THE GOLDEN RULE
Characters: Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper
Pairing: Jack&Tosh friendship, nascent Janto
Rating: Very mild PG for M/M flirting
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to the BBC.
Prompt: Originally for the ‘Undercover’ prompt from tw_flashfic
Summary: There’s something funny going on in the new casino and Jack decides to investigate.
Gwen’s jaw practically dropped to the floor of the Hub when she got her first good look at Jack. Used to seeing him in his usual period garb, or variations on that theme, the sight of him in a tuxedo was a shock.
“Well if it isn’t 007’s eccentric older brother,” Owen drawled sarcastically.
“Sour grapes, Owen?” Jack said with an easy grin.
“When you said ‘undercover’ you just said it involved a lot of night work and covering tea-boy’s back,” Owen said acidly. “You sort of forgot to also mention that it involved going to a casino and spending Torchwood’s money on wine, women and gambling!”
“I didn’t want to put you off,” Jack told him with such patent insincerity that Gwen recovered enough to giggle. “And you shouldn’t need an incentive to want to watch a team-member’s back,” he continued with the faintest edge to his voice.
Owen made a scoffing noise. “It’s a bloody miracle they didn’t blow tea-boy the moment he walked in through the door!”
Jack looked amused again. “You really have no idea, do you?” he said with a grin.
Any retort Owen might have made was lost as his jaw did a bit of dropping of its own as Toshiko appeared. She was wearing a long sheath dress of shimmering sapphire blue silk, and a set of diamond jewellery that blazed under the Torchwood lights. She had been packed off to the hairdressers earlier in the day and her black hair was done up on top of her head in an elegant chignon, with two curls descending artfully on either side of her face. Jack was vastly amused to see the distinct hint of green touch Gwen’s eyes.
“And where would 007 be without his beautiful and deadly female companion, hmm?” Jack said with a broad smile.
Tosh blinked. “I’m deadly? Already? You promised me at least one glass of champagne, Jack!”
Jack laughed and went to pick up the black shawl draped over the chair and carefully settled it across her shoulder before stepping back to admire the effect. Tosh gathered the shawl about her and did a mock pirouette with a smile.
“Yep, I was right about the colour of the dress. It suits you.” Then he sighed in an over-dramatic fashion. “But Ianto was right about the diamonds. The sapphires would have been too much.”
Tosh grinned. “I just love the fact that I get to wear all this on company time.” She reached up to finger the necklace she was wearing. “Are these real?” she asked with a touch of awe.
“One hundred per cent genuine,” Jack confirmed. “Nothing but the best when we’re acting the part of a couple with more money than sense.”
Owen snorted, having recovered from his shock over seeing Tosh in full glamour-mode. “With you that means you only need £1.50 in your pocket!”
With those encouraging words ringing in their ears, Jack and Tosh set out for their rendezvous with Ianto. The Golden Rule was a new and very exclusive casino cum members club that had opened in Cardiff a couple of months ago. Jack had been given a tip-off by Kathy Swanson that it might not be quite the innocent money-trap that it seemed. It appeared that several extremely wealthy members had started to act oddly enough for their relatives to approach the police with their suspicions that some kind of influence was being brought to bear on them. The relatives suspected some kind of cult activity. Kathy had investigated and while she had found nothing that was obviously wrong, something about the place had made her senses twitch.
Jack had been both amused and impressed that Swanson had overcome her animosity towards him to voice her unease. While he might like to tease her, he respected both her intelligence and instincts, so he had agreed to see what he could find. Truth be told, he had seen it as an excellent opportunity to add to Ianto’s field experience, but he hadn’t expected to uncover anything too significant. The first info drop from Ianto had had him sitting up and reassessing that glib assumption.
“I take it that you’re accepting what Ianto told us in his report?” Tosh asked as she settled gingerly into the seat of the car, not wanting to crease her dress.”
Jack nodded as he slid into the driver’s seat of the sleek vintage Jaguar he had the use of for this mission. He remembered driving a car like this when it was the latest model and the scent and feel of the interior brought on a strong wave of nostalgia that he shook off with an effort. “One of Ianto’s many strengths is his observational skills. Seeing what he saw meant that this just became Torchwood business with a vengeance.”
