Special Projects - Chapter 5
Title: Special Projects - Chapter 5
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R
Spoilers: Fragments and season 1
Summary: Ianto joins the team, and Jack quite likes it. But what of this 'girlfriend?' Everyone has a special project, after all.
Beta: checkyourwatch
Author's Notes: This chapter is the product of the first week of summer vacation. =]
Disclaimer:I do not own Torchwood.
Special Projects
Chapter 5
Jack mussed with the circuit breaker. Tosh had been complaining about some electrical thing. Something about losing all access to a database if the power went completely? Jack didn't know. And, he certainly didn't recall claiming that he had any knowledge of electrical devices and their inner workings. But, put a handsome man in a room with a problem, and any woman would feign weakness just to see him work. Tosh knew much more about circuits and such, but she'd never admit it so long as Jack was there to be manly.
Jack put his thumbs underneath his braces and rocked backward on his feels, screwing up his mouth, and wondering what he ought to do.
I shouldn't be pushing any buttons, Jack thought. No, I definitely oughtn't do that.
So, Jack smiled brightly and shrugged. He started to walk away, but something stopped him abruptly. A sound; a soft buzzing. He could barely hear it, but he knew it was there. Jack knelt and put his ear to the floor. He listened hard. The cold stone vibrated against his skin. He crawled forward, ass in the air and palms flat against the floor. He came to a four way intersection. With the open space, the sound seemed to come from everywhere. Jack stood and looked down each of the corridors. Despite the sound being louder, he could not pinpoint it. Jack could feel the vibration coursing through his body, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, and started back toward the steps.
Tosh probably just remotely powered up the backup generator.
“Do you have any idea what you're doing?” Ianto asked as he descended the steps into Torchwood's lower levels.
“I'll have you know,” Jack said, “I am a very handy man.” Jack smiled as he walked past Ianto, and made sure to knock into Ianto's shoulder.
Ianto continued in the opposite direction, making sure to let Jack notice his smirk as they passed.
“Hey, Tosh,” Jack said. “Nothing wrong downstairs.”
“Then why am I getting all these power fluctuations? God, men are so useless,” Tosh huffed.
“Tell me about it. I'll get Ianto on it. Real man, you know. Real man.”
Jack walked to his office and sat down with a wholesome thud. He put his legs on his desk, ankles crossed, and leaned back heavily into his chair. The pterodactyl swooped down past his windows, causing the big green potted plants rustle loudly but Jack didn't look up. He pushed the button in his coms device.
“Ianto. Still downstairs?” He asked.
“Sir.”
“Would you mind looking at the wiring and circuits and all that while you're down there?”
Ianto grunted, and his annoyance was very evident. “I'm a little busy here, Jack.”
“Tosh is having some problems. She'll have my head if something happens to her computers.”
“Can it wait?”
Jack paused, slightly confused. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I'll get to it in a bit. Tell Tosh not to worry.”
There was a noticeable click as Ianto turned his coms unit off.
What is going on here? Jack thought. And why am I the only one in a pleasant mood?
-----
Jack moved stealthily about the potted plants. A ninja? No. A puma? No, definitely not. He was a former Time Agent, a con man, a proper spy, and it was time to show his skills. He quietly jumped from plant to plant, sometimes throwing a desk in for good measure. As he peered quietly from behind his hides, Jack would ready his unloaded gun, and get ready for a decisive move.
“Jack. What are you doing?”
He paused midstep, surprised. “Ianto! Oh. It's just you.” He tried to holster his gun quickly, but found himself to be without. Pulling out the waistband of his pants, he slipped the gun in against his shirt and made sure it was secured with his belt.
“Because everyone in their right mind has gone home.” Ianto said, looking pointedly at Jack on the words right and mind. He was feeling a bit off-kilter today, and it was really beginning to show.
“So what are you doing here?” Jack asked as he composed himself. He leaned against the desk he was standing next to and tried his best to look as sexily nonchalant as possible. Perhaps if he could distract Ianto..
