Fic - There Will Always Be A Torchwood #1
Title: There Will Always Be A Torchwood #1
Fandom: Torchwood, obviously!
Pairing: Jack/Ianto runs throughout, of course, even with Jack MIA
Setting: Post-End Of Days.
The search for Jack, and for themselves. Ianto seems to be at the heart of it all, willing or not.
There Will Always Be A Torchwood #1 (Gwen)
He's walking briskly back to the Hub, carrier bag of afternoon treats in hand, when Gwen spies him and runs to catch up. He likes the way she runs, full of purpose, grim determination etched onto her face. It's always the same look, whether she's running to catch the number 8 bus or to apprehend a suspect, and he can't help but smile and allow himself to be caught. He's been hoping to snatch a few quiet moments with the notebook, but it can wait a little longer. She looks like she needs to talk, and now is as good a time as any to tackle her about those bloody 'Wanted' posters. That's what he and Owen have taken to calling the 'Have You Seen This Man?' notices, anyway. And it was Owen who designated him as the right man for the job "in the circumstances", as he'd sheepishly put it.
So he lets her persuade him into a lunchtime coffee, and they find themselves a corner table at the nearest café. It's a pity that just happens to be Coffee Mania, but everywhere he turns there are reminders of Jack. And forewarned is forearmed, so they say; they never actually drank the filthy brown liquid masquerading as coffee here, afterall, not after that first time…
Ianto slides the neatly folded sheet of paper from his wallet, smooths it out on the table in front of him. There's a crease right down the centre of Jack's face, but it doesn't matter; it's a horrible photograph anyway. He's just glad Gwen cropped out the other Jack. He sips on his orange juice, then puts down the glass. No point in beating about the bush. He launches straight into explaining how he's made a few calls, deleted a few files, made sure the posters are taken down. No-one outside of Torchwood Three will be looking for him now. Detective Swanson has proved surprisingly helpful in this respect, but Ianto neglects to mention this to Gwen.
He presses on, as Gwen sits quietly, eyes downcast, nodding her agreement to each calmly stated point. They can't be too careful, can they? Do they really want to spread it about that Jack isn't around? He is signing Jack's name to reports, afterall, and fielding the telephone calls as best he can. Besides, they have the recording. They know he didn't go for a stroll around Cardiff Bay and fall victim to a freak accident; they know something, someone, invaded their space and took him.
Something else he keeps to himself. Despite the mess of scattered papers and objects left behind in the Hub, Ianto has a sick feeling that Jack went along willingly. If Jack had been fighting to stay, you could be sure there'd have been a lot more destruction to show for it, that much should be obvious. But if the others aren't ready to acknowledge this, Ianto isn't about to bring it up.
Just like he's never mentioned the fact that the recording, the screeching alien sound that Tosh plays and replays time and again in the hopes of it giving up its secrets, might actually mean something to him. Although he isn't sure what; not yet. But he does know that Torchwood One had been in possession of a very similar recording…
All of which makes him a hypocrite at best, a traitor at worst, when he carefully replaces the sheet of paper in his wallet and reasons with her. "We need to work together on this. On everything. As a team."
"I know, I know, it was stupid" she says, with an air of resignation. " I just had to do something more."
Ianto tries not to blush at his own duplicity. He can feel the small leather-bound notebook, black cover with a spine the colour of dried blood, pressing against his chest. So, he's a hypocrite, many times over. But it might be something and nothing, not about Jack at all; and if he can't dig up anything else to connect with it, then it isn't actually going to explain anything or help them to find him. Better to keep it to himself for now.
Gwen confounds him then, apologising for not knowing. He hadn't seen that coming; although he feels he should have. The notebook has been distracting him too often these past two days. Ianto looks embarrassed, and fiddles with his glass.
"But… he kissed you. I mean, really kissed you!"
"It wasn't the first time, Gwen."
"Well, yeah, I realise that now!" she laughs, rolling her eyes. "But I should have known then."
"No you shouldn't."
"You're coping really well. Better than me" she sighs. "Ianto, what are we going to do without him?"
"There was a Torchwood long before Jack" he reminds her. "Or did you never read my highly informative induction memo?"
"Of course I did!"
"And we're still here, aren't we?" There will always be a Torchwood, that's what the woman had written in the notebook. Ianto shivers at that. "If we want to keep things ticking over the way he'd like them, we just have to get on with it."
She looks thoughtful, changes tack. "That thing he said, about Torchwood Four going missing. Has anyone really tried to find out what happened?"
"Not to my knowledge. Not in my time."
"Someone should! Maybe we could…"
Ianto knows that it's futile, that they will never have the luxury of spare time for rainbow-chasing, particularly now with the Rift so unstable. But he can see what she's getting at. Gwen doesn't know how to find Jack, but needs to find something that's been lost, maybe to prove it can be done. That there is hope. He understands that all too well, and he wants to be kind. "Well, if you feel like giving it a try sometime… I'll help you."
"Thanks Ianto." Her expression tells him that she doesn't believe him, not really, but that she's grateful for him not mocking her. "God, this coffee's shit!"
"That's the thing. Once you've had mine, it spoils you for the rest."
"You're not kidding!" Gwen smiles and squeezes his hand. "Back to it then?"
