Fic: Vizzini's Rule (70/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 70
Rating: R
Warnings: Ianto says a bad word… twice. Also, fluff. :o)
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Out of Time.
Summary: In which Ianto finds out what happened to his car...
Notes: Okay, so I’ve been looking at my schedule (hee, I always hear JB saying “shed-ule” in my head now when I see that word…) Anyhoo - I think I’m going to be able to post Monday, Wednesday, Friday with a possible bonus posting on Sunday OR Saturday. So still roughly every other day, but I’ll try not to gyp you out of a chappie on the weekend. Also, this chapter in particular is for my wonderful and lovely beta thrace_adams because it’s happy and fluffy, just like her this weekend! :D
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Seventy
Jack and Ianto were still wrapped in each other’s arms an hour later. They had spent that time dozing, kissing and caressing, talking quietly, just being together. Ianto felt that it had been much longer than a week since Jack had said he wanted to be alone and apparently Jack shared his feelings.
When they finally decided that food was becoming a priority, they pried themselves apart (literally, Ianto thought, grimacing at the mess) and headed for the shower. This time they just got clean, both of them completely sated for the moment. But that didn’t mean they passed up the opportunity to soap each other up and make very sure that every inch of skin was thoroughly scrubbed and stroked.
Ianto got dressed while Jack messed with his hair, bemoaning Ianto’s lack of styling products. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white t-shirt then hunted around for some clean socks. I really need to do some laun… “Fuck,” Ianto said out loud.
“What is it?” Jack asked as he stepped into the room.
Ianto ran his hand through his damp hair and blew out a long breath. “Well, I hope you’re okay with getting dinner in that outfit,” he said gesturing to the towel slung low across Jack’s hips.
“I don’t follow,” Jack said as he leaned on the doorframe.
“Well, I washed your clothes when you were sleeping this morning.”
“Still don’t follow.”
“Washed. As in didn’t dry. As in everything you had on is soaking wet in the bottom of my washing machine.”
“Ah,” Jack said. He looked like he was fighting a smile. “Well, that was very thoughtful of you, Ianto.”
“It might have been if I’d finished the fucking job.”
Ianto looked so put out that Jack lost his battle and laughed out loud. He stepped across the room to pull Ianto into his arms. “So we’ll order in,” he said with a kiss.
“No, we can do better than that. I’ll just take the SUV… what is it?”
Jack’s face had lost all of its animation and he looked positively stricken.
“Jack?” Ianto asked as Jack stepped back.
“The SUV isn’t here,” Jack said roughly.
“What do you mean? Surely, you didn’t drive my car after… everything?” Jack shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked miserable. “Jack, what is going on?”
“Your car…” Jack started but his voice trailed off.
“What about my car?” Ianto asked, suddenly not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“I… after John I… I took him back to Torchwood in it and then I…”
“Jack, just tell me.”
“I called in a favor and filed a police report which shows your car was stolen a few days ago. They should have found it sometime this morning.”
“Found it where?” Ianto asked, getting tired of Jack’s hedging.
“In Adamsdown,” Jack said quietly, naming a small, rather dodgy area of Cardiff near Splott which boasted the presence of HMP Cardiff, the local prison.
“Jesus Jack! It’ll be completely stripped and… and… oh God, what did you do to it?”
Jack cringed at the defeated note in Ianto’s voice. “I just wanted to make sure the police and the insurance would just write it off, no questions. Couldn’t take the chance some DS might actually be paying attention and figure out someone died in it.”
“What did you do?” Ianto asked in clipped tones.
“I… er, I ran it into the side of an abandoned warehouse - ”
Ianto groaned.
“- and then I set it on fire.”
Ianto groaned again. He dropped to the bed next to Jack and put his head in his hands. Jack tentatively patted his back. “I couldn’t think of what else to do. I couldn’t just bring it back to you, not after what happened, what I let happen in it. And I wanted to make sure you got the full value. I’ll make up the difference myself if the insurance isn’t enough for whatever kind of car you want. I’ll -”
“Jack,” Ianto said firmly. “Stop, okay? Just… just give me a second.” He thought about his beloved car, smashed and burned, and indulged in a moment of pure self-pity. I loved that car… first one that was all my own... Ianto realized that Jack was clenching his fists together, a despondent look on his face. “Jack,” he said softly, reaching out to twine his fingers with his Captain’s. “It’s… it just took me by surprise, that’s all. I supposed I should’ve figured you’d do something like this. You don’t do anything by halves, do you?” he asked wryly.