“I was cleaning up. Owen had a stash of coffee mugs like you wouldn't believe.” To break the ensuing awkward silence, Ianto said: “You still haven't answered my question.”
“Ah, yes. Which was..”
Ianto scowled. “What are you doing? You're running about like you're bloody mad. There aren't any aliens up here,” Ianto said. “And you're scaring the pterodactyl!”
“I was practicing..”
“Practicing?” Ianto scoffed. “For what?”
“Would you like to see?” Jack smiled suggestively.
“Captain..” Ianto started. “Would I ever.”
-----
Jack collapsed onto Ianto. Their sweat mingled together, just as Ianto felt he had so desperately needed just a few days before.
“Weevil hunting?” Ianto laughed. “You were pretending to hunt weevils?”
“Well, I knew it was something you'd be good at. You're such a great actor.”
Ianto's heart stopped for a moment, and he automatically wondered what Jack was on about. So he asked him.
“Jack, what are you on about?”
“Nothing,” Jack said, confused. “Just making a joke.”
Ianto made a noncommittal sound and rolled over, pushing Jack to his side of the bed. Ianto thought himself stupid for supposing Jack had found out his secret. He had locked the doors well, after all, and fixed up the wiring in the hub as best he could. There was nothing to lead Jack to Lisa, except for Ianto himself.
“Did Tosh calm down about the wiring?” Jack asked. He could feel Ianto pulling away, lately. Pulling away from what exactly, Jack wasn't sure, but he could see it in Ianto's eyes that something was wrong. “I told her you'd fix it. She believed me.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “She didn't have any reason not to. I fixed it best as I could. We'll be needing some more electrical tape. I used it all.”
“Shame. That was tomorrow night,” Jack mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing. It's good then, for a while? That buzzing was really getting to me.”
Ianto froze. “What buzzing? I didn't hear anything.”
“That's because you fixed it. Obviously,” Jack said, exaggerating the size of his eyes and gape of his mouth. “It'd been going on for a couple days. No clue, but it's fixed. I knew it was a good thing hiring you.”
"There was buzzing, though? Coming from where?"
"I don't know. Downstairs. You fixed it."
"Captain, I really should go check it. You didn't tell me about buzzing before." Ianto made to get out of bed, but Jack stopped him. "Really, I should."
"Oh, don't you ever stop?" Jack asked before falling back onto the bed.
-----
"Goddammit."
"I'm sorry?"
"Pardon," Ianto apologized. "It'll be how long? You're sure?"
"Four months, Mr. Jones," the voice on the other end of the line said. "I'm quite sure. There's no way around it. Unless, of course, you'd be willing to let her go."
"No," Ianto snapped.
"Well, then. You're just going to have to wait four months then, aren't you? You're sure?"
"Sir. Never in my life have I been -"
"Alright, alright. Enough with that. You're ready, then. Everything in place? Good. No problems? Good."
"Actually," Ianto began.
"Problems, boy? You're bloody Torchwood."
"It's making a sound, sucking the power. The captain is starting to get suspicious. I can't keep lying.."
"Sure you can! You knew the risks. You want this."
"Four months, sir."
Ianto hung up the phone.
Keeping her down there for that long was just out of the question. Absolutely. The things those drugs were doing to her brain - Ianto couldn't imagine it, couldn't bear to think about it, and yet here he was: standing in front of Lisa, his Lisa, giving her another dose of whatever Owen happened to have on hand, hoping she wouldn't wake up. If she woke up, then he'd have to explain. Ianto looked at the table he had been instructed to build. Was this really all there was? He would have to ask Jack what it was like to die. Maybe if he was more secure in his belief in an afterlife, maybe then he would be able to let her go. Yes. No.
"Goddammit," Ianto said. "Just get it over with, boy. She's gone. Those wires can't possibly be keeping her alive."
Four months, that's all he'd have to wait. Then, it would be over and he and Lisa could finally be happy again. Proper living people. And Jack? Well, Ianto would just have to kill him. Yes, precisely.
