Fic: The Sea After a Storm (54/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 54
Rating: R
Warnings: Nothing really, just didn't feel like changing the rating
Spoilers: Season Two thru Meat (2x04)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Meat. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: Tosh, Owen and Ianto decompress at the pub…
Notes: Thanks again to everyone who's reading and commenting! :) You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Fifty-Four
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Gwen defied Jack's order to Retcon Rhys, stirring up some resentment in the rest of the team…
Tosh, Owen and Ianto settled into a corner table at the pub, each of them with a drink in hand. For a long moment no one said anything and then Tosh reached across the table to touch Ianto's hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked solicitously.
"Me?" Ianto was surprised and slightly confused by her question. "I'm fine, why?"
"Well, it couldn't have been easy watching Jack behaving that way towards Gwen, like he was… I don't even know. But right in front of you, like that, it was unforgiveable!"
Ianto shook his head. "You've got it all wrong," he said.
Owen snorted. "Oh yeah? Then explain it to us, mate, 'cause I'm with Tosh on this one. Jack was way outta line."
"It didn't have anything to do with Gwen, well, not with her being Gwen specifically, not really."
Tosh raised an eyebrow at him, making Ianto smile. "Really," he repeated. "Think about it, Jack lost his whole team - everyone in one night. I know it was years ago, but, well, you know the details, Tosh, and you're the one who told me what he was like when you first joined up."
"Details? What details?" Owen asked, looking back and forth between Ianto and Tosh.
"Alex Hopkins was the leader of Torchwood Three before Jack," Ianto explained. "He saw… something, something about the future, he never did tell anyone exactly what it was. Anyway, on New Year's Eve 1999 he snapped, murdered the entire team out of some crazed notion of mercy. Jack found the bodies." His voice was tight and he paused for a second to take sip of his beer.
"Jesus," Owen muttered.
"It gets worse," Ianto said. "When he got back to the Hub, saw all his teammates dead, Hopkins was still alive. He talked to Jack for a few minutes, told him he'd seen something coming that was so terrible that mankind couldn't survive it, he said… he said we weren't ready. Sound familiar?"
"Jack's mantra," Owen said. "'The 21st Century is when everything changes and we've got to be ready.'"
Tosh and Ianto joined him on the last few words, sharing a wry smile between them.
"What happened to Hopkins?" Owen asked.
Tosh shuddered. "Apparently he committed suicide right in front of Jack just as it turned midnight. It was three years before he recruited me and Suzie," she added.
"Three years," Ianto echoed, taking another drink. "Three years before he would let anyone in, before he would trust anyone to be near Torchwood and the Rift and…"
"And him," Tosh added softly.
Ianto nodded.
Owen finished his beer and then set the glass down on the table a little harder than necessary. "Okay, I get that all of that sucked but what does any of this have to do with the thing today with Gwen?"
"Don't you see? It wasn't about Gwen," Ianto said again, getting slightly frustrated. "It was about losing a member of his team - again. He's been with Torchwood for over a hundred years, Owen. Do you have any idea how many people, how many friends he's seen die?"
"But Gwen wasn't in danger of dying," Owen said with a frown.
Ianto wanted to bang his head on the thick wood table.
"But she did threaten to quit," Tosh pointed out.
"Thank you!" Ianto said, happy that Tosh at least was catching on. "He would've lost another member of the team. Just like he lost Suzie last year, just like he lost his whole team in 1999 and back and back. Gwen would still be alive, but she'd be just as lost to him as the rest. He would've reacted the same way if it had been any of us in Gwen's place today."
Owen still looked sceptical, but let the matter rest. He offered to get the next round and headed back to the bar.
"You know," Tosh mused, "I remember when you told me that story. We both wondered why Alex Hopkins hadn't shot Jack too."
"I remember. I guess we know the answer now - Hopkins knew about Jack's… condition."
"He must've. Now I'm wondering why Jack kept it such a secret from all of us. Surely he'd know that we'd be able handle it after everything we've seen at Torchwood."
"I don't know. But he seems… easier, I guess, about it now. Maybe seeing the Doctor and getting some answers, even if they weren't the ones he wanted, helped him come to terms with it. He told me once that it's a conversation that never goes well. I imagine he just didn't want to go through it another time. Like telling Gwen about Tommy," he added glancing at Tosh to see how she reacted to the name.
