Guilt - 15/70ish
Title: Guilt
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Torchwood is not mine. No matter how much I sometimes wish it was.
Spoilers: Better say everything through s2, just to be sure. Begins pre-S1.
Summary: Back at the Hub...
Thanks to: My beta cazmalfoy for all her wonderful work, and my cheerleaders angelzbabe1989 and piper08 for putting up with me when I whine about being stuck.
Author's Note: Still feeling pretty crap, but I figured some people might be waiting for this...
Any and all comments and concrit welcomed! (Please???)
Fic starts here
All previous chapters
Chapter Fifteen
Although he couldn’t be sure if the alien liked it, or could even digest it, Ianto had coffee ready for everyone by the time the team returned to the Hub with their ‘guest’.
With the possible alien threat appearing, at least for now, not to be such a big threat after all, Ianto had been able to take the opportunity to get Lisa properly settled again. After making sure she was as comfortable and pain free as possible, he’d left her with a mix of her favourite CDs playing while he did his best to anticipate and prepare for the team’s arrival.
As it turned out, despite never having tried it before (due, naturally, to the non-existence of the substance on his native planet), Oelmue loved coffee, and spent quite some time after his first sip lamenting the fact that the human race hadn’t, apparently, seen fit to introduce it when they had first visited his home galaxy. Ianto too thought this was something of a travesty.
As the friendly exchange continued in the boardroom, Ianto began to wonder just what it was that Jack planned to do with the poor being. Torchwood One hadn’t really given him any experience with aliens found on Earth beyond eliminating them and cannibalising any technology they brought with them. Dealing with one amicably was, well, rather an alien concept.
Watching the team interact with Oelmue, he couldn’t believe that he would be kept in the vaults like the weevils, but neither could he quite see Jack just blithely releasing him into the ‘wild’ of Cardiff.
He was so engrossed in his own musings that he completely tuned out the conversation around him, and it took him nearly thirty seconds to realise that Jack was trying to get his attention.
“Ianto!”
“Sorry. Yes, sir?”
“How are you at forgery?”
* * *
After Ianto had calmed his startled splutters at the question, Jack had outlined the plan for Oelmue’s continuing existence in Cardiff. Tosh had, he explained, long since hacked into all of the relevant government databases, but she wasn’t fond of producing the actual documents, and it was one of the few areas in which she doubted her own proficiency.
Everyone on the team had given it a shot at least once, but frankly, Jack confessed, none of them really had the necessary patience for such a painstaking job. And Ianto clearly did.
As a side effect of this lengthy (and frequently wandering) explanation was Ianto’s discovery of just how mixed Cardiff’s population was. While they didn’t appear frequently, there were actually a surprising number of peaceable, humanoid aliens who had been stranded here and were now living out their lives in Cardiff, albeit still under Torchwood’s watchful eye.
And once they’d checked him over and helped him acclimatise, Oelmue would join them.
The process of settling Oelmue in Cardiff swallowed the next few days. Although part of him was frustrated with the delay this put on helping Lisa, Ianto understood that it was necessary. Dealing with things - people - that had been dragged through the Rift like Oelmue was, after all, a large part of the reason why Torchwood Cardiff even existed.
Witnessing the respect with which the team treated Oelmue was a constant reminder of the stark differences between Torchwood Three and Torchwood One - the very same differences that had convinced him to come clean about Lisa - and it served to reinforce in his own mind that it had been the right thing to do; despite the last few weeks and all that had already been done, he had still occasionally harboured doubts.
After Jack had secured his agreement to his proposal, Tosh had shown Ianto how to make the necessary additions and changes to confidential databases. Thanks to Tosh’s custom user interface, it was a simple enough process, and he picked it up easily.
What he did find utterly astounding - and, if he was honest, slightly scary - was Tosh’s easy ability and comfort in navigating between supposedly secure government networks. It was clear that she was someone you definitely wanted on your side.
With Oelmue safely registered everywhere he needed to be, Ianto settled down to produce the physical documents to prove it. Jack hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d described it as agonising, painstaking work.
