Red Is My Colour Prompt for Day Four
Title: Suzie Costello Has Two Daddies
Author: blue_fjords
Pairings/Characters: Suzie, slight Jack/Ianto
Setting: pre-series one
Word Count: roughly 1,750
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rating: PG
It had taken Suzie three months, one week, and five days to discover Ianto Jones’ tell.
Ianto was behind the wheel of the SUV, navigating a twisty road on the outskirts of Cardiff while a blizzard raged around them. The low visibility didn’t seem to phase him, nor did the fact that they had all been up and working for the past sixteen hours. But as Jack leaned back in the passenger seat to ask her a question, his hand grazed Ianto’s thigh, and a muscle in Ianto’s left cheek suddenly twitched.
“Aha!” Suzie thought to herself. This was information she simply must stash away for future use.
“Ground Control to Major Suzie.” Jack’s voice was on that edge between amused and annoyed.
“Oh! Right, Ianto, you’re going to want to turn left on a private road coming up in 30 meters.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jack peered out his window, trying to see through the swirling snow. He tapped his earpiece. “Owen? You find anything of use in that corpse?”
Owen’s voice filtered back to all three of them. “Depends. Stomach contents of an iron-eating alien: any of you need a garden hoe? Or how about a nice set of steak knives? Also have some handcuffs, that’s your style, isn’t it, Jack?”
“Stay late sometime and I’ll demonstrate, Owen,” Jack grinned back at Suzie as she rolled her eyes.
“We were thinking something more along the lines of how to kill the rest of the nest,” she said exasperatedly.
She could almost see Owen cross his arms over his chest and huff a breath. “That’s right, Suzie, it coughed up a self-destruct button, too, why didn’t I remember that earlier?”
Tosh’s voice interrupted their bickering, and Suzie had to cling to Ianto’s seat as he made the turn, the SUV fishtailing slightly before gaining traction on the narrow lane.
“I’ve been analyzing the autopsy results Owen’s found, and you know what’s interesting? The Gthara has incredibly low blood sugar content! So I took a sample of her blood and added some plain table sugar, and the slide actually caught on fire. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Great work, Toshiko!” Jack complimented her. He turned to Ianto. “We have any sugar in our kit?”
“You called as I was leaving Tesco’s,” Ianto replied, eyes never leaving the snow-obscured track. “There’s a three-kilo bag of sugar in the back, plus a case of Owen’s energy drinks. They’re at least 60% pure sugar.”
Suzie craned her neck to peer in the back. “Jack, you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“You’re mentally undressing our Mr. Jones, too?”
Ianto’s ears flamed red, but all he said was a mild, “You should probably hold that thought for warmer weather, Sir.”
Jack chortled, and patted Ianto’s thigh as he turned back to Suzie. She could see Ianto’s cheek muscle twitch again as she smiled to herself.
“Tranq darts,” she and Jack said together.
“Ianto, there’s a slight turn-off coming up on the right. Pull over there, and we can arm ourselves and go in the rest of the way on foot,” Suzie instructed, glancing down at her PDA to check the coordinates.
“Yes, what she said,” Jack added, smiling back at her.
Suzie hopped out and trudged to the back of the SUV the moment Ianto put it in park. Jack frowned as he joined her. “You should really be wearing a hat and gloves in this weather.”
“Thanks, Dad, but we really didn’t have time to grab accessories.”
She hauled out the two tranq guns and surveyed the collection of empty darts. Ianto had cleaned and carefully packed them after their last use. The ones with sedatives already installed were stored in another case. Suzie silently applauded his attention to detail. Ianto himself joined them as she twisted the top off the first energy drink.
Wordlessly, he handed her a wool cap and gloves. He was wearing his own set, and Suzie thought it made him look even younger. Jack nudged her in the side. “See? Ianto wants you to wear them, too.”
She sighed. “I can’t fill the darts with sausages for fingers, but thanks for the hat, Daddy Ianto.”
Ianto nodded in acknowledgement, and the three of them silently filled up darts for the two large tranq guns, and a smaller gun that Jack insisted Ianto have to protect himself.
“You stay behind me, Ianto. I don’t want you to get hurt; you were only supposed to be on a Tesco’s run.” Jack paused. “You’ve had rudimentary firearm training, yeah?”
Ianto nodded again. If he was nervous, Suzie couldn’t tell. She’d have to have Jack touch him again, apparently.
“You see the pointy ends of the darts, Ianto?” Ianto gave her a very flat look. She smiled at him sweetly. “You fire the pointy ends into the Gthara.”