"Ianto, come here." Jack's voice crackled over the coms system. "I'm in my office."
Ianto pressed his finger to his earpiece, pushing it farther into his ear to block out anything but Jack's voice, to make it clearer. "I'm checking the wiring again, Jack. Can you wait a minute?"
Jack growled. "Now."
Ianto sighed and repeated, "Now." Only four more months.
His feet took him to Jack's office. It was early, no one had shown up for work yet. Their jobs, not their lives as Ianto had made Torchwood his life. The smile plastered on Jack's face was enough to make any man, woman, child, animal - whatever, stop dead in their tracks. It looked wonderful on him, made his eyes and nose crinkle, and the little lines on his face were all the more pronounced.
"Has the sound come back, Jack?" Ianto asked carefully, hating the sound of unintentional rhyming on his tongue. "I've just fixed it, I'm sure."
"No, no," Jack assured him. "Nothing like that. It's just.. you've been working so hard! I thought it was past time to pay you."
"I cashed my check yesterday."
"What did you do with it?" Jack asked.
"Bought Tosh her favorite pastry."
"You're whole check?" Jack prodded. "Must have been an expensive cake."
"And supper for everyone else."
"See, you give too much of yourself to others. It's time someone gave you something in return." Jack moved toward Ianto and snaked his arm around his waist. "It's time you and I had a bit more fun." Ianto looked at him, unconvinced, but the hand on his back was slowly convincing him to listen to the other man. As Jack's fingers traced small circles through Ianto's shirt Ianto melted. He closed his eyes and let himself be led into Jack's quarters. Jack stood next to Ianto, not touching him, but close enough to whisper in his ear. "I thought you'd like it. Open your eyes."
Ianto did as he was told. The sight before him was not what he had been expecting at all, and definitely not what he had been dreaming of on their short trek to Jack's bedroom. Candles, clean sheets, maybe some mood music - anything but ... this.
"Jack Harkness," Ianto said. He turned to face Jack and took a faltering step backward. "You are a fucking dirty old man."
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: R
Spoilers: Fragments and season 1
Summary: Ianto joins the team, and Jack quite likes it. But what of this 'girlfriend?' Everyone has a special project, after all.
Beta: checkyourwatch
Author's Notes: This chapter is the product of the first week of summer vacation. =]
Disclaimer:I do not own Torchwood.
Special Projects
Chapter 5
Jack mussed with the circuit breaker. Tosh had been complaining about some electrical thing. Something about losing all access to a database if the power went completely? Jack didn't know. And, he certainly didn't recall claiming that he had any knowledge of electrical devices and their inner workings. But, put a handsome man in a room with a problem, and any woman would feign weakness just to see him work. Tosh knew much more about circuits and such, but she'd never admit it so long as Jack was there to be manly.
Jack put his thumbs underneath his braces and rocked backward on his feels, screwing up his mouth, and wondering what he ought to do.
I shouldn't be pushing any buttons, Jack thought. No, I definitely oughtn't do that.
So, Jack smiled brightly and shrugged. He started to walk away, but something stopped him abruptly. A sound; a soft buzzing. He could barely hear it, but he knew it was there. Jack knelt and put his ear to the floor. He listened hard. The cold stone vibrated against his skin. He crawled forward, ass in the air and palms flat against the floor. He came to a four way intersection. With the open space, the sound seemed to come from everywhere. Jack stood and looked down each of the corridors. Despite the sound being louder, he could not pinpoint it. Jack could feel the vibration coursing through his body, but saw nothing out of the ordinary, and started back toward the steps.
Tosh probably just remotely powered up the backup generator.
“Do you have any idea what you're doing?” Ianto asked as he descended the steps into Torchwood's lower levels.
“I'll have you know,” Jack said, “I am a very handy man.” Jack smiled as he walked past Ianto, and made sure to knock into Ianto's shoulder.
Ianto continued in the opposite direction, making sure to let Jack notice his smirk as they passed.
“Hey, Tosh,” Jack said. “Nothing wrong downstairs.”