“I just didn’t want you to think about John every time you got in your car,” Jack said.
Ianto shuddered. “And I would have, you know me too well.” He straightened up and squeezed Jack’s hand. “So, wait a minute - where is the SUV then?”
“It’s outside John’s old house. I…er, I just walked here.”
“From Adamsdown? In the dark?” Ianto’s voice rose about an octave. “Jesus, Jack you could have been killed. Again. What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing happened, Ianto.” Jack stood up and faced Ianto with his hands on his hips. “I’m not some dumb kid, you know, I can take care of myself,” Jack said angrily.
Ianto was a little taken aback. “I didn’t mean to -”
And just as suddenly, Jack’s anger was gone. He slumped forward and took Ianto’s face between his hands. “Stop worrying about me, okay? I can’t…” Jack dropped his eyes and sighed. “Nothing will happen to me,” he finished. “Trust me.”
“I do, Jack, I just…” Ianto swallowed hard and said what he was feeling although he was terrified that Jack would laugh at him. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” he admitted in a whisper.
Jack pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. Neither of them spoke for a long moment and then Ianto pulled back and said briskly, “Now about dinner. Pizza?”
Jack laughed. “Sounds good. You have anything warmer I can wear for dinner?”
Ianto told Jack to take whatever he liked and went to place their order. He went all out, ordering two pizzas, garlic bread and a large Caesar salad. He checked the refrigerator to make sure he had some beer if Jack wanted it and then opened a bottle of red wine to let it breathe. While he was thinking about it, he also threw Jack’s clothes in the dryer, shaking his head at his absentmindedness that morning. When he came out of the kitchen, Jack was relaxing on the sofa in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a long sleeved fleece shirt Ianto used for running in the winter.
“Hope you’re hungry,” Ianto said as he sat next to Jack.
“Starved,” Jack said, leaning back onto the arm of the sofa and pulling Ianto down to lay next to him. He nuzzled the side of Ianto’s neck and then sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Ianto asked.
“Nothing. That was contentment.”
“Good,” Ianto said happily.
They were silent for a bit, just holding one another. Then Jack asked, “What day is it? I’ve lost track.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“What’s the date?”
“The 23rd. You have been out of it.”
“So tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” Jack mused. “Hey, where’s my phone.”
“Right here,” Ianto said, reaching over Jack to grope on the side table without sitting up. When he found the phone, he handed it to Jack. “Oh, and there were two messages this morning. Gwen and Owen didn’t come in so I told Tosh to take the day off. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, no reason Tosh should be slaving away by herself.”
“Exactly what I thought,” Ianto said as he closed his eyes and rested his head on Jack’s chest. He could feel Jack texting on his phone, jostling Ianto a little as he used both hands. When he flipped the phone closed, Ianto asked, “Holiday?”
“Yeah. I just told everyone to forget about the Hub until the day after Boxing Day, alien invasions and end of the world notwithstanding, of course.”
“Of course,” Ianto said. “Goes without saying.”
Jack chuckled and reached for the remote. He flicked on the telly and started flipping channels, pausing now and then but not settling on anything until he’d been through them all. Ianto, familiar with Jack’s viewing habits, didn’t bother to watch. Jack finally found a movie that was just beginning and tossed the remote back on the table.
Ianto opened one eye when the singing began. “What is this?”
“Meet Me in St. Louis,” Jack said. When Ianto groaned, Jack defended his choice. “Come on! Judy Garland at her finest. And it’s the perfect Christmas movie. I defy you not to get choked up when she sings ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ to Margaret O’Brien.”
Ianto just rolled his eyes and sat up. “I’ll get the wine.”