Ignoring her, Ianto reached further into the SUV and tugged forward a large plastic bin. “I took the liberty of packing some winter gear for emergencies a couple of weeks ago. There are winter boots.”
He fished out a small pair and handed them to Suzie before pulling out the largest set for his own feet. Suzie looked down at her set, disgruntled. They were pink. She didn’t have time to protest, however, as Jack’s hands circled her waist and lifted her up. He plopped her down on the back bumper of the SUV and pulled off her shoes, replacing them with the pink boots. Suzie had to admit that they were warm, and would do a much better job of keeping her feet dry than her sensible pumps. Ianto smiled at them as he finished lacing up his own boots (hunter green).
“If you two are done babying me, perhaps we can go catch the bad guys now?” She glared up at them. Curse them both for being so tall.
Ianto locked the SUV behind them as they started off, keeping to the lane for about twenty more meters.
“Why would an iron-eating alien make a nest out here in the middle of nowhere?” Jack wondered out loud.
“This used to be a landfill. There’s probably still enough garbage around to keep them fed,” Ianto replied softly.
“Fascinating local history lesson, Ianto, but would you two please remember the meaning of the word ‘stealth’?” Suize hissed at them.
Ianto shut his mouth with a snap. Suzie glanced back down at her PDA.
“I think there are three Gthara,” she whispered. “They seem to be taking shelter in the old guard shack.”
Jack peered through the snow. “There,” he breathed back. “Five meters to your right.”
Suzie nodded, and gripped her tranq gun harder. “Which side do you want?”
“Ianto and I will circle around the back, make sure we can get them all in one go. Give us two minutes.” He and Ianto soon disappeared in the thick snow. Suzie moved forward slowly, counting under her breath. Normally, Jack wasn’t quite so focused on shooting first, and asking questions later, but the Gthara were fairly mindless, focused solely on the consumption of iron, and they had caused a lot of damage to Cardiff’s infrastructure. They had found the one they’d already managed to kill eating the remains of the ship that had transported them through the Rift in the first place, so there went that idea.
At the two minute mark, Suzie took a deep breath and kicked in the door of the shack. Her PDA was wrong. There were six Gthara. Suzie quickly took out one that was poised to leap on Ianto as he and Jack blocked the back of the shack. Her hands were a blur as she reloaded another dart, fired, and reached for one more. She never saw the last Gthara turn on Ianto, but she saw him fly through the air and hit the side of the shack with a dull thunk before sliding bonelessly down. Jack roared in anger, and the last Gthara practically exploded as darts from both Jack and Suzie hit it.
Jack dropped his gun and ran to Ianto’s side.
“Jack! Is he breathing? Is there blood?”
Suzie’s heart hiccupped when she saw that Ianto was not breathing. Jack cradled him in his arms and felt for a pulse. Suzie squashed the voice in her head that said she should have brought her glove with her. Besides, she didn’t know if it worked on humans.
“Jack? Jack, I’m so sorry -“
“He’s not dead,” he said roughly. Cupping his head in one hand, Jack pulled Ianto closer and breathed into his mouth.
“Jack, that’s not how you do CPR -“ Suzie started, and stopped as it obviously changed into a kiss. She gasped as Ianto’s lips responded and his eyelashes fluttered open. Jack broke the kiss, but tightened his arms around Ianto. They stared as each other for a long moment.
Finally, Suzie broke the spell by clearing her throat. Ianto looked startled to see her, and his left cheek twitched very faintly.
“Well! Clean up. I’m thinking a nice big fire, what do you lot think?”
Jack nodded as he helped Ianto stand up. Suzie noticed that he kept one arm around the younger man’s shoulders. “That’s probably easiest. We already have one autopsied, at any rate.”
Suzie kept a careful eye on the two of them as they set about hauling supplies from the SUV, starting a fire and contacting Tosh and Owen back at the Hub to fill them in. They used an alien compound for the fire so they wouldn’t have to stay out there the whole night, but all the same, there was time enough for Jack to tell one outrageous story about a dance hall made entirely of spun sugar and a singer whose six tentacles provided the harmonies to her music (“With all due respect, Sir, I believe you are making that up,” was Ianto’s response. Jack had just grinned, and trailed a finger down Ianto’s cheekbone as it gave a slight twitch.).
Suzie insisted on driving back out, to give Ianto a chance to rest. He shot her a grateful look and clambered into the backseat. Suzie was not at all surprised when Jack followed him. She was not at all surprised, either, when he let Jack hold him. As she pulled out of the private lane back onto the main road, Suzie decided not to tease him about his tell. It really wasn’t much of a tell when the truth was so obvious.