Tosh nodded and reached up to touch her necklace again. “It feels strange to be Ryoko Suzuki,” she murmured.
Jack flashed her a reassuring smile. “Did you have fun creating her?”
Tosh blushed before nodding and joined in with Jack’s rich laugh. “You gave me a pretty free rein. She had to be independently wealthy, bright but not scarily intelligent, a bit of a rebel in that she would hook up with a non-Japanese male-“
“Reporting for duty, ma’am!” Jack butted in with a mock salute.
“-but secretly looking for stability and an authority figure,” Tosh finished with a severe poke at Jack’s arm.
“Ow! Sheesh, fingers of steel,” Jack complained. “Must be all that keyboard practice. I took a look at the profile you worked up and the way you’d assimilated her into several legitimate websites. Nice touch putting her into that Japanese dating database, by the way, although I would really like to see you in that outfit for real!” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned as she blushed. “It was a furisode kimono, right?”
Her eyes widened. “You know the nuances of Japanese kimonos?” she asked. Jack simply looked mysterious and Toshiko’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess: Ianto told you?” When he immediately looked sheepish she laughed and shook her head. “Although that just makes me wonder how he knows.”
“He probably had a girlfriend that was into it,” Jack suggested, ignoring his own itch of curiosity. “Anyway, we figured my character ought to know something about Japan, seeing as how he was dating a beautiful Japanese lady and had business links with the country.”
“Well seeing as the only Japanese you know relates to food and pick-up lines, it’s just as well you got yourself a Japanese girlfriend,” Tosh said dryly.
“Hey, never let it be said that I don’t admire a woman for her mind, no matter how stunning the outer package might be,” Jack said, sounding so sincere that Tosh felt herself blushing all over again.
They reached the modern building where the The Golden Rule was housed and Jack handed over the Jaguar to the parking attendant. They were politely stopped at the door in order to get their credentials checked, but then they were whisked through into the members’ foyer and they entered an entirely new world.
It’s like something out of a movie set, Tosh thought in bemusement as she looked around. The modern exterior of the building belied the timeless elegance of the interior. She knew from the blurb that had been sent to Ryoko Suzuki (in a beautiful black-bound, fully illustrated booklet), that The Golden Rule had been inspired by the casinos of the 50s and 60s, which was probably why some of her surroundings struck a chord. The carpet was a deep rich burgundy with an impractically deep pile and the furniture was sleek and comfortable. A polished wood and glass bar at the far end of the room was surrounded by a sprinkling of patrons and she saw that her dress and jewellery was just the right side of fashionably in-your-face.
Feeling the intense satisfaction and confidence boost that came from knowing she was every bit as well-dressed and bejewelled as any other woman present, Toshiko placed her hand on the arm Jack had automatically extended to her and allowed him to escort her across to the bar.
“How may I serve you, sir?” asked the slender, doe-eyed creature behind the bar as she flashed a professional smile that got a little warmer when she got a good look at Jack.
“One Champagne Charlie for my lady and a premium rum on the rocks for myself,” Jack ordered.
“Of course, sir.” The drinks were produced with deft speed and Jack sipped at his own drink, raising his eyebrows in appreciation. They weren’t stinting on the quality of their drinks.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” a voice purred.
Jack turned to find himself facing a stunning blonde vision wrapped in a silvery-gold dress. He blinked, a little taken aback at being gazed at by deep, almost indigo eyes that fairly radiated sincerity and an abiding interest in him. He pulled in a shaky breath, realising that Ianto had understated the severity of the problem and carefully folded up his libido and buried it under the professionalism few people realised he possessed.
“Jack Dexter, at your service, ma’am,” he drawled, shading his accent towards the Texan to fit in with the background he had created for himself. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss-?”
The vision smiled, revealing perfect teeth. “Andrea Mattheus. I’m one of the owners of the Rule. I like to meet all of our new members when they come for their first visit.” She shifted her attention to Tosh. “That means you must be Ryoko Suzuki. Konbanwa,” she said, bowing with just the right touch of deference.
Tosh went from bristling to appreciation in a nanosecond and felt her own instincts stir. She smiled and bowed back. “Arigato gozaimashita.” She switched back to English. “This is an impressive place. I must admit I would have expected to find it somewhere like London or Paris.”
