The Morning After

[capj_harkness]

Who: Jack and any Torchwood people who want to join in.
When: Morning, after that first night back in the Hub.
Where: The Hub.
What: Jack's first morning after having ACTUAL SLEEP for the first time in a year. For him.
Status: Incomplete.

Comments

[tea_boy_x]

After his usual nod of acknowledgement, Ianto too a step back and lowered the tray. Hands moved behind his back, feet slightly apart as he stood next to the Captain, at his shoulder.

Another sign, Ianto now realise, that things hadn't turned to the way they had used to be yet. How could they, only less then a day after Jack's return. But in the old days Ianto would have sat down at the edge of the desk, have a morning conversation with Jack about everything and nothing.

"Not hard to figure out," Ianto shrugged, though a small smile threatened to tug the corners of his mouth upward. I was probably a given, but it was still nice to know he could anticipate the Captain's next wish, as it where.

At the next question the Welshman shrugged. A quick glance into the hub revealed no sudden changes to make him a liar before stating, "Nothing yet, thank god."

Owen was always late, Gwen and Tosh were always early, depending on what they had been running after the night before. Today, they were all late. Must have been some night at that pub. Odd, he had never asked, despite Jack coming in with some goo substance dripping from his shirt.

[gwencoopa]

After getting patched up at Owen's, she got home in the wee hours of the morning. She crawled in bed beside her fiance, who refused to look at her. That may have been a good thing since she had no idea how to explain the wound on her arm.

After a restless night's sleep, she got ready for work when she felt Rhys get up. He still wouldn't look at her, except to mumble a few choice gruff words at her. She wasn't going to complain because she really deserved it. Work was taking its precedence over her personal life, but she wasn't even minding. Rhys was, however, being pushed under the rug. She knew she was taking him for granted.

Gwen made some coffee after pulling her jacket on to covered the bandage, and he took it without words. She sighed and grabbed her keys, heading to the door while he read the newspaper. "I'll be home for dinner tonight. I promise," she said to him, not waiting for an answer. She only hoped she could keep her word this time.

She headed to the Hub and upon entering, she found only Jack and Ianto. She hoped they made up and from their slightly less awkward demeanor, she assumed they had. At least a little bit. "Morning," she said to the pair. "Sorry, I'm late. Had a bit of a late night. But, my arm didn't fall off, so I say it's a good day," she mused, trying to lighten the dour mood she was feeling.

[capj_harkness]

At Ianto's confirmation that the Hub was still empty, he looked up, about to say something a little flirtatious (he'd slept well, he had coffee... his other appetites were starting to return), but the proximity alert sounded as the cog door rolled back to admit Gwen.

He turned his attention to the office door as she approached.

"Going home with all the same limbs you started the day with is always a win," he agreed.

[tea_boy_x]

Arm falling off? There was a chance of that happening? Ianto managed to keep his expression professional and not blink. Only at Torchwood would they joke at something like that. He worked for a weird-ass organisation indeed. And sometimes he wondered what his - and Lisa's- lives would have been like if they hadn't started working for Torchwood.

But it did not good to dwindle on could have beens, may have beens, should have beens.

Ianto took a step away from Jack, the discreet part of him taking over now that Gwen was here. "Gwen," he nodded at her. They'd gotten a bit closer during Jack's absence. All of them. A sort of understanding growing between the team that had grown from desperation.

"I'll get you your coffee," he mumbled, shuffling out of the office. They had work to do. As always. "Do you need anything else?" Ianto asked, biting back the automatic 'sir', as he turned halfway to look at Jack.

[gwencoopa]

Gwen offered a cordial smile to Ianto, "Morning," she replied to him. She glanced between Jack and Ianto for a moment before he announced he would get her some coffee. "Oh, thanks," she said, forgetting that she hadn't had any this morning. Rhys drank it all.

When Ianto's back was turned, she shot Jack a knowing look wiggling her eyebrows for a quick moment before the other man turned to ask Jack another question. She smiled to herself, probably just inventing in her mind what she assumed had happened the night before.

"Anything going on yet? Did the clean up go all right?" she asked, distracting her own amusement with business.

[capj_harkness]

"No, thanks," Jack said. "Unless you have some biscuits," he added with a grin, holding up his coffee.

Gwen spoke at some point after that. "Hmm?" Jack said distractedly, watching through his office window as Ianto made his way through the Hub to the coffee machine.

He turned his eyes back to Gwen's face as he processed what she'd asked. "Oh, the cleanup?" he said. "It was fine," he told her with a wave. "Dead aliens are the easy ones to deal with."

He glanced out the window again.

"He seem okay to you?"

[tea_boy_x]

A small smile was offered at that and Ianto inclined his head a little in acknowledgement. "I'm sure I could find some, Sir," he said, only belatedly realising the 'sir'. Luckily he'd turned his back to the other two by then for them to notice his wince.

Sighing, Ianto gracefully made his way down the stairs and toward the coffee maker. Coffee for Gwen, just the way she liked it, was soon brewing. While that was going on he rummaged around the small kitchen in search of some biscuits. Lo and behold, he actually found some.

He worked on autopilot now. Gwen's coffee made and put aside. Tosh' coffee in the making next, since she was sure to come in soon. Owen may not show up till noon, so Ianto wasn't going to bother with that just yet. Once again he put the cup on a tray, new mug of coffee for Jack as well along with the biscuits, and up to the office he went again.

Only slower this time, since it was obvious Jack and Gwen wanted some time to talk. Not that he felt that twinge of jealously he had before... well, before... oh who was he trying to fool. He still felt it.

OOC: SO sorry for delay.