Author: blue_fjords
Pairings/Characters: Suzie, slight Jack/Ianto
Setting: pre-series one
Word Count: roughly 1,750
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rating: PG
It had taken Suzie three months, one week, and five days to discover Ianto Jones’ tell.
Ianto was behind the wheel of the SUV, navigating a twisty road on the outskirts of Cardiff while a blizzard raged around them. The low visibility didn’t seem to phase him, nor did the fact that they had all been up and working for the past sixteen hours. But as Jack leaned back in the passenger seat to ask her a question, his hand grazed Ianto’s thigh, and a muscle in Ianto’s left cheek suddenly twitched.
“Aha!” Suzie thought to herself. This was information she simply must stash away for future use.
“Ground Control to Major Suzie.” Jack’s voice was on that edge between amused and annoyed.
“Oh! Right, Ianto, you’re going to want to turn left on a private road coming up in 30 meters.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Jack peered out his window, trying to see through the swirling snow. He tapped his earpiece. “Owen? You find anything of use in that corpse?”
Owen’s voice filtered back to all three of them. “Depends. Stomach contents of an iron-eating alien: any of you need a garden hoe? Or how about a nice set of steak knives? Also have some handcuffs, that’s your style, isn’t it, Jack?”
“Stay late sometime and I’ll demonstrate, Owen,” Jack grinned back at Suzie as she rolled her eyes.
“We were thinking something more along the lines of how to kill the rest of the nest,” she said exasperatedly.
She could almost see Owen cross his arms over his chest and huff a breath. “That’s right, Suzie, it coughed up a self-destruct button, too, why didn’t I remember that earlier?”
Tosh’s voice interrupted their bickering, and Suzie had to cling to Ianto’s seat as he made the turn, the SUV fishtailing slightly before gaining traction on the narrow lane.
“I’ve been analyzing the autopsy results Owen’s found, and you know what’s interesting? The Gthara has incredibly low blood sugar content! So I took a sample of her blood and added some plain table sugar, and the slide actually caught on fire. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Great work, Toshiko!” Jack complimented her. He turned to Ianto. “We have any sugar in our kit?”
“You called as I was leaving Tesco’s,” Ianto replied, eyes never leaving the snow-obscured track. “There’s a three-kilo bag of sugar in the back, plus a case of Owen’s energy drinks. They’re at least 60% pure sugar.”
Suzie craned her neck to peer in the back. “Jack, you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“You’re mentally undressing our Mr. Jones, too?”
Ianto’s ears flamed red, but all he said was a mild, “You should probably hold that thought for warmer weather, Sir.”
Jack chortled, and patted Ianto’s thigh as he turned back to Suzie. She could see Ianto’s cheek muscle twitch again as she smiled to herself.
“Tranq darts,” she and Jack said together.
“Ianto, there’s a slight turn-off coming up on the right. Pull over there, and we can arm ourselves and go in the rest of the way on foot,” Suzie instructed, glancing down at her PDA to check the coordinates.
“Yes, what she said,” Jack added, smiling back at her.
Suzie hopped out and trudged to the back of the SUV the moment Ianto put it in park. Jack frowned as he joined her. “You should really be wearing a hat and gloves in this weather.”
“Thanks, Dad, but we really didn’t have time to grab accessories.”
She hauled out the two tranq guns and surveyed the collection of empty darts. Ianto had cleaned and carefully packed them after their last use. The ones with sedatives already installed were stored in another case. Suzie silently applauded his attention to detail. Ianto himself joined them as she twisted the top off the first energy drink.
Wordlessly, he handed her a wool cap and gloves. He was wearing his own set, and Suzie thought it made him look even younger. Jack nudged her in the side. “See? Ianto wants you to wear them, too.”
She sighed. “I can’t fill the darts with sausages for fingers, but thanks for the hat, Daddy Ianto.”
Ianto nodded in acknowledgement, and the three of them silently filled up darts for the two large tranq guns, and a smaller gun that Jack insisted Ianto have to protect himself.
“You stay behind me, Ianto. I don’t want you to get hurt; you were only supposed to be on a Tesco’s run.” Jack paused. “You’ve had rudimentary firearm training, yeah?”
Ianto nodded again. If he was nervous, Suzie couldn’t tell. She’d have to have Jack touch him again, apparently.
“You see the pointy ends of the darts, Ianto?” Ianto gave her a very flat look. She smiled at him sweetly. “You fire the pointy ends into the Gthara.”