Andrea continued to smile. “Cardiff is an up and coming city, with many exciting possibilities to explore. My partners and I appreciate the many advantages to choosing a less clichéd location for our venture and the locals have been most kind to us. In response, we try as much as possible to employ local people to tend to our guests. Would you like a tour?”
“That would be great,” Jack said enthusiastically.
They were shown the three main gambling rooms the Rule boasted, as well as the restaurant, the second bar that also held a dance floor and the small theatre where torch singers, jazz musicians and an impressively talented drag queen performed. Jack was tempted to wait until the drag queen came on, but Andrea was gently relentless and quietly escorted them back to the gaming rooms.
“Where does your interest lie, Jack?” she asked.
Jack grinned. “I’m pretty eclectic, although I have a weakness for blackjack. Ryoko, here, is the better player, though. Sometimes I dabble in poker, but I prefer to play that with my friends. More of a challenge when you know the other players real well.”
“No roulette?” she asked with the tiniest of pouts.
Jack shook his head. “Sorry. Bit too random for my taste. Maybe later on in the evening?”
“Of course.” Andrea inclined her head in good-humoured defeat. The roulette table was where a casino got most of its winnings. “I’ll leave you to choose your game of choice. There are waiters and waitresses on hand to supply you with drinks but we have to ask you to eat either at the bar or the restaurant.”
She drifted away and Jack watched her go with the air of a connoisseur. He felt Tosh nip at his arm and gave her a look of amusement. “Not bad for a robot, eh?” He laughed at the look of pure astonishment on her face.
“A robot?” Tosh echoed in a stunned whisper.
“Uh-huh. Made of flesh rather than metal, but she’s about as human as a jellyfish. Not that I haven’t met some really nice jellyfish,” he continued as he steered her towards the blackjack table. “I was even engaged to one once. Lovely girl/boy colony, but the parents didn’t approve so it kind of fizzled out. She’s probably about as bright as a ten year old kid when you get past her programming,” he decided as he slid onto the seat at the blackjack table and helped Tosh onto another one. “Right, Ianto?”
Skilfully loading the cards from the pack he had just broken open into the dealer shoe, Ianto smiled and inclined his head. “She’s more like mid-teens, sir, and the brightest of the group.”
Tosh smiled back at him, admiring the way his croupier’s costume showed off his body. The short jacket was in the matador style while the trousers were a lot more fitted than the ones he usually wore. The entire ensemble was in white, as well, which she had never seen Ianto wear and either he had acquired a tan that she hadn’t noticed under the artificial lights of the Hub or he had applied a fake tan, since his skin was a pale gold that was several shades deeper than the electrum of his waistcoat. The only other flash of colour was the deep sapphire buttons on the waistcoat.
“Dear God, you look good enough to eat!” Jack said with a hint of a throaty growl in his voice. Tosh nodded enthusiastically before she caught herself and she blushed in mortification. To her relief, Ianto simply looked amused. Fortunately for them, the evening was still young enough that there were only a few patrons at the table and none of them were at Ianto’s station, so they could converse in relative freedom.
“No bugs?” Tosh asked warily.
“I would have stopped you talking if that were so,” Ianto said, with just the faintest hint of a reproof in his voice. Realising that he still felt insecure about his place as a field agent, Tosh ducked her head and apologised.
“So, we have a small nest of Telmerran pleasure-drones setting up shop in Cardiff,” Jack commented once Ianto had set up to his satisfaction. “I’m surprised they went this route and not a brothel.” He tossed a wad of fifty pound notes at Ianto and divided the chips Ianto gave him back between himself and Toshiko.
“They seem to be behaving in an atypical fashion to the notes about them that I remember reading,” Ianto said as he dealt the first set of cards. “None of them seem the slightest bit interested in seducing the clientele and if it wasn’t for the fact that some of the customers have been acting so oddly after coming here, I would say that they have no ulterior motive in setting up the casino.”
“No suspicious activity? No weird alien mind-control devices in the light fittings? No chemicals in the drinks?” Jack asked in surprise.
Toshiko gave her Champagne Charlie a horrified look and put it to one side as she accepted her cards.