“Then why am I getting all these power fluctuations? God, men are so useless,” Tosh huffed.
“Tell me about it. I'll get Ianto on it. Real man, you know. Real man.”
Jack walked to his office and sat down with a wholesome thud. He put his legs on his desk, ankles crossed, and leaned back heavily into his chair. The pterodactyl swooped down past his windows, causing the big green potted plants rustle loudly but Jack didn't look up. He pushed the button in his coms device.
“Ianto. Still downstairs?” He asked.
“Sir.”
“Would you mind looking at the wiring and circuits and all that while you're down there?”
Ianto grunted, and his annoyance was very evident. “I'm a little busy here, Jack.”
“Tosh is having some problems. She'll have my head if something happens to her computers.”
“Can it wait?”
Jack paused, slightly confused. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I'll get to it in a bit. Tell Tosh not to worry.”
There was a noticeable click as Ianto turned his coms unit off.
What is going on here? Jack thought. And why am I the only one in a pleasant mood?
-----
Jack moved stealthily about the potted plants. A ninja? No. A puma? No, definitely not. He was a former Time Agent, a con man, a proper spy, and it was time to show his skills. He quietly jumped from plant to plant, sometimes throwing a desk in for good measure. As he peered quietly from behind his hides, Jack would ready his unloaded gun, and get ready for a decisive move.
“Jack. What are you doing?”
He paused midstep, surprised. “Ianto! Oh. It's just you.” He tried to holster his gun quickly, but found himself to be without. Pulling out the waistband of his pants, he slipped the gun in against his shirt and made sure it was secured with his belt.
“Because everyone in their right mind has gone home.” Ianto said, looking pointedly at Jack on the words right and mind. He was feeling a bit off-kilter today, and it was really beginning to show.
“So what are you doing here?” Jack asked as he composed himself. He leaned against the desk he was standing next to and tried his best to look as sexily nonchalant as possible. Perhaps if he could distract Ianto..
“I was cleaning up. Owen had a stash of coffee mugs like you wouldn't believe.” To break the ensuing awkward silence, Ianto said: “You still haven't answered my question.”
“Ah, yes. Which was..”
Ianto scowled. “What are you doing? You're running about like you're bloody mad. There aren't any aliens up here,” Ianto said. “And you're scaring the pterodactyl!”
“I was practicing..”
“Practicing?” Ianto scoffed. “For what?”
“Would you like to see?” Jack smiled suggestively.
“Captain..” Ianto started. “Would I ever.”
-----
Jack collapsed onto Ianto. Their sweat mingled together, just as Ianto felt he had so desperately needed just a few days before.
“Weevil hunting?” Ianto laughed. “You were pretending to hunt weevils?”
“Well, I knew it was something you'd be good at. You're such a great actor.”
Ianto's heart stopped for a moment, and he automatically wondered what Jack was on about. So he asked him.
“Jack, what are you on about?”
“Nothing,” Jack said, confused. “Just making a joke.”
Ianto made a noncommittal sound and rolled over, pushing Jack to his side of the bed. Ianto thought himself stupid for supposing Jack had found out his secret. He had locked the doors well, after all, and fixed up the wiring in the hub as best he could. There was nothing to lead Jack to Lisa, except for Ianto himself.
“Did Tosh calm down about the wiring?” Jack asked. He could feel Ianto pulling away, lately. Pulling away from what exactly, Jack wasn't sure, but he could see it in Ianto's eyes that something was wrong. “I told her you'd fix it. She believed me.”
Ianto rolled his eyes. “She didn't have any reason not to. I fixed it best as I could. We'll be needing some more electrical tape. I used it all.”
“Shame. That was tomorrow night,” Jack mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing. It's good then, for a while? That buzzing was really getting to me.”
Ianto froze. “What buzzing? I didn't hear anything.”
“That's because you fixed it. Obviously,” Jack said, exaggerating the size of his eyes and gape of his mouth. “It'd been going on for a couple days. No clue, but it's fixed. I knew it was a good thing hiring you.”