Ignoring her, Ianto reached further into the SUV and tugged forward a large plastic bin. “I took the liberty of packing some winter gear for emergencies a couple of weeks ago. There are winter boots.”
He fished out a small pair and handed them to Suzie before pulling out the largest set for his own feet. Suzie looked down at her set, disgruntled. They were pink. She didn’t have time to protest, however, as Jack’s hands circled her waist and lifted her up. He plopped her down on the back bumper of the SUV and pulled off her shoes, replacing them with the pink boots. Suzie had to admit that they were warm, and would do a much better job of keeping her feet dry than her sensible pumps. Ianto smiled at them as he finished lacing up his own boots (hunter green).
“If you two are done babying me, perhaps we can go catch the bad guys now?” She glared up at them. Curse them both for being so tall.
Ianto locked the SUV behind them as they started off, keeping to the lane for about twenty more meters.
“Why would an iron-eating alien make a nest out here in the middle of nowhere?” Jack wondered out loud.
“This used to be a landfill. There’s probably still enough garbage around to keep them fed,” Ianto replied softly.
“Fascinating local history lesson, Ianto, but would you two please remember the meaning of the word ‘stealth’?” Suize hissed at them.
Ianto shut his mouth with a snap. Suzie glanced back down at her PDA.
“I think there are three Gthara,” she whispered. “They seem to be taking shelter in the old guard shack.”
Jack peered through the snow. “There,” he breathed back. “Five meters to your right.”
Suzie nodded, and gripped her tranq gun harder. “Which side do you want?”
“Ianto and I will circle around the back, make sure we can get them all in one go. Give us two minutes.” He and Ianto soon disappeared in the thick snow. Suzie moved forward slowly, counting under her breath. Normally, Jack wasn’t quite so focused on shooting first, and asking questions later, but the Gthara were fairly mindless, focused solely on the consumption of iron, and they had caused a lot of damage to Cardiff’s infrastructure. They had found the one they’d already managed to kill eating the remains of the ship that had transported them through the Rift in the first place, so there went that idea.
At the two minute mark, Suzie took a deep breath and kicked in the door of the shack. Her PDA was wrong. There were six Gthara. Suzie quickly took out one that was poised to leap on Ianto as he and Jack blocked the back of the shack. Her hands were a blur as she reloaded another dart, fired, and reached for one more. She never saw the last Gthara turn on Ianto, but she saw him fly through the air and hit the side of the shack with a dull thunk before sliding bonelessly down. Jack roared in anger, and the last Gthara practically exploded as darts from both Jack and Suzie hit it.
Jack dropped his gun and ran to Ianto’s side.
“Jack! Is he breathing? Is there blood?”
Suzie’s heart hiccupped when she saw that Ianto was not breathing. Jack cradled him in his arms and felt for a pulse. Suzie squashed the voice in her head that said she should have brought her glove with her. Besides, she didn’t know if it worked on humans.
“Jack? Jack, I’m so sorry -“
“He’s not dead,” he said roughly. Cupping his head in one hand, Jack pulled Ianto closer and breathed into his mouth.
“Jack, that’s not how you do CPR -“ Suzie started, and stopped as it obviously changed into a kiss. She gasped as Ianto’s lips responded and his eyelashes fluttered open. Jack broke the kiss, but tightened his arms around Ianto. They stared as each other for a long moment.
Finally, Suzie broke the spell by clearing her throat. Ianto looked startled to see her, and his left cheek twitched very faintly.
“Well! Clean up. I’m thinking a nice big fire, what do you lot think?”
Jack nodded as he helped Ianto stand up. Suzie noticed that he kept one arm around the younger man’s shoulders. “That’s probably easiest. We already have one autopsied, at any rate.”
Suzie kept a careful eye on the two of them as they set about hauling supplies from the SUV, starting a fire and contacting Tosh and Owen back at the Hub to fill them in. They used an alien compound for the fire so they wouldn’t have to stay out there the whole night, but all the same, there was time enough for Jack to tell one outrageous story about a dance hall made entirely of spun sugar and a singer whose six tentacles provided the harmonies to her music (“With all due respect, Sir, I believe you are making that up,” was Ianto’s response. Jack had just grinned, and trailed a finger down Ianto’s cheekbone as it gave a slight twitch.).
Suzie insisted on driving back out, to give Ianto a chance to rest. He shot her a grateful look and clambered into the backseat. Suzie was not at all surprised when Jack followed him. She was not at all surprised, either, when he let Jack hold him. As she pulled out of the private lane back onto the main road, Suzie decided not to tease him about his tell. It really wasn’t much of a tell when the truth was so obvious.