“Not unless Owen missed something in his analysis and while it pains me to admit to anything positive where Owen is concerned, he does know his stuff when it comes to finding unidentified chemicals in alcohol. The light-fittings are either genuine Tiffany - and very good quality, I might add - or solid lead crystal. Unless they have equipment my instruments can’t detect, Captain, this place is clean. In fact it’s probably cleaner than most other casinos in the country.”
“Well, you should know,” Jack said with a smirk as he looked at his own cards.
Ianto sighed. "I should never have told you that I worked for a short time as a croupier,” he said.
“Hey, I like to play my people to their strengths and experiences,” Jack said in wounded accents. “Another card.”
Ianto gave him a look of mischief. “A more appropriate term would be ‘hit me’, sir.”
Jack snorted. “Oh, no, Mr Jones. No way am I going to lay myself open like that!”
OOOO
Jack and Tosh got back to the Hub at five the following morning. Tosh was single-mindedly trying to teach Jack the words to a Japanese drinking song, only mildly hindered by the fact that (a) Jack was more interested in singing ‘One Hundred and Fifty Green Aliens Sitting On A Rift’, and (b) she didn’t know the words to any Japanese drinking songs. They fell out of the lift to find themselves being glowered at by Gwen and Owen.
“Whoa, you two got in early for once?” Jack said in mock amazement.
“We were waiting for you to get back!” Gwen said in exasperation. She glowered at Tosh. “You’re drunk!”
“Nonononono,” Tosh said, shaking her head and putting a finger to her nose and winking conspiratorially. “I have it on the best authority that I am pie-eyed.”
“Who’s authority would that be, then? Jack’s?” Gwen’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Nah, I think she’s sober as a judge,” Jack said, throwing a friendly arm around Tosh’s waist and lifting her up and around in a somewhat shaky circle. “Mind you, most of the judges I’ve known have all been either alcoholics or drug addicts.”
“Ianto said it!” Tosh said, squealing in appreciation as Jack took her around for a second circuit. “Ianto thinks pies have eyes!”
“Maybe Welsh pies do have eyes,” Jack said, struck by the sudden thought. “Hey, Gwen, do pies have eyes in Wales?”
“No, they don’t, and you’re both drunk!” Gwen snapped.
“It could be alien influence,” Owen pointed out.
“No, just champagne. Lots and lots of champagne,” Tosh said before giggling and snuggling up against Jack. “Nice Telly-whatsits.”
Jack laughed and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Maybe we got a little carried away with the celebrations.”
“What celebrations!” Gwen almost shouted. She hated being out of the loop like this.
“I believe the Captain is talking about the signing of an accord between Torchwood and the Telmerrans running The Golden Rule,” Ianto said as he appeared from the door leading up from the garages. “They were extremely relieved to discover that we had no intention of handing them back over to their owners.”
“Slavery is wrong!” Tosh said stoutly, then spoilt the effect by nuzzling against Jack’s chest and making a sound suspiciously close to purring.
Jack grinned down at her but nodded. “Seems that a glitch in their control-programming meant that they were able to slip their owner’s leash and they ended up on Earth of the grounds that no-one would look for them on a backwater planet like this one. They were fed up of being pleasure slaves so decided to make a lateral move into a different sort of leisure industry.” He shrugged and yawned. “They were doing a pretty good job at it and providing jobs for local people. I didn’t see the point in shutting them down.”
“And the brainwashed customers?” Owen asked, gazing at Ianto in his croupier’s costume with extreme disfavour.
“That was a bit of a misunderstanding. Seems our upstanding innocent victims are actually the front men for organised crime who tried to put the screws on the Telmerrans. They just gave them the equivalent to retcon and told them to go away and be nice to people.”
“Which was why their relatives were so alarmed, because they were donating to charity and introducing good working practices,” Tosh laughed. She finally registered Ianto’s presence. “Ooooh, you’re still wearing the suit!” she said in openly lecherous delight.
Ianto gave her a startled look and nodded. “For some reason Andrea insisted I keep it. She said I might find that it comes in handy, but it’s not very practical.”
“You look like a ponce,” Owen snapped.
The noise Toshiko made at that point might not have been in any known language on the planet, but it left Ianto under no illusion that it did not made him look like anything other than something she approved of completely, while Owen was given to understand that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Gwen muttered something under her breath and went to collect her coat and bag.