Tosh just gave him a sad little smile. "He never liked explaining about Tommy," she said softly. "It was so hard for him to admit there wasn't any way to save him. I think he blamed himself."
"He always does," Ianto agreed.
"Who always does what?" Owen asked as he returned to the table, setting down their drinks.
"Jack, blames himself for cases that don't end well," Tosh replied.
"Don't we all?" Owen muttered darkly.
Tosh put her arm around Owen's shoulders hesitantly. He visibly tensed for a second but then relaxed and reached up to pat her hand awkwardly.
After a few moments of silence, Owen chugged his beer and said, "I'm off. Need to get this day out of my head and I know just the club to do it in." He glanced down at his pink shirt as he stood up and grabbed his jacket from the hook on the end of the booth. "After I change, of course," he added with a wink.
After he'd left, Ianto levelled a stern look at Toshiko. "Why didn't you stop him?" he asked.
She gave him a delicate snort in reply. "Like I could stop him. I actually asked him out on a date earlier and he turned it into a group outing. He just doesn't think of me in a romantic way at all."
Ianto frowned. "What happened?"
"The same thing that always happens," Tosh said in a defeated voice. "This time I made him some sandwiches to sort of break the ice. Then I asked if he'd like to go for a game of pool sometime. He said he'd ask around, see if anyone was interested in a 'Torchwood tournament'. He doesn't see me as anything other than another mate," she added bitterly.
"Oh, Tosh," Ianto said sympathetically. He reached across the table to hold her hand. "Maybe you need to be more direct. It is Owen after all, he's not a master of subtlety."
"Well, short of showing up at his flat in a trench coat with nothing under it, I'm out of ideas," Tosh said, taking a deep drink of her beer. She glanced up at Ianto as she set the glass down and then reached across the table to hit his shoulder. "Ianto Jones! You get that look off your face right now, I'm not doing that!"
Ianto shot her a grin. "I bet it would work, though."
"You're a pig." She sniffed disdainfully.
"You could always use the alien aphrodisiac spray on him," he teased with a chuckle, ducking when Tosh whipped her beer mat at him. "Seriously, though," he said, reaching for her hand again. "Don't give up on him. Or at least don't give up on finding someone else if Owen's too dense to figure it out. I… I've been meaning to tell you this because I made a promise, but I didn't want to cause you any more pain by bringing it up."
Tosh looked concerned. "What is it, Ianto?"
"Tommy," he said softly. "He asked me to remind you about the little things in life. That whilst our jobs are important, they're not everything. He didn't want you to waste your life, Tosh. He wanted only good things for you and he made me promise to remind you to take care of yourself and have some fun in between all the saving the world moments. That's all."
Tosh's eyes had filled with tears while Ianto was speaking, but they didn't fall. She blinked them back and gave him a shaky smile. "He really was a hero, wasn't he?" she whispered.
Ianto nodded, his own throat tight with emotion.
"Well," Tosh said briskly after a few moments of silence. "I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough emotional turmoil for one day."
Ianto grimaced. "I've still got a little more in my future," he said, glancing at his watch.
"Jack's very lucky you put up with him," Tosh said giving him a stern look. "I hope he appreciates it."
With a smile, Ianto finished his beer and reached for his coat which was lying on the bench next to him. "He does. He'll be over his brooding by now. He's probably moved right onto beating himself up over the case today and worrying that we're all mad at him after the Gwen Show."
Tosh tilted her head as she gave him a hard stare. "You really love him, don't you?"
Ianto tried in vain to keep his cheeks from heating and nodded. "I really do. I know how crazy it is and that we don't have a chance in hell of making it work, but I… I do love him, Tosh."
"I don't know about that," Tosh said. She grabbed her bag and regarded him across the table again. "You and Jack are two of the stubbornest people I know, if anyone can stick it out together just because you decide on it, it's you two."
"Jack's stubborn," Ianto protested. "I'm… persistent."
Tosh laughed. "Potato, pah-tah-toe."
Ianto stuck out his tongue and helped Tosh to her feet. "Just remember what Tommy said, okay?" he requested. He pulled her into a quick hug. "Don't give up."
"Yeah, who knows? Maybe Owen will wake up one morning and find me irresistible."
Ianto gave her a grin. "You and I both know that much, much stranger things have happened," he said.
TBC in Chapter Fifty-Five
.
