Fic: Without A Bean
Title: Without A Bean
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, mentions Jack & Gwen
Rating: G
Spoilers: None.
Summary: Ianto and Jack are in such dire straits they must resort to desperate measures, much as it pains them.
Word Count: 620
Written For: alba17’s prompt ‘Torchwood, Jack/Ianto, the day they ran out of coffee beans.’ at
fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
It shouldn’t have happened, Ianto was always so careful, but one could never adequately plan for unforeseen circumstances, it seemed. He always kept a reserve, and even an extra hidden backup supply in case of emergencies, but it appeared that someone had been pilfering from that because the secure hiding place where he kept the emergency supplies was empty. Even the reserve biscuits and chocolate were gone, which made the whole situation even more suspicious.
Whoever was responsible would be in big trouble and would deeply regret not telling Ianto what had become of his emergency supplies, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The snowstorm during the night had been so severe that few people would be foolish enough to venture out; shops would remain closed and deliveries would be held up until the roads could be cleared, and that could take some time since it was still snowing heavily. Ianto had never expected to see blizzard conditions in Cardiff; there was already a good three feet of snow on the ground and getting out of the Hub would have been impossible, even if he were the kind of person insane enough to try it. Which he wasn’t, of course; if nothing else, Ianto could usually be counted on to be sensible.
Jack, on the other hand, was all for making the attempt himself. Ianto had been forced to handcuff him and sit on him until the impulse passed. He understood how Jack felt, he was feeling the same way, but there was nothing to be done. They’d survive; the generators ran on alien tech, the furnace provided abundant heat, and the freezer was full of microwave ready meals and other foods. They even had plenty of teabags and a couple of jars of hot chocolate for hot beverages.
The only thing they were lacking was coffee; there didn’t seem to be a single bean left in the entire Hub.
If they hadn’t been run off their feet for the last two weeks, drinking even more coffee than usual just to keep going, and with Ianto unable to spare the time to go shopping (it’s surprising how far down the list of priorities grocery shopping falls when you’re trying to stop an alien invasion), they wouldn’t be in this situation. The last time he’d been to the store, their delivery of Ianto’s usual blend had been delayed by a truck drivers’ strike; he’d planned to go back in a few days, but then… well, aliens don’t tend to announce in advance when they’re planning to invade your planet; they just show up.
So here they were, him and Jack, trapped in the Hub for the next few days, and under other circumstances, that wouldn’t have been cause for panic. But right now, the only coffee they had was the jar of instant Gwen thought he didn’t know about. She kept it hidden, tucked away at the back of her bottom drawer for when he wasn’t there and she needed a coffee but couldn’t be bothered to go out and get something halfway decent.
Ianto glanced at Jack; they’d made it through a full twelve hours, sliding slowly into caffeine withdrawal before biting the bullet and resorting to Gwen’s instant. Even with four spoonfuls of sugar and a little hot chocolate powder it was barely drinkable. The expression on Jack’s face was one of pained disgust and Ianto imagined he must look more or less the same, but they needed the caffeine boost; without it they’d be in an even sorrier state.
Ianto was going to kill Owen for letting his lab rats get loose!
It looked like it was going to be a long few days.
The End