“I’ll be off then, seeing as how the three of you seem to think you’ve solved the problem.”
She stalked off, closely followed by Owen. Tosh peered after her before signalling at Jack to bend down to her. Jack did so with an indulgent smile on his face.
“I think she’s upset,” Tosh confided in a minor-key bellow before collapsing into giggles.
“I think the nose was ever-so-slightly out of joint,” Jack agreed gravely before joining in.
Ianto sighed and shook his head at the both of them. “Come on, Tosh, I think you need to get some water and orange juice down you before you go to sleep, otherwise you’ll be wanting to shoot yourself in the morning.”
“What about me?” Jack asked, batting his eyelashes.
“Just remember to shoot yourself in the shower stalls so I have less mess to clean up,” Ianto called over his shoulder as he ushered Tosh in the direction of the kitchen.
“Love you too,” Jack said sarcastically before smiling and trailing after them, enjoying the view of Ianto’s rear end in the tight trousers. His grin widened as he remembered Andrea’s smile when he’d asked if Ianto could keep the costume.
“I’m sure he’ll find an appropriate use for it, Captain,” she’d purred before giggling, happy that she and her people were officially under Torchwood’s protection.
“Trust me,” Jack said, placing his hand over his heart. “If Ianto can’t think of a use for it, I sure as hell will!”
Climbing the stairs to join Tosh in a late-night drink of orange juice, Jack lost himself in some very pleasant daydreams as to the kind of use Ianto could put that particular outfit to.
OOOO
Japanese translations:
Konbanwa - Good evening
Arigato gozaimashita - Thank you (formal)
Pairing: Jack&Tosh friendship, nascent Janto
Rating: Very mild PG for M/M flirting
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Not mine; they belong to the BBC.
Prompt: Originally for the ‘Undercover’ prompt from tw_flashfic
Summary: There’s something funny going on in the new casino and Jack decides to investigate.
Gwen’s jaw practically dropped to the floor of the Hub when she got her first good look at Jack. Used to seeing him in his usual period garb, or variations on that theme, the sight of him in a tuxedo was a shock.
“Well if it isn’t 007’s eccentric older brother,” Owen drawled sarcastically.
“Sour grapes, Owen?” Jack said with an easy grin.
“When you said ‘undercover’ you just said it involved a lot of night work and covering tea-boy’s back,” Owen said acidly. “You sort of forgot to also mention that it involved going to a casino and spending Torchwood’s money on wine, women and gambling!”
“I didn’t want to put you off,” Jack told him with such patent insincerity that Gwen recovered enough to giggle. “And you shouldn’t need an incentive to want to watch a team-member’s back,” he continued with the faintest edge to his voice.
Owen made a scoffing noise. “It’s a bloody miracle they didn’t blow tea-boy the moment he walked in through the door!”
Jack looked amused again. “You really have no idea, do you?” he said with a grin.
Any retort Owen might have made was lost as his jaw did a bit of dropping of its own as Toshiko appeared. She was wearing a long sheath dress of shimmering sapphire blue silk, and a set of diamond jewellery that blazed under the Torchwood lights. She had been packed off to the hairdressers earlier in the day and her black hair was done up on top of her head in an elegant chignon, with two curls descending artfully on either side of her face. Jack was vastly amused to see the distinct hint of green touch Gwen’s eyes.
“And where would 007 be without his beautiful and deadly female companion, hmm?” Jack said with a broad smile.
Tosh blinked. “I’m deadly? Already? You promised me at least one glass of champagne, Jack!”
Jack laughed and went to pick up the black shawl draped over the chair and carefully settled it across her shoulder before stepping back to admire the effect. Tosh gathered the shawl about her and did a mock pirouette with a smile.
“Yep, I was right about the colour of the dress. It suits you.” Then he sighed in an over-dramatic fashion. “But Ianto was right about the diamonds. The sapphires would have been too much.”
Tosh grinned. “I just love the fact that I get to wear all this on company time.” She reached up to finger the necklace she was wearing. “Are these real?” she asked with a touch of awe.
“One hundred per cent genuine,” Jack confirmed. “Nothing but the best when we’re acting the part of a couple with more money than sense.”
Owen snorted, having recovered from his shock over seeing Tosh in full glamour-mode. “With you that means you only need £1.50 in your pocket!”