On to #2
Fandom: Torchwood, obviously!
Pairing: Jack/Ianto runs throughout, of course, even with Jack MIA
Setting: Post-End Of Days.
The search for Jack, and for themselves. Ianto seems to be at the heart of it all, willing or not.
There Will Always Be A Torchwood #1 (Gwen)
He's walking briskly back to the Hub, carrier bag of afternoon treats in hand, when Gwen spies him and runs to catch up. He likes the way she runs, full of purpose, grim determination etched onto her face. It's always the same look, whether she's running to catch the number 8 bus or to apprehend a suspect, and he can't help but smile and allow himself to be caught. He's been hoping to snatch a few quiet moments with the notebook, but it can wait a little longer. She looks like she needs to talk, and now is as good a time as any to tackle her about those bloody 'Wanted' posters. That's what he and Owen have taken to calling the 'Have You Seen This Man?' notices, anyway. And it was Owen who designated him as the right man for the job "in the circumstances", as he'd sheepishly put it.
So he lets her persuade him into a lunchtime coffee, and they find themselves a corner table at the nearest café. It's a pity that just happens to be Coffee Mania, but everywhere he turns there are reminders of Jack. And forewarned is forearmed, so they say; they never actually drank the filthy brown liquid masquerading as coffee here, afterall, not after that first time…
Ianto slides the neatly folded sheet of paper from his wallet, smooths it out on the table in front of him. There's a crease right down the centre of Jack's face, but it doesn't matter; it's a horrible photograph anyway. He's just glad Gwen cropped out the other Jack. He sips on his orange juice, then puts down the glass. No point in beating about the bush. He launches straight into explaining how he's made a few calls, deleted a few files, made sure the posters are taken down. No-one outside of Torchwood Three will be looking for him now. Detective Swanson has proved surprisingly helpful in this respect, but Ianto neglects to mention this to Gwen.
He presses on, as Gwen sits quietly, eyes downcast, nodding her agreement to each calmly stated point. They can't be too careful, can they? Do they really want to spread it about that Jack isn't around? He is signing Jack's name to reports, afterall, and fielding the telephone calls as best he can. Besides, they have the recording. They know he didn't go for a stroll around Cardiff Bay and fall victim to a freak accident; they know something, someone, invaded their space and took him.
Something else he keeps to himself. Despite the mess of scattered papers and objects left behind in the Hub, Ianto has a sick feeling that Jack went along willingly. If Jack had been fighting to stay, you could be sure there'd have been a lot more destruction to show for it, that much should be obvious. But if the others aren't ready to acknowledge this, Ianto isn't about to bring it up.
Just like he's never mentioned the fact that the recording, the screeching alien sound that Tosh plays and replays time and again in the hopes of it giving up its secrets, might actually mean something to him. Although he isn't sure what; not yet. But he does know that Torchwood One had been in possession of a very similar recording…
All of which makes him a hypocrite at best, a traitor at worst, when he carefully replaces the sheet of paper in his wallet and reasons with her. "We need to work together on this. On everything. As a team."
"I know, I know, it was stupid" she says, with an air of resignation. " I just had to do something more."
Ianto tries not to blush at his own duplicity. He can feel the small leather-bound notebook, black cover with a spine the colour of dried blood, pressing against his chest. So, he's a hypocrite, many times over. But it might be something and nothing, not about Jack at all; and if he can't dig up anything else to connect with it, then it isn't actually going to explain anything or help them to find him. Better to keep it to himself for now.
Gwen confounds him then, apologising for not knowing. He hadn't seen that coming; although he feels he should have. The notebook has been distracting him too often these past two days. Ianto looks embarrassed, and fiddles with his glass.
"But… he kissed you. I mean, really kissed you!"
"It wasn't the first time, Gwen."
"Well, yeah, I realise that now!" she laughs, rolling her eyes. "But I should have known then."
"No you shouldn't."
"You're coping really well. Better than me" she sighs. "Ianto, what are we going to do without him?"
"There was a Torchwood long before Jack" he reminds her. "Or did you never read my highly informative induction memo?"
"Of course I did!"
"And we're still here, aren't we?" There will always be a Torchwood, that's what the woman had written in the notebook. Ianto shivers at that. "If we want to keep things ticking over the way he'd like them, we just have to get on with it."
She looks thoughtful, changes tack. "That thing he said, about Torchwood Four going missing. Has anyone really tried to find out what happened?"
"Not to my knowledge. Not in my time."
"Someone should! Maybe we could…"
Ianto knows that it's futile, that they will never have the luxury of spare time for rainbow-chasing, particularly now with the Rift so unstable. But he can see what she's getting at. Gwen doesn't know how to find Jack, but needs to find something that's been lost, maybe to prove it can be done. That there is hope. He understands that all too well, and he wants to be kind. "Well, if you feel like giving it a try sometime… I'll help you."
"Thanks Ianto." Her expression tells him that she doesn't believe him, not really, but that she's grateful for him not mocking her. "God, this coffee's shit!"
"That's the thing. Once you've had mine, it spoils you for the rest."
"You're not kidding!" Gwen smiles and squeezes his hand. "Back to it then?"
On to #2