Turning Point - 33/64
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-Three
Tosh looked up from her desk as the others returned, Ianto carrying a couple of clear plastic video boxes. “Anything?”
Jack nodded, taking the video boxes from Ianto as the younger man helped him out of his greatcoat. “This is definitely our alien.”
Owen paused on his way down to the cryogenic vaults. “And it definitely killed our night club victim. Oh, but what a way to go.”
He disappeared, and Tosh looked at Jack, Gwen and Ianto for clarification. “How did he die, then?”
Jack semi-shrugged. “You could say he… came and went.”
Tosh frowned. “Went as in…?”
“Nothing left but a pile of dust,” Ianto replied.
Tosh shuddered. Owen might like the sound of it, but that definitely wasn’t how she wanted to go out.
“We’ve got footage of the host body the alien gas has possessed, though,” Jack said. “So that’s a start. We still need to figure out what sort of creature we’re dealing with, though. How’s the analysis coming on?”
“It’s getting there,” Tosh told him. She’d prepared the samples and set them through a series of tests, but was still waiting on the results to come through. “I should have some answers for you soon.”
“Great,” Jack said, handing the video cases back to Ianto as he returned from hanging up Jack’s coat. “If you have time while you’re waiting, could you give Ianto a hand getting the data loaded from those security tapes into the system?”
“No problem,” Tosh smiled as Jack disappeared into his office, swinging his chair around so he could do something at his computer terminal. Gwen followed him, looking a little bit lost.
“Right,” Ianto said, “I’ll go dig out the old VCR then, shall I?”
“Actually,” Tosh corrected gently, “there’s a bit of alien tech we use that’s better. It’s…”
“… on the top shelf of the storage cupboard next to the armoury,” Ianto finished for her. “I know. Tidying that place up was one of the first things I did after I joined.”
Tosh shook her head at herself. Of course. She had a feeling that, despite the fact he had only been working in the Hub for six months, he probably knew it far better than she did after four years. “Okay then. You go get the VCR-that’s-not-really-a-VCR, I’ll get the interface set up here for you.”
As Ianto, leaving the tapes on her desk, went off to collect the item in question, Tosh noticed that Jack had abandoned the computer terminal and was drawing trajectories onto the transparent galactic map with a light pen.
She could have smacked her own forehead in frustration as she rummaged under her desk for the connector she and Ianto would need. Why hadn’t she thought of tracing the meteorite back through space to find out where it might have come from?
“So, what’s that doing, then?” she heard Gwen ask as she sat back up again, the correct adaptor cable in hand.
“I'm using satellite-tracking data to determine the inward trajectory of the
meteorite,” Jack said, not looking away from the panel.
Tosh sighed. She could almost hear Gwen’s bafflement from here. She leant back in her chair so she could see around Owen’s desk to the edge of the office where Gwen was standing, watching. “He just means he’s trying to find out where the meteorite came from.”
Jack twisted to flash her a glare. “Oi! You know as well as I do that sometimes a little bit of techno-babble is good for the soul.”
“While that may be true,” Tosh grinned, “there’s no point in completely confusing Gwen on her first day.”
“So it’s just like tracking a route on a map, then?” Gwen asked, looking back at the transparent panel.
“Pretty much,” Tosh said as Owen reappeared. “Just with more space.”
“My boyfriend, Rhys, does this sort of stuff. Well, on a much smaller scale, anyway,” Gwen said, tilting her head to track the light across the panel.
Tosh started to nod - they, of course, knew all about Rhys, and were keeping track of him - before remembering that it probably wasn’t a good idea to let Gwen know that they already knew plenty about her boyfriend. “You have a boyfriend?” she asked, hoping her innocent surprised look was convincing.
Gwen nodded. “Yeah. Don’t you?”
Tosh scoffed. She had a feeling Gwen could be in for a horrible wake-up call in the next few weeks. “Don’t have the time with this job.”
Gwen’s eyebrows raised and she turned to Owen. “Owen?”
Owen laughed mirthlessly. “Tosh’s right. Don’t have the time for any of that crap.”
Tosh could see that Gwen was beginning to look worried. “None of you have partners?”
Owen shook his head. “Just you.”
Tosh glanced over in the direction of the armoury, glad that Ianto hadn’t returned yet. He was doing so much better lately, but she wasn’t entirely sure this line of conversation wouldn’t still upset him.
