69 Memory Lane - Monday

[time_watcher]

As soon as Ianto had gotten done laughing at Jack for falling out of a tree he'd helped the older man get out of his clothes and into a hot shower. Jack's back had looked like some sort of goth patchwork quilt with his black and blue marks and Ianto had merely rolled his eyes and shoved the older man towards a fluffy towel when Jack had tried to

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[beenthroughthat]

Sam, for no particular reason, decided it might be a good day to pay his, er, employer a visit. Good workplace relations and all that.

And if he looked at all tired and -- ahem -- bruised from his weekend, at least he looked very happy about it.

[time_watcher]

Jack laughed and gave Anders a salute.

"Sounds like you are indeed set, Sam with the added bonus of how much you all care about each other."

[beenthroughthat]

Sam raised his head and looked straight at Jack. "I went to hell for them, and I'd do it again if I had to. Just so you know."

[time_watcher]

"Good to know," Jack said in a tone that didn't give away too much.

[beenthroughthat]

The neutrality wasn't lost on Sam, who narrowed his eyes slightly. "Not big on love, are you, Captain?"

[time_watcher]

"It has it's place," Jack said, which really wasn't much of an answer at all if you thought about it.

[beenthroughthat]

Really kinda wasn't. "And in the grand scheme of things, where does that place fall for you?" Sam spread his hands in an innocent gesture. "Just trying to get a sense of my coworkers, is all."

[time_watcher]

It actually fell fairly high for Jack and he certainly understood how it could be the driving force for people's actions, even when those actions countered his own desires.

But for himself? That was private.

"So, there might be some projects coming down the pike that I'll need your assistance on, is that going to be a problem?"

[beenthroughthat]

Sam sighed and conceded for now; Dean had, after all, warned him about Jack's tendencies toward being tight-lipped. (No allusions as to other characteristics of said lips, though.)

"I think if I had a problem with that, Captain," Sam said, carefully emphasizing the title, "I would've balked when you swapped out my phone."

[time_watcher]

Jack accepted the swap to the title with grace, though he'd been enjoying the more relaxed conversation with Sam.

Still, tight lipped... (in every sense of the word bow chicka bowwow)

"Good point. I was just trying to give you a bit of a heads up, is all."

[beenthroughthat]

And now that the point had been made, Sam did relax back into his chair and take a sip of his coffee. "Gotta say, compliments to Ianto. Never did figure out how to get this kind of kick out of my java without murdering my teeth in the process," he remarked. "And the warning's appreciated. Anything you want me to brush up on beforehand?"

[time_watcher]

"Ianto has mad skills with coffee beans," Jack agreed. Of course, Ianto had mad skills other places as well ... not entirely dirty but Jack figured Sam didn't need a listing.

"Seriously? Stamina. You'll be surprised how much running and just general footwork we end up doing in this job."

[beenthroughthat]

"I've --" Sam paused; it had never seemed odd to him before, but for some reason it did now. "Never had a problem in that regard. Can go full-out for a couple of hours if I need to, and second and even third winds . . . those come pretty easy."

[time_watcher]

Something in Anders' phrasing tickled at the back of Jack's brain and he frowned a little but like a word that dangles just on the tip of your tongue, he couldn't quite grasp the source of his sudden disquiet.

Shrugging it off, he nodded.

"Excellent," Jack said with a nod and after a moment's hesitation he moved to pry himself out of the chair.

"Come on, I'd better show you around the place."

[beenthroughthat]

Sam tossed back the last of the coffee, the gesture a little too vigorous, as if to shake off any lingering discomfort from his own last comment, and stood. "I'm down with that. Take me on the grand tour."

[time_watcher]

Walking over to the interior wall, Jack flipped open the strap on his wrist and pressed a button which caused the wall to swing back, exposing the circular cliche staircase behind it.

Waving for Anders to follow him, Jack headed onto the stairs and down into the Lair.

The Lair, laid out not unlike the Hub, if perhaps without the sewer chic feel. Built through the marvels of alien technology, it was a study in plexiglass and computer equipment. Basically ... your standard secret base type opperation.

"Welcome to the Lair. I wanted to call it the Hub part duex but Ianto nixed that idea."