With those encouraging words ringing in their ears, Jack and Tosh set out for their rendezvous with Ianto. The Golden Rule was a new and very exclusive casino cum members club that had opened in Cardiff a couple of months ago. Jack had been given a tip-off by Kathy Swanson that it might not be quite the innocent money-trap that it seemed. It appeared that several extremely wealthy members had started to act oddly enough for their relatives to approach the police with their suspicions that some kind of influence was being brought to bear on them. The relatives suspected some kind of cult activity. Kathy had investigated and while she had found nothing that was obviously wrong, something about the place had made her senses twitch.
Jack had been both amused and impressed that Swanson had overcome her animosity towards him to voice her unease. While he might like to tease her, he respected both her intelligence and instincts, so he had agreed to see what he could find. Truth be told, he had seen it as an excellent opportunity to add to Ianto’s field experience, but he hadn’t expected to uncover anything too significant. The first info drop from Ianto had had him sitting up and reassessing that glib assumption.
“I take it that you’re accepting what Ianto told us in his report?” Tosh asked as she settled gingerly into the seat of the car, not wanting to crease her dress.”
Jack nodded as he slid into the driver’s seat of the sleek vintage Jaguar he had the use of for this mission. He remembered driving a car like this when it was the latest model and the scent and feel of the interior brought on a strong wave of nostalgia that he shook off with an effort. “One of Ianto’s many strengths is his observational skills. Seeing what he saw meant that this just became Torchwood business with a vengeance.”
Tosh nodded and reached up to touch her necklace again. “It feels strange to be Ryoko Suzuki,” she murmured.
Jack flashed her a reassuring smile. “Did you have fun creating her?”
Tosh blushed before nodding and joined in with Jack’s rich laugh. “You gave me a pretty free rein. She had to be independently wealthy, bright but not scarily intelligent, a bit of a rebel in that she would hook up with a non-Japanese male-“
“Reporting for duty, ma’am!” Jack butted in with a mock salute.
“-but secretly looking for stability and an authority figure,” Tosh finished with a severe poke at Jack’s arm.
“Ow! Sheesh, fingers of steel,” Jack complained. “Must be all that keyboard practice. I took a look at the profile you worked up and the way you’d assimilated her into several legitimate websites. Nice touch putting her into that Japanese dating database, by the way, although I would really like to see you in that outfit for real!” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned as she blushed. “It was a furisode kimono, right?”
Her eyes widened. “You know the nuances of Japanese kimonos?” she asked. Jack simply looked mysterious and Toshiko’s eyes narrowed. “Let me guess: Ianto told you?” When he immediately looked sheepish she laughed and shook her head. “Although that just makes me wonder how he knows.”
“He probably had a girlfriend that was into it,” Jack suggested, ignoring his own itch of curiosity. “Anyway, we figured my character ought to know something about Japan, seeing as how he was dating a beautiful Japanese lady and had business links with the country.”
“Well seeing as the only Japanese you know relates to food and pick-up lines, it’s just as well you got yourself a Japanese girlfriend,” Tosh said dryly.
“Hey, never let it be said that I don’t admire a woman for her mind, no matter how stunning the outer package might be,” Jack said, sounding so sincere that Tosh felt herself blushing all over again.
They reached the modern building where the The Golden Rule was housed and Jack handed over the Jaguar to the parking attendant. They were politely stopped at the door in order to get their credentials checked, but then they were whisked through into the members’ foyer and they entered an entirely new world.
It’s like something out of a movie set, Tosh thought in bemusement as she looked around. The modern exterior of the building belied the timeless elegance of the interior. She knew from the blurb that had been sent to Ryoko Suzuki (in a beautiful black-bound, fully illustrated booklet), that The Golden Rule had been inspired by the casinos of the 50s and 60s, which was probably why some of her surroundings struck a chord. The carpet was a deep rich burgundy with an impractically deep pile and the furniture was sleek and comfortable. A polished wood and glass bar at the far end of the room was surrounded by a sprinkling of patrons and she saw that her dress and jewellery was just the right side of fashionably in-your-face.
Feeling the intense satisfaction and confidence boost that came from knowing she was every bit as well-dressed and bejewelled as any other woman present, Toshiko placed her hand on the arm