been three and a bit days. You thought Jack would have caved in by now but he's holding strong. Perhaps he'd only been hoping Jack would cave in so that he wouldn't have to give in first. It wasn't that hard. This was just one little stumbling block. A few hours of solid work and he'd forget all about Jack.

He made a reasonable start, but as the hour of that wolf crept by, all he could picture was Jack waking up, stretching out, and finding Ianto gone, tending to his own needs, either in their bed, or maybe in the shower. No, he told himself. Dead puppies, as he watched his pulse rate go up on the watch's tiny display.

Jack was under no illusion that Ianto wasn't struggling with the task he'd been set. He'd thought Jack was incapable of resisting, but it went both ways. Yes, he'd wanted Ianto back when they'd caught the weevil, and it had been hard not to tease and taunt him until he surrendered. Weevil chases would leave anyone wired, and it didn't seem fair to take advantage. He'd win this bet fair and square, and if Ianto being missing from their bed when he'd woke up was any indication, the young man was beginning to fray at the edges. Jack grinned in the knowledge. All it took was one thread and a gentle tug would have it all unraveling in no time.

Thursday came as a welcome reprieve. The team were kept busy out in the field most of the day, leaving Ianto back at the hub to coordinate and feed them information. He couldn't help but wonder if Jack had done that on purpose. He hadn't made any comment about Ianto's early start, nor had he tried to ruffle his feathers, simply carrying on as normal. It wasn't like Jack at all not to cheat, even a little bit. He must have had something big planned up his sleeve, Ianto was sure of it. It put him on high alert for anything underhanded.

He was still slightly guarded when he crawled into bed that night, but Jack was acting completely normal. He barely touched Ianto except to place a hand over his hip, a move so familiar and commonplace that Ianto barely registered it. He turned over to face Jack and leaned in tentatively to place a gentle kiss on his lips.

'What was that for?' Jack asked.

'Just felt like it,' he replied, kissing him again. Jack responded without too much effort, and they spent the next few minutes kissing tenderly. Jack was beginning to wonder when Ianto would start looking for more. He was disappointed, though only slightly, when they lay there just kissing and gently touching faces and arms for a good half hour. If anything, Ianto's resolve impressed him, and it was actually quite nice just to be like this without going any further. It was Ianto who finally put an end to it, lying on Jack's shoulder and letting himself fall asleep there. He didn't have to know that Ianto had stolen sleeping pills from Owen's stash, and that his amorous mood was merely a side effect of feeling so happy and drowsy.

The happy, sated feeling didn't last though. Ten minutes before his alarm was set to go off, Ianto woke, took one whiff of Jack so close to him and was rock hard. It's Friday. You're past the halfway mark. It's all downhill from here.

Another cold shower and hot coffee later, he'd relegated himself to the archives for the day. That was a guaranteed cure for getting Jack off his mind. There was so much mess and disorder down there that he'd be able to think about nothing else. It was what he did when he was angry or upset, distracting himself with the veritable mountain of work the archives provided. It should work a treat for sexual frustration too. Three days down here and it'll all be over, he told himself.

The archives proved sufficiently absorbing to a point, but as his mind fell into a routine, it also drifted, and thoughts of Jack were there constantly. It wasn't like him to fixate like this. He even imagined he could hear Jack calling out for him, as he often did when he came looking for Ianto, until finally he wasn't imagining it. There was Jack standing right there.

'Pizza's here,' he said. 'You coming?'

Almost, Ianto thought, drinking in the sight of his gorgeous lover. Don't beep, he begged his watch. Please don't beep.

The traditional round of pizzas was laid out on the boardroom table. As usual, they ate and joked, laughed and listened as Jack regaled them with his crazy but true stories. Funnily, it was easier to stay composed with Jack in the room, getting lost in listening to him, joining in the team's frivolity than it was when he was tucked away on his own with nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company. Perhaps he should follow Owen around everywhere for the next two days. That was bound to dampen anyone's sex drive.

