Turning Point - 32/64
Title: Turning Point
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: budding Jack/Ianto, references to past Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Some information and events from s1,2. NONE for s3.
Summary: In the aftermath of Lisa's death, Ianto is struggling to cope - and new surprises don't help matters much. Can his friends on the team at Torchwood help him carry on?
Author's Note: Sequel to Guilt.
Thanks to: My beta cazmalfoy, angelzbabe1989 for idea bouncing, and morbid_sparks for cheerleading even when she doesn'tdidn't know what happens.
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ianto tapped off his earpiece and, abandoning the area he had been methodically clearing out on the off chance they would have some large object to bring back with them, hurried up to the computers.
The rest of the team were finally on their way back, after what Jack had diplomatically described as an ‘unfortunate incident’ involving a chisel and the crashed meteorite that was clearly more than just a meteorite.
He wasn’t even sure what he should be looking for. ‘A purple gas escaped and headed in the direction of the City’ didn’t exactly give him a lot to go on. Some of the activity searches he could do could technically be done from the SUV, but he suspected they were heading back as quickly as possible, now they were finally through with the last of the sample collecting, and didn’t want to distract themselves with searching out possibilities.
It was nearly twenty minutes before anything odd - or rather, anything odd enough that it was likely to be related to Torchwood - came up. A death in a nightclub was unusual but far from unheard of. The circumstances, however, sounded like something to take note of - even if it didn’t turn out to be related to this particular case.
He was waiting on the strangely out-of-place, ancient office printer to spit out the hard copy of the pertinent details when the siren above the cog door went off, indicating the return of the rest of the team.
“I really, really, really am so sorry,” he heard Gwen saying as they walked through. “I honestly didn’t…”
“You’ve said,” Jack replied, taking the stairs in two steps.
“But I…”
“Look,” Owen said frankly, but not unkindly, “next time just work on your aim a bit before tossing stuff around, okay?”
Gwen nodded. “It was just some purple gas, though, right? I mean, it can’t be too bad.”
Jack turned around, walking backwards to face them as he made for his office. “If only.”
“Great,” Ianto could only just hear Gwen muttering. “Best first day ever.” He watched the printer cradle swing back and forth across the paper, casting his mind back over the years and coming to the conclusion that good first days at jobs just didn’t seem to exist. Although he had to admit that in that regard, Gwen probably had him beat.
The printer finally finished printing out the page and Ianto, pinning it to a clipboard, started climbing the steps to join the others.
“Right, so we… deal with it, then, yes?” Gwen was asking as Ianto rounded the corner of Owen’s desk.
Jack nodded. “Yes. Hey, everyone makes mistakes, and we still managed to collect some good samples.” He waved an arm towards the case Toshiko was just setting down next to her desk. “We can have a look, see what we might be dealing with, and…”
Ianto cleared his throat to get their attention. “Actually,” he interrupted, “I might have something. Nightclub owner called 999 to report a death; circumstances sound… a little unusual. Might be related.”
He handed Jack the clipboard. Jack skimmed over it and handed it back. “You’re right, it might be. And even if it isn’t, it definitely warrants looking into.”
Jack resettled his coat on his shoulders and plucked the SUV keys back out of his pocket. “Right, we need to get to that nightclub.”
Ianto took a step back and started to turn around. “I’ll just…”
Jack grasped his shoulder gently and turned him back around. Ianto frowned at him, confused. “What?”
“You’re spending too much time down here again; you’re coming with us.” Releasing Ianto’s shoulder, Jack gestured towards the samples box again. “Tosh, would you mind staying behind and making a start on analysing some of the samples? Might turn out to be useful.”
Tosh nodded, already opening the case to start carefully unpacking samples.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as they drew up outside the nightclub, snappily named ‘Night Spot’.
A couple of cold and tired looking policemen stood in their bright yellow jackets near the entrance. “Torchwood,” Jack barked at them as he barged straight past. As they seemed more resigned than surprised at this treatment, Ianto could only suppose that Torchwood had had some form of contact with these particular officers before.
The nightclub owner looked like almost every nightclub owner Ianto had ever met - a little bit sleazy and stuck in the 90’s.
“Right through here.” He waved them on behind him.
Despite what had been said in the 999 call, the sight that greeted them when they reached the ladies’ bathroom - and it was such a long time since he’d been in one of those - was rather a surprise. There was a neat pile of dust on the floor next to the sinks.
“That’s… all that’s left?” Gwen asked, her voice clearly conveying her doubt.
The owner nodded. “Yep”
Jack shook his head. “But this just looks like a pile of dust. How do you know this used to be a man?”
“I was… checking through the CCTV feeds for anything suspicious, and spotted him,” the owner said. Even though Ianto couldn’t see his face from where he was standing, he could tell he wasn’t telling them the whole truth. “Bit of a shock, I’ll tell you that.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll bet. We’re going to need to see that CCTV.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Comments and concrit are loved!