He had a suspicion that, in time, he would get more practice and be able to forge the documents to a better standard and in less time, but this first time he really would have to take his time and concentrate.
He worked on them fairly solidly for the next several days, splitting his time between the desk in the Tourist Office (which still held rather outdated leaflets but significantly less dust) and a small table he’d set up in the corner of Lisa’s room. While both left him close enough to be called to assist (or make coffee) when required, they were significantly quieter and less hectic than the main Hub.
The rest of the team were similarly devoting their time to Oelmue’s involuntary relocation.
Owen was carrying out a battery of tests, the vast majority of which Ianto had never even heard of. Owen had started to explain the specifics, but the details were too convoluted for Ianto’s limited medical knowledge and he’d given up on trying to understand.
Apparently, though, they were Torchwood Cardiff’s standard procedures. Owen wouldn’t let Oelmue back out of the Hub until he had all of the results and could be sure that Oelmue wasn’t going to inadvertently infect the general population of Cardiff with some alien disease.
When he’d finally been given a clean bill of health (at least as clean as Owen could test for), Owen subjected him to yet another series of needle pokes; this time a set of inoculations to help his system resist what were, to him, alien ailments. According to Owen, the jabs were based heavily on the immunisation series most British children were given growing up, but had been adapted for ‘generic alien life forms’.
When he wasn’t busy being poked and prodded by Owen, Oelmue could be found either discussing the storage and possible repair work of his ship with Suzie, or going through a ‘Welcome to Life on Planet Earth’ induction program with Tosh and Jack.
Given the general disorganisation of the Hub paperwork, and the stated rarity of new arrivals to take it, Ianto was astonished to discover that this induction program included sets of standardised leaflets and worksheets, covering everything from grocery shopping to interpersonal relationships and world history.
That Jack and Tosh had actually located said leaflets and worksheets when required was also something of a miracle.
While Oelmue would obviously need more support on integrating into Cardiff life than a few days of discussion and a pack of leaflets, it was a start.
Chapter Sixteen
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Torchwood is not mine. No matter how much I sometimes wish it was.
Spoilers: Better say everything through s2, just to be sure. Begins pre-S1.
Summary: Back at the Hub...
Thanks to: My beta cazmalfoy for all her wonderful work, and my cheerleaders angelzbabe1989 and piper08 for putting up with me when I whine about being stuck.
Author's Note: Still feeling pretty crap, but I figured some people might be waiting for this...
Any and all comments and concrit welcomed! (Please???)
Fic starts here
All previous chapters
Chapter Fifteen
Although he couldn’t be sure if the alien liked it, or could even digest it, Ianto had coffee ready for everyone by the time the team returned to the Hub with their ‘guest’.
With the possible alien threat appearing, at least for now, not to be such a big threat after all, Ianto had been able to take the opportunity to get Lisa properly settled again. After making sure she was as comfortable and pain free as possible, he’d left her with a mix of her favourite CDs playing while he did his best to anticipate and prepare for the team’s arrival.
As it turned out, despite never having tried it before (due, naturally, to the non-existence of the substance on his native planet), Oelmue loved coffee, and spent quite some time after his first sip lamenting the fact that the human race hadn’t, apparently, seen fit to introduce it when they had first visited his home galaxy. Ianto too thought this was something of a travesty.
As the friendly exchange continued in the boardroom, Ianto began to wonder just what it was that Jack planned to do with the poor being. Torchwood One hadn’t really given him any experience with aliens found on Earth beyond eliminating them and cannibalising any technology they brought with them. Dealing with one amicably was, well, rather an alien concept.
Watching the team interact with Oelmue, he couldn’t believe that he would be kept in the vaults like the weevils, but neither could he quite see Jack just blithely releasing him into the ‘wild’ of Cardiff.
He was so engrossed in his own musings that he completely tuned out the conversation around him, and it took him nearly thirty seconds to realise that Jack was trying to get his attention.
“Ianto!”
“Sorry. Yes, sir?”