This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/102182.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R
Warnings: Nothing really, just didn't feel like changing the rating
Spoilers: Season Two thru Meat (2x04)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Meat. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: Tosh, Owen and Ianto decompress at the pub…
Notes: Thanks again to everyone who's reading and commenting! :) You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Fifty-Four
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: Gwen defied Jack's order to Retcon Rhys, stirring up some resentment in the rest of the team…
Tosh, Owen and Ianto settled into a corner table at the pub, each of them with a drink in hand. For a long moment no one said anything and then Tosh reached across the table to touch Ianto's hand.
"Are you okay?" she asked solicitously.
"Me?" Ianto was surprised and slightly confused by her question. "I'm fine, why?"
"Well, it couldn't have been easy watching Jack behaving that way towards Gwen, like he was… I don't even know. But right in front of you, like that, it was unforgiveable!"
Ianto shook his head. "You've got it all wrong," he said.
Owen snorted. "Oh yeah? Then explain it to us, mate, 'cause I'm with Tosh on this one. Jack was way outta line."
"It didn't have anything to do with Gwen, well, not with her being Gwen specifically, not really."
Tosh raised an eyebrow at him, making Ianto smile. "Really," he repeated. "Think about it, Jack lost his whole team - everyone in one night. I know it was years ago, but, well, you know the details, Tosh, and you're the one who told me what he was like when you first joined up."
"Details? What details?" Owen asked, looking back and forth between Ianto and Tosh.
"Alex Hopkins was the leader of Torchwood Three before Jack," Ianto explained. "He saw… something, something about the future, he never did tell anyone exactly what it was. Anyway, on New Year's Eve 1999 he snapped, murdered the entire team out of some crazed notion of mercy. Jack found the bodies." His voice was tight and he paused for a second to take sip of his beer.
"Jesus," Owen muttered.
"It gets worse," Ianto said. "When he got back to the Hub, saw all his teammates dead, Hopkins was still alive. He talked to Jack for a few minutes, told him he'd seen something coming that was so terrible that mankind couldn't survive it, he said… he said we weren't ready. Sound familiar?"
"Jack's mantra," Owen said. "'The 21st Century is when everything changes and we've got to be ready.'"
Tosh and Ianto joined him on the last few words, sharing a wry smile between them.
"What happened to Hopkins?" Owen asked.
Tosh shuddered. "Apparently he committed suicide right in front of Jack just as it turned midnight. It was three years before he recruited me and Suzie," she added.
"Three years," Ianto echoed, taking another drink. "Three years before he would let anyone in, before he would trust anyone to be near Torchwood and the Rift and…"
"And him," Tosh added softly.
Ianto nodded.
Owen finished his beer and then set the glass down on the table a little harder than necessary. "Okay, I get that all of that sucked but what does any of this have to do with the thing today with Gwen?"
"Don't you see? It wasn't about Gwen," Ianto said again, getting slightly frustrated. "It was about losing a member of his team - again. He's been with Torchwood for over a hundred years, Owen. Do you have any idea how many people, how many friends he's seen die?"
"But Gwen wasn't in danger of dying," Owen said with a frown.
Ianto wanted to bang his head on the thick wood table.
"But she did threaten to quit," Tosh pointed out.
"Thank you!" Ianto said, happy that Tosh at least was catching on. "He would've lost another member of the team. Just like he lost Suzie last year, just like he lost his whole team in 1999 and back and back. Gwen would still be alive, but she'd be just as lost to him as the rest. He would've reacted the same way if it had been any of us in Gwen's place today."
Owen still looked sceptical, but let the matter rest. He offered to get the next round and headed back to the bar.
"You know," Tosh mused, "I remember when you told me that story. We both wondered why Alex Hopkins hadn't shot Jack too."
"I remember. I guess we know the answer now - Hopkins knew about Jack's… condition."
"He must've. Now I'm wondering why Jack kept it such a secret from all of us. Surely he'd know that we'd be able handle it after everything we've seen at Torchwood."
"I don't know. But he seems… easier, I guess, about it now. Maybe seeing the Doctor and getting some answers, even if they weren't the ones he wanted, helped him come to terms with it. He told me once that it's a conversation that never goes well. I imagine he just didn't want to go through it another time. Like telling Gwen about Tommy," he added glancing at Tosh to see how she reacted to the name.