She looked back at Gwen, pushing a smile to her face. “Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you and Rhys will be just fine.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
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-Three
Tosh looked up from her desk as the others returned, Ianto carrying a couple of clear plastic video boxes. “Anything?”
Jack nodded, taking the video boxes from Ianto as the younger man helped him out of his greatcoat. “This is definitely our alien.”
Owen paused on his way down to the cryogenic vaults. “And it definitely killed our night club victim. Oh, but what a way to go.”
He disappeared, and Tosh looked at Jack, Gwen and Ianto for clarification. “How did he die, then?”
Jack semi-shrugged. “You could say he… came and went.”
Tosh frowned. “Went as in…?”
“Nothing left but a pile of dust,” Ianto replied.
Tosh shuddered. Owen might like the sound of it, but that definitely wasn’t how she wanted to go out.
“We’ve got footage of the host body the alien gas has possessed, though,” Jack said. “So that’s a start. We still need to figure out what sort of creature we’re dealing with, though. How’s the analysis coming on?”
“It’s getting there,” Tosh told him. She’d prepared the samples and set them through a series of tests, but was still waiting on the results to come through. “I should have some answers for you soon.”
“Great,” Jack said, handing the video cases back to Ianto as he returned from hanging up Jack’s coat. “If you have time while you’re waiting, could you give Ianto a hand getting the data loaded from those security tapes into the system?”
“No problem,” Tosh smiled as Jack disappeared into his office, swinging his chair around so he could do something at his computer terminal. Gwen followed him, looking a little bit lost.
“Right,” Ianto said, “I’ll go dig out the old VCR then, shall I?”
“Actually,” Tosh corrected gently, “there’s a bit of alien tech we use that’s better. It’s…”
“… on the top shelf of the storage cupboard next to the armoury,” Ianto finished for her. “I know. Tidying that place up was one of the first things I did after I joined.”
Tosh shook her head at herself. Of course. She had a feeling that, despite the fact he had only been working in the Hub for six months, he probably knew it far better than she did after four years. “Okay then. You go get the VCR-that’s-not-really-a-VCR, I’ll get the interface set up here for you.”
As Ianto, leaving the tapes on her desk, went off to collect the item in question, Tosh noticed that Jack had abandoned the computer terminal and was drawing trajectories onto the transparent galactic map with a light pen.
She could have smacked her own forehead in frustration as she rummaged under her desk for the connector she and Ianto would need. Why hadn’t she thought of tracing the meteorite back through space to find out where it might have come from?
“So, what’s that doing, then?” she heard Gwen ask as she sat back up again, the correct adaptor cable in hand.
“I'm using satellite-tracking data to determine the inward trajectory of the
meteorite,” Jack said, not looking away from the panel.
Tosh sighed. She could almost hear Gwen’s bafflement from here. She leant back in her chair so she could see around Owen’s desk to the edge of the office where Gwen was standing, watching. “He just means he’s trying to find out where the meteorite came from.”
Jack twisted to flash her a glare. “Oi! You know as well as I do that sometimes a little bit of techno-babble is good for the soul.”
“While that may be true,” Tosh grinned, “there’s no point in completely confusing Gwen on her first day.”
“So it’s just like tracking a route on a map, then?” Gwen asked, looking back at the transparent panel.
“Pretty much,” Tosh said as Owen reappeared. “Just with more space.”
“My boyfriend, Rhys, does this sort of stuff. Well, on a much smaller scale, anyway,” Gwen said, tilting her head to track the light across the panel.
Tosh started to nod - they, of course, knew all about Rhys, and were keeping track of him - before remembering that it probably wasn’t a good idea to let Gwen know that they already knew plenty about her boyfriend. “You have a boyfriend?” she asked, hoping her innocent surprised look was convincing.
Gwen nodded. “Yeah. Don’t you?”
Tosh scoffed. She had a feeling Gwen could be in for a horrible wake-up call in the next few weeks. “Don’t have the time with this job.”
Gwen’s eyebrows raised and she turned to Owen. “Owen?”
Owen laughed mirthlessly. “Tosh’s right. Don’t have the time for any of that crap.”
Tosh could see that Gwen was beginning to look worried. “None of you have partners?”
Owen shook his head. “Just you.”
Tosh glanced over in the direction of the armoury, glad that Ianto hadn’t returned yet. He was doing so much better lately, but she wasn’t entirely sure this line of conversation wouldn’t still upset him.
She looked back at Gwen, pushing a smile to her face. “Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you and Rhys will be just fine.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Comments and concrit are loved!