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: budding Jack/Ianto, references to past Ianto/Lisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I was the one who owned Torchwood, you think I'd admit it now?
Spoilers: Some information and events from s1,2. NONE for s3.
Summary: In the aftermath of Lisa's death, Ianto is struggling to cope - and new surprises don't help matters much. Can his friends on the team at Torchwood help him carry on?
Author's Note: Sequel to Guilt.
Thanks to: My beta cazmalfoy, angelzbabe1989 for idea bouncing, and morbid_sparks for cheerleading even when she doesn'tdidn't know what happens.
Previous chapters at master list
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ianto tapped off his earpiece and, abandoning the area he had been methodically clearing out on the off chance they would have some large object to bring back with them, hurried up to the computers.
The rest of the team were finally on their way back, after what Jack had diplomatically described as an ‘unfortunate incident’ involving a chisel and the crashed meteorite that was clearly more than just a meteorite.
He wasn’t even sure what he should be looking for. ‘A purple gas escaped and headed in the direction of the City’ didn’t exactly give him a lot to go on. Some of the activity searches he could do could technically be done from the SUV, but he suspected they were heading back as quickly as possible, now they were finally through with the last of the sample collecting, and didn’t want to distract themselves with searching out possibilities.
It was nearly twenty minutes before anything odd - or rather, anything odd enough that it was likely to be related to Torchwood - came up. A death in a nightclub was unusual but far from unheard of. The circumstances, however, sounded like something to take note of - even if it didn’t turn out to be related to this particular case.
He was waiting on the strangely out-of-place, ancient office printer to spit out the hard copy of the pertinent details when the siren above the cog door went off, indicating the return of the rest of the team.
“I really, really, really am so sorry,” he heard Gwen saying as they walked through. “I honestly didn’t…”
“You’ve said,” Jack replied, taking the stairs in two steps.
“But I…”
“Look,” Owen said frankly, but not unkindly, “next time just work on your aim a bit before tossing stuff around, okay?”
Gwen nodded. “It was just some purple gas, though, right? I mean, it can’t be too bad.”
Jack turned around, walking backwards to face them as he made for his office. “If only.”
“Great,” Ianto could only just hear Gwen muttering. “Best first day ever.” He watched the printer cradle swing back and forth across the paper, casting his mind back over the years and coming to the conclusion that good first days at jobs just didn’t seem to exist. Although he had to admit that in that regard, Gwen probably had him beat.
The printer finally finished printing out the page and Ianto, pinning it to a clipboard, started climbing the steps to join the others.
“Right, so we… deal with it, then, yes?” Gwen was asking as Ianto rounded the corner of Owen’s desk.
Jack nodded. “Yes. Hey, everyone makes mistakes, and we still managed to collect some good samples.” He waved an arm towards the case Toshiko was just setting down next to her desk. “We can have a look, see what we might be dealing with, and…”
Ianto cleared his throat to get their attention. “Actually,” he interrupted, “I might have something. Nightclub owner called 999 to report a death; circumstances sound… a little unusual. Might be related.”
He handed Jack the clipboard. Jack skimmed over it and handed it back. “You’re right, it might be. And even if it isn’t, it definitely warrants looking into.”
Jack resettled his coat on his shoulders and plucked the SUV keys back out of his pocket. “Right, we need to get to that nightclub.”
Ianto took a step back and started to turn around. “I’ll just…”
Jack grasped his shoulder gently and turned him back around. Ianto frowned at him, confused. “What?”
“You’re spending too much time down here again; you’re coming with us.” Releasing Ianto’s shoulder, Jack gestured towards the samples box again. “Tosh, would you mind staying behind and making a start on analysing some of the samples? Might turn out to be useful.”
Tosh nodded, already opening the case to start carefully unpacking samples.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as they drew up outside the nightclub, snappily named ‘Night Spot’.
A couple of cold and tired looking policemen stood in their bright yellow jackets near the entrance. “Torchwood,” Jack barked at them as he barged straight past. As they seemed more resigned than surprised at this treatment, Ianto could only suppose that Torchwood had had some form of contact with these particular officers before.
The nightclub owner looked like almost every nightclub owner Ianto had ever met - a little bit sleazy and stuck in the 90’s.
“Right through here.” He waved them on behind him.
Despite what had been said in the 999 call, the sight that greeted them when they reached the ladies’ bathroom - and it was such a long time since he’d been in one of those - was rather a surprise. There was a neat pile of dust on the floor next to the sinks.
“That’s… all that’s left?” Gwen asked, her voice clearly conveying her doubt.
The owner nodded. “Yep”
Jack shook his head. “But this just looks like a pile of dust. How do you know this used to be a man?”
“I was… checking through the CCTV feeds for anything suspicious, and spotted him,” the owner said. Even though Ianto couldn’t see his face from where he was standing, he could tell he wasn’t telling them the whole truth. “Bit of a shock, I’ll tell you that.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll bet. We’re going to need to see that CCTV.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Comments and concrit are loved!