“How are you at forgery?”
* * *
After Ianto had calmed his startled splutters at the question, Jack had outlined the plan for Oelmue’s continuing existence in Cardiff. Tosh had, he explained, long since hacked into all of the relevant government databases, but she wasn’t fond of producing the actual documents, and it was one of the few areas in which she doubted her own proficiency.
Everyone on the team had given it a shot at least once, but frankly, Jack confessed, none of them really had the necessary patience for such a painstaking job. And Ianto clearly did.
As a side effect of this lengthy (and frequently wandering) explanation was Ianto’s discovery of just how mixed Cardiff’s population was. While they didn’t appear frequently, there were actually a surprising number of peaceable, humanoid aliens who had been stranded here and were now living out their lives in Cardiff, albeit still under Torchwood’s watchful eye.
And once they’d checked him over and helped him acclimatise, Oelmue would join them.
The process of settling Oelmue in Cardiff swallowed the next few days. Although part of him was frustrated with the delay this put on helping Lisa, Ianto understood that it was necessary. Dealing with things - people - that had been dragged through the Rift like Oelmue was, after all, a large part of the reason why Torchwood Cardiff even existed.
Witnessing the respect with which the team treated Oelmue was a constant reminder of the stark differences between Torchwood Three and Torchwood One - the very same differences that had convinced him to come clean about Lisa - and it served to reinforce in his own mind that it had been the right thing to do; despite the last few weeks and all that had already been done, he had still occasionally harboured doubts.
After Jack had secured his agreement to his proposal, Tosh had shown Ianto how to make the necessary additions and changes to confidential databases. Thanks to Tosh’s custom user interface, it was a simple enough process, and he picked it up easily.
What he did find utterly astounding - and, if he was honest, slightly scary - was Tosh’s easy ability and comfort in navigating between supposedly secure government networks. It was clear that she was someone you definitely wanted on your side.
With Oelmue safely registered everywhere he needed to be, Ianto settled down to produce the physical documents to prove it. Jack hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d described it as agonising, painstaking work.
He had a suspicion that, in time, he would get more practice and be able to forge the documents to a better standard and in less time, but this first time he really would have to take his time and concentrate.
He worked on them fairly solidly for the next several days, splitting his time between the desk in the Tourist Office (which still held rather outdated leaflets but significantly less dust) and a small table he’d set up in the corner of Lisa’s room. While both left him close enough to be called to assist (or make coffee) when required, they were significantly quieter and less hectic than the main Hub.
The rest of the team were similarly devoting their time to Oelmue’s involuntary relocation.
Owen was carrying out a battery of tests, the vast majority of which Ianto had never even heard of. Owen had started to explain the specifics, but the details were too convoluted for Ianto’s limited medical knowledge and he’d given up on trying to understand.
Apparently, though, they were Torchwood Cardiff’s standard procedures. Owen wouldn’t let Oelmue back out of the Hub until he had all of the results and could be sure that Oelmue wasn’t going to inadvertently infect the general population of Cardiff with some alien disease.
When he’d finally been given a clean bill of health (at least as clean as Owen could test for), Owen subjected him to yet another series of needle pokes; this time a set of inoculations to help his system resist what were, to him, alien ailments. According to Owen, the jabs were based heavily on the immunisation series most British children were given growing up, but had been adapted for ‘generic alien life forms’.
When he wasn’t busy being poked and prodded by Owen, Oelmue could be found either discussing the storage and possible repair work of his ship with Suzie, or going through a ‘Welcome to Life on Planet Earth’ induction program with Tosh and Jack.
Given the general disorganisation of the Hub paperwork, and the stated rarity of new arrivals to take it, Ianto was astonished to discover that this induction program included sets of standardised leaflets and worksheets, covering everything from grocery shopping to interpersonal relationships and world history.
That Jack and Tosh had actually located said leaflets and worksheets when required was also something of a miracle.
While Oelmue would obviously need more support on integrating into Cardiff life than a few days of discussion and a pack of leaflets, it was a start.
Chapter Sixteen