Tosh just gave him a sad little smile. "He never liked explaining about Tommy," she said softly. "It was so hard for him to admit there wasn't any way to save him. I think he blamed himself."
"He always does," Ianto agreed.
"Who always does what?" Owen asked as he returned to the table, setting down their drinks.
"Jack, blames himself for cases that don't end well," Tosh replied.
"Don't we all?" Owen muttered darkly.
Tosh put her arm around Owen's shoulders hesitantly. He visibly tensed for a second but then relaxed and reached up to pat her hand awkwardly.
After a few moments of silence, Owen chugged his beer and said, "I'm off. Need to get this day out of my head and I know just the club to do it in." He glanced down at his pink shirt as he stood up and grabbed his jacket from the hook on the end of the booth. "After I change, of course," he added with a wink.
After he'd left, Ianto levelled a stern look at Toshiko. "Why didn't you stop him?" he asked.
She gave him a delicate snort in reply. "Like I could stop him. I actually asked him out on a date earlier and he turned it into a group outing. He just doesn't think of me in a romantic way at all."
Ianto frowned. "What happened?"
"The same thing that always happens," Tosh said in a defeated voice. "This time I made him some sandwiches to sort of break the ice. Then I asked if he'd like to go for a game of pool sometime. He said he'd ask around, see if anyone was interested in a 'Torchwood tournament'. He doesn't see me as anything other than another mate," she added bitterly.
"Oh, Tosh," Ianto said sympathetically. He reached across the table to hold her hand. "Maybe you need to be more direct. It is Owen after all, he's not a master of subtlety."
"Well, short of showing up at his flat in a trench coat with nothing under it, I'm out of ideas," Tosh said, taking a deep drink of her beer. She glanced up at Ianto as she set the glass down and then reached across the table to hit his shoulder. "Ianto Jones! You get that look off your face right now, I'm not doing that!"
Ianto shot her a grin. "I bet it would work, though."
"You're a pig." She sniffed disdainfully.
"You could always use the alien aphrodisiac spray on him," he teased with a chuckle, ducking when Tosh whipped her beer mat at him. "Seriously, though," he said, reaching for her hand again. "Don't give up on him. Or at least don't give up on finding someone else if Owen's too dense to figure it out. I… I've been meaning to tell you this because I made a promise, but I didn't want to cause you any more pain by bringing it up."
Tosh looked concerned. "What is it, Ianto?"
"Tommy," he said softly. "He asked me to remind you about the little things in life. That whilst our jobs are important, they're not everything. He didn't want you to waste your life, Tosh. He wanted only good things for you and he made me promise to remind you to take care of yourself and have some fun in between all the saving the world moments. That's all."
Tosh's eyes had filled with tears while Ianto was speaking, but they didn't fall. She blinked them back and gave him a shaky smile. "He really was a hero, wasn't he?" she whispered.
Ianto nodded, his own throat tight with emotion.
"Well," Tosh said briskly after a few moments of silence. "I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough emotional turmoil for one day."
Ianto grimaced. "I've still got a little more in my future," he said, glancing at his watch.
"Jack's very lucky you put up with him," Tosh said giving him a stern look. "I hope he appreciates it."
With a smile, Ianto finished his beer and reached for his coat which was lying on the bench next to him. "He does. He'll be over his brooding by now. He's probably moved right onto beating himself up over the case today and worrying that we're all mad at him after the Gwen Show."
Tosh tilted her head as she gave him a hard stare. "You really love him, don't you?"
Ianto tried in vain to keep his cheeks from heating and nodded. "I really do. I know how crazy it is and that we don't have a chance in hell of making it work, but I… I do love him, Tosh."
"I don't know about that," Tosh said. She grabbed her bag and regarded him across the table again. "You and Jack are two of the stubbornest people I know, if anyone can stick it out together just because you decide on it, it's you two."
"Jack's stubborn," Ianto protested. "I'm… persistent."
Tosh laughed. "Potato, pah-tah-toe."
Ianto stuck out his tongue and helped Tosh to her feet. "Just remember what Tommy said, okay?" he requested. He pulled her into a quick hug. "Don't give up."
"Yeah, who knows? Maybe Owen will wake up one morning and find me irresistible."
Ianto gave her a grin. "You and I both know that much, much stranger things have happened," he said.
TBC in Chapter Fifty-Five
.
This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/102182.html. Please comment there using OpenID.