It wasn't quite what he'd wished for, but Saturday saw him driving out to Radyr with Gwen, helping her follow up a lead on a case she was investigating.

'Are you okay, Ianto?' she asked giving him a sideward glance as they sat at the lights.

'Fine. Why?'

'I dunno. You just seem a little tense. Things okay with Jack?'

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief. At least Jack hadn't advertised their wager to all and sundry. That was the last thing he needed.

'Yup. Just been a long week, that's all.'

'That's good,' she replied, smiling and reaching out to pat him on the knee. 'I'd hate to see anything come between you two.'

What, like a stupid bet that I can't abstain from wanting to tear off Jack's clothes and fuck him until he sees stars? he felt like saying. Then his watch began to make little beeping sounds.

'What's that?' Gwen asked.

'New watch. Haven't figured out how to shut it up, yet.'

Once he was back at the hub he hid himself away again, trying to find the most vexing filing cabinet he could, pawing through the haphazardly filed records, trying to work them into some semblance of order. He kept going until the late hours of the evening and into the night. When his neck and shoulders began to ache, and the strain on his eyes became too much to concentrate any longer, he slumped onto the desk in front of him and promptly fell asleep.

Jack spied him on the CCTV and let him be, catching up on sleep until midday, forcing the rest of the team to find their caffeine fix elsewhere, much to their chagrin. When he finally took himself downstairs, he found Ianto pretty much exactly where he'd been last night, head resting on his arms. He reached down and gently massaged his neck, knowing it would be stiff and sore from sleeping awkwardly.

'Ianto,' he crooned.

Ianto woke to the feel of Jack's fingers deftly moving along his neck and into the back of his hair, soothing and tender. Those fingers were magic, and he let out a little moan of pleasure as they continued to work their way across his shoulders, easing out the knots of tension.

'Has anyone ever told you that you work too hard?' Jack said.

Ianto moaned again as Jack's fingers moved back over his neck. The only part of the question he heard was "too hard" and he realised that he was. Jack was so close and those fingers, God.

With a speed that took even Jack by surprise, Ianto was up and out of the chair, pressing himself hard against up Jack's body, and plundering his mouth. Jack didn't fight it, feeling just how desperate Ianto was, his interest also pressing hard against his body. Before long, they were undressed and making love right there on the cold concrete floor, Ianto giving Jack everything he had, as if they'd never make love ever again. It was hot and hard and so good that Jack didn't want it to end though it was over far sooner than either of them would have liked.

Lying there in the darkness, catching their breath, Jack leaned over, admiring his sweaty, but sated lover. If he wasn't mistaken, they'd be ready to go again in half an hour.

'What happened?' he asked. 'You were only a few hours away from winning our bet.'

'I know,' Ianto said, once he'd finally gotten back enough breath to reply. 'But I couldn't take it any longer. I used to think you had a ridiculous libido, but when I'm not with you, all I can think about is being with you.'

Jack chuckled and leaned down to envelop his lips in a kiss. 'Now you know how I feel every day. You're just too irresistible to admire from afar. You don't know how many cold showers I've had this week.'

Ianto laughed, feeling his chest ache from the action. 'Oh, I think I can go you one better on that count, trust me. If I'd known I wouldn't make it to Sunday night, I would've just fucked you that night we rounded up Boris.'

'I was kinda hoping you would,' Jack replied. 'But I knew you were more determined than that and I wanted to see how long you'd last. Why do you think I tried so hard? This was one bet I wanted you to win.'

Ianto laughed again. 'Turns out I'm rubbish at abstinence, but I think this is one bet I'm happy to lose, because now it means I can have you as often as I want without having to worry.'

Jack smothered him and kissed him hard. 'It seems the odds are definitely in my favour on that one.'

'Oh,' Ianto hummed, letting Jack's lips explore all his favourite spots. 'I think we both win on this one.'