"There was buzzing, though? Coming from where?"
"I don't know. Downstairs. You fixed it."
"Captain, I really should go check it. You didn't tell me about buzzing before." Ianto made to get out of bed, but Jack stopped him. "Really, I should."
"Oh, don't you ever stop?" Jack asked before falling back onto the bed.
-----
"Goddammit."
"I'm sorry?"
"Pardon," Ianto apologized. "It'll be how long? You're sure?"
"Four months, Mr. Jones," the voice on the other end of the line said. "I'm quite sure. There's no way around it. Unless, of course, you'd be willing to let her go."
"No," Ianto snapped.
"Well, then. You're just going to have to wait four months then, aren't you? You're sure?"
"Sir. Never in my life have I been -"
"Alright, alright. Enough with that. You're ready, then. Everything in place? Good. No problems? Good."
"Actually," Ianto began.
"Problems, boy? You're bloody Torchwood."
"It's making a sound, sucking the power. The captain is starting to get suspicious. I can't keep lying.."
"Sure you can! You knew the risks. You want this."
"Four months, sir."
Ianto hung up the phone.
Keeping her down there for that long was just out of the question. Absolutely. The things those drugs were doing to her brain - Ianto couldn't imagine it, couldn't bear to think about it, and yet here he was: standing in front of Lisa, his Lisa, giving her another dose of whatever Owen happened to have on hand, hoping she wouldn't wake up. If she woke up, then he'd have to explain. Ianto looked at the table he had been instructed to build. Was this really all there was? He would have to ask Jack what it was like to die. Maybe if he was more secure in his belief in an afterlife, maybe then he would be able to let her go. Yes. No.
"Goddammit," Ianto said. "Just get it over with, boy. She's gone. Those wires can't possibly be keeping her alive."
Four months, that's all he'd have to wait. Then, it would be over and he and Lisa could finally be happy again. Proper living people. And Jack? Well, Ianto would just have to kill him. Yes, precisely.
"Ianto, come here." Jack's voice crackled over the coms system. "I'm in my office."
Ianto pressed his finger to his earpiece, pushing it farther into his ear to block out anything but Jack's voice, to make it clearer. "I'm checking the wiring again, Jack. Can you wait a minute?"
Jack growled. "Now."
Ianto sighed and repeated, "Now." Only four more months.
His feet took him to Jack's office. It was early, no one had shown up for work yet. Their jobs, not their lives as Ianto had made Torchwood his life. The smile plastered on Jack's face was enough to make any man, woman, child, animal - whatever, stop dead in their tracks. It looked wonderful on him, made his eyes and nose crinkle, and the little lines on his face were all the more pronounced.
"Has the sound come back, Jack?" Ianto asked carefully, hating the sound of unintentional rhyming on his tongue. "I've just fixed it, I'm sure."
"No, no," Jack assured him. "Nothing like that. It's just.. you've been working so hard! I thought it was past time to pay you."
"I cashed my check yesterday."
"What did you do with it?" Jack asked.
"Bought Tosh her favorite pastry."
"You're whole check?" Jack prodded. "Must have been an expensive cake."
"And supper for everyone else."
"See, you give too much of yourself to others. It's time someone gave you something in return." Jack moved toward Ianto and snaked his arm around his waist. "It's time you and I had a bit more fun." Ianto looked at him, unconvinced, but the hand on his back was slowly convincing him to listen to the other man. As Jack's fingers traced small circles through Ianto's shirt Ianto melted. He closed his eyes and let himself be led into Jack's quarters. Jack stood next to Ianto, not touching him, but close enough to whisper in his ear. "I thought you'd like it. Open your eyes."
Ianto did as he was told. The sight before him was not what he had been expecting at all, and definitely not what he had been dreaming of on their short trek to Jack's bedroom. Candles, clean sheets, maybe some mood music - anything but ... this.
"Jack Harkness," Ianto said. He turned to face Jack and took a faltering step backward. "You are a fucking dirty old man."