[gwencoopa]

Gwen nodded, glad Jack wasn't attempting to making her feel guilty for leaving him to deal with the giant dead alien. Of course, he could heal instantly, while her arm was still throbbing like a bitch. "Good, I'm glad it went all right. I almost called you when I got done at Owen's to make sure, but was too exhausted to do much more than go home."

As Jack indicated Ianto, she watched as he headed to the coffee maker, shrugging her shoulders, wincing slightly afterwards. "He seems a bit better than yesterday, but I think you'll have to do more than just lots of groveling to make it up to him," she said, "But, even if he won't admit it, I'm sure he's glad you're back." Since when did she become the relationship therapist? She sure as hell wasn't qualified.

As Ianto returned with her cup of coffee, she smiled taking it from him, "Oh wow, those biscuits look delicious," she snatched one up, hoping they weren't solely for Jack. She knew he would have offered regardless. "Thanks, Ianto," she told him.

She took a long sip of the hot liquid and breathed a sigh of relief. "So what's the plan for today. Should we figure out where that alien came from?"

Re: OOC: SO sorry for delay.

[capj_harkness]

Jack looked at her oddly. "I don't grovel," he informed her. "There was no groveling. That's not what I'm talking about. He just seems a little d..." He was going to say distant, but he noticed Ianto was coming back.

With another cup of coffee. He'd definitely made the right choice. The Hub was heaven. He gave Ianto a wide, happy grin as he accepted the coffee and biscuits, shooting Gwen a mock-glare when she grabbed one.

"When Owen gets here, I want him to do a full work-up on it," Jack said, dunking a biscuit in his coffee before taking a bite. "Maybe it's in the species database somewhere, though it didn't ring any bells for me."

[tea_boy_x]

It was a good thing Ianto hadn't heard the conversation between the two. Or he could have said that there *was* going to be some grovelling involved. Maybe not consciously and possibly not what the Captain would call it. But there was some grovelling required.

The man left them. Not even a note. And even after their talk last night. Even knowing what had happened to Jack. The 'not even a small fucking note' part left him...confused. Angry maybe. He was going to have to work through that before he could even try to get really close to his His? captain again.

"They are," he offered Gwen, once he could no longer put off going into the office with his duty as resident butler. The job he was now, without a doubt, going to fall back to. Ianto wasn't sure what to think of that. He wasn't the adrenaline junky like the others, but it had made him feel part of the team though.

The Welshman gave Jack a nod and a small smile in acknowledgement, then took a step back to take up position at the man's right shoulder. Standing just behind Jack, but not to close. Hand behind his back, still holding the now empty tea-tray, he slipped back into his old role.

And the shadows.

[gwencoopa]

Gwen arched a brow at her boss, "Well, maybe there should be some groveling. Otherwise, you might not get through to him." She stopped talking as Ianto came back, grinning slightly at Jack's mock glare as she munched happily on her biscuit.

The Hub was her home away from her kind of uncomfortable home right now, and she was going to enjoy all the amenities it had to offer, which was always hot coffee and occasionally biscuits. As Ianto fell behind Jack, while Jack began mapping out the plan for the day, she nodded along.

"Good, that seems like a good plan," she said, "It's a little bit too convenient that the alien just happened by the bar we happened to be drinking at. Maybe someone else is after us." Wouldn't be the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last.

[capj_harkness]

"After us?" Jack said, a little confused. He looked up at Ianto. "What have you lot been up to while I was away?" he joked. He looked at Gwen again. "Why don't you coordinate with the police and maybe question some witnesses and see if you can track where the creature came from. Meanwhile, get Tosh to check for rift spikes in the area."

[tea_boy_x]

Oh. Right. The alien that had attacked them last night when they'd been out. Ianto hadn't been there of course. Not feeling very comfortable around Jack, let alone with everyone else there.

As Jack's question he shares a look with Gwen and bites down on the sarcasm he seems to have developed while Jack was away. Well, not so much developed as just letting it go. Desperate times sometimes just call for sarcasm.

"Our job," he simply and as neutral as possible points out. He doesn't want Jack to feel attacked. But he doesn't Gwen to feel as if she hadn't been trying so hard to keep them together. To keep things going.

He offers a smile at Jack just before the man looks back to Gwen and starts to distribute orders. Just like.... before.

[tw_toshiko]

Toshiko arrived flustered and late, she hated being late! "Sorry, alarm didn't go off," she mumbled, fighting to get one arm out of her coat, at the same time reaching out with the other hand to turn on her computer.

Still struggling, she lurched towards the coat stand, dropping her bag on the floor, then glancing towards Jack's office in an attempt to see who was in there.

[gwencoopa]

Gwen couldn't help but let out a light laugh as she met Ianto's glance, "I think we're walking targets no matter what we do, honestly." Sad, but true. Now they couldn't even go to the pub without being attacked by some horrible alien.

She found it strange for Jack to be dishing out orders. Not that he hadn't before, but it had been quite a while. She was used to being the one in charge, but she listened to him, nodding along to his words. "No problem, I'll contact Andy and see what he's heard. And hopefully, no one got injured on the alien's way to us."

She heard footsteps and then Tosh's voice ring through the Hub, "G'Morning, Tosh. No problem" she said to the other woman, "We've all had a bit of a late start." She took a long drink of her soothing coffee.

[capj_harkness]

"Don't worry," Jack called to Tosh with a grin. "We saved you some work!"

He glanced up at Ianto. "I want to go back to the bar and see if there's any evidence we didn't catch in the scuffle last night. Bring the usual kit. I want every scale and scuff mark and drop of goo. We don't know what's going to help." he said.

He turned back to Gwen. "Tell the police not to let anyone touch anything in there until me and Ianto have had a chance to go over it first."