TBC in Chapter Seventy-One
Rating: R
Warnings: Ianto says a bad word… twice. Also, fluff. :o)
Spoilers: Season One thru Out of Time (1x10)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Out of Time.
Summary: In which Ianto finds out what happened to his car...
Notes: Okay, so I’ve been looking at my schedule (hee, I always hear JB saying “shed-ule” in my head now when I see that word…) Anyhoo - I think I’m going to be able to post Monday, Wednesday, Friday with a possible bonus posting on Sunday OR Saturday. So still roughly every other day, but I’ll try not to gyp you out of a chappie on the weekend. Also, this chapter in particular is for my wonderful and lovely beta thrace_adams because it’s happy and fluffy, just like her this weekend! :D
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Seventy
Jack and Ianto were still wrapped in each other’s arms an hour later. They had spent that time dozing, kissing and caressing, talking quietly, just being together. Ianto felt that it had been much longer than a week since Jack had said he wanted to be alone and apparently Jack shared his feelings.
When they finally decided that food was becoming a priority, they pried themselves apart (literally, Ianto thought, grimacing at the mess) and headed for the shower. This time they just got clean, both of them completely sated for the moment. But that didn’t mean they passed up the opportunity to soap each other up and make very sure that every inch of skin was thoroughly scrubbed and stroked.
Ianto got dressed while Jack messed with his hair, bemoaning Ianto’s lack of styling products. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved white t-shirt then hunted around for some clean socks. I really need to do some laun… “Fuck,” Ianto said out loud.
“What is it?” Jack asked as he stepped into the room.
Ianto ran his hand through his damp hair and blew out a long breath. “Well, I hope you’re okay with getting dinner in that outfit,” he said gesturing to the towel slung low across Jack’s hips.
“I don’t follow,” Jack said as he leaned on the doorframe.
“Well, I washed your clothes when you were sleeping this morning.”
“Still don’t follow.”
“Washed. As in didn’t dry. As in everything you had on is soaking wet in the bottom of my washing machine.”
“Ah,” Jack said. He looked like he was fighting a smile. “Well, that was very thoughtful of you, Ianto.”
“It might have been if I’d finished the fucking job.”
Ianto looked so put out that Jack lost his battle and laughed out loud. He stepped across the room to pull Ianto into his arms. “So we’ll order in,” he said with a kiss.
“No, we can do better than that. I’ll just take the SUV… what is it?”
Jack’s face had lost all of its animation and he looked positively stricken.
“Jack?” Ianto asked as Jack stepped back.
“The SUV isn’t here,” Jack said roughly.
“What do you mean? Surely, you didn’t drive my car after… everything?” Jack shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked miserable. “Jack, what is going on?”
“Your car…” Jack started but his voice trailed off.
“What about my car?” Ianto asked, suddenly not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“I… after John I… I took him back to Torchwood in it and then I…”
“Jack, just tell me.”
“I called in a favor and filed a police report which shows your car was stolen a few days ago. They should have found it sometime this morning.”
“Found it where?” Ianto asked, getting tired of Jack’s hedging.
“In Adamsdown,” Jack said quietly, naming a small, rather dodgy area of Cardiff near Splott which boasted the presence of HMP Cardiff, the local prison.
“Jesus Jack! It’ll be completely stripped and… and… oh God, what did you do to it?”
Jack cringed at the defeated note in Ianto’s voice. “I just wanted to make sure the police and the insurance would just write it off, no questions. Couldn’t take the chance some DS might actually be paying attention and figure out someone died in it.”
“What did you do?” Ianto asked in clipped tones.
“I… er, I ran it into the side of an abandoned warehouse - ”
Ianto groaned.
“- and then I set it on fire.”
Ianto groaned again. He dropped to the bed next to Jack and put his head in his hands. Jack tentatively patted his back. “I couldn’t think of what else to do. I couldn’t just bring it back to you, not after what happened, what I let happen in it. And I wanted to make sure you got the full value. I’ll make up the difference myself if the insurance isn’t enough for whatever kind of car you want. I’ll -”
“Jack,” Ianto said firmly. “Stop, okay? Just… just give me a second.” He thought about his beloved car, smashed and burned, and indulged in a moment of pure self-pity. I loved that car… first one that was all my own... Ianto realized that Jack was clenching his fists together, a despondent look on his face. “Jack,” he said softly, reaching out to twine his fingers with his Captain’s. “It’s… it just took me by surprise, that’s all. I supposed I should’ve figured you’d do something like this. You don’t do anything by halves, do you?” he asked wryly.
“I just didn’t want you to think about John every time you got in your car,” Jack said.
Ianto shuddered. “And I would have, you know me too well.” He straightened up and squeezed Jack’s hand. “So, wait a minute - where is the SUV then?”
“It’s outside John’s old house. I…er, I just walked here.”
“From Adamsdown? In the dark?” Ianto’s voice rose about an octave. “Jesus, Jack you could have been killed. Again. What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing happened, Ianto.” Jack stood up and faced Ianto with his hands on his hips. “I’m not some dumb kid, you know, I can take care of myself,” Jack said angrily.
Ianto was a little taken aback. “I didn’t mean to -”
And just as suddenly, Jack’s anger was gone. He slumped forward and took Ianto’s face between his hands. “Stop worrying about me, okay? I can’t…” Jack dropped his eyes and sighed. “Nothing will happen to me,” he finished. “Trust me.”
“I do, Jack, I just…” Ianto swallowed hard and said what he was feeling although he was terrified that Jack would laugh at him. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” he admitted in a whisper.
Jack pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. Neither of them spoke for a long moment and then Ianto pulled back and said briskly, “Now about dinner. Pizza?”
Jack laughed. “Sounds good. You have anything warmer I can wear for dinner?”
Ianto told Jack to take whatever he liked and went to place their order. He went all out, ordering two pizzas, garlic bread and a large Caesar salad. He checked the refrigerator to make sure he had some beer if Jack wanted it and then opened a bottle of red wine to let it breathe. While he was thinking about it, he also threw Jack’s clothes in the dryer, shaking his head at his absentmindedness that morning. When he came out of the kitchen, Jack was relaxing on the sofa in a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a long sleeved fleece shirt Ianto used for running in the winter.
“Hope you’re hungry,” Ianto said as he sat next to Jack.
“Starved,” Jack said, leaning back onto the arm of the sofa and pulling Ianto down to lay next to him. He nuzzled the side of Ianto’s neck and then sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Ianto asked.
“Nothing. That was contentment.”
“Good,” Ianto said happily.
They were silent for a bit, just holding one another. Then Jack asked, “What day is it? I’ve lost track.”
“It’s Saturday.”
“What’s the date?”
“The 23rd. You have been out of it.”
“So tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” Jack mused. “Hey, where’s my phone.”
“Right here,” Ianto said, reaching over Jack to grope on the side table without sitting up. When he found the phone, he handed it to Jack. “Oh, and there were two messages this morning. Gwen and Owen didn’t come in so I told Tosh to take the day off. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, no reason Tosh should be slaving away by herself.”
“Exactly what I thought,” Ianto said as he closed his eyes and rested his head on Jack’s chest. He could feel Jack texting on his phone, jostling Ianto a little as he used both hands. When he flipped the phone closed, Ianto asked, “Holiday?”
“Yeah. I just told everyone to forget about the Hub until the day after Boxing Day, alien invasions and end of the world notwithstanding, of course.”
“Of course,” Ianto said. “Goes without saying.”
Jack chuckled and reached for the remote. He flicked on the telly and started flipping channels, pausing now and then but not settling on anything until he’d been through them all. Ianto, familiar with Jack’s viewing habits, didn’t bother to watch. Jack finally found a movie that was just beginning and tossed the remote back on the table.
Ianto opened one eye when the singing began. “What is this?”
“Meet Me in St. Louis,” Jack said. When Ianto groaned, Jack defended his choice. “Come on! Judy Garland at her finest. And it’s the perfect Christmas movie. I defy you not to get choked up when she sings ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ to Margaret O’Brien.”
Ianto just rolled his eyes and sat up. “I’ll get the wine.”
TBC in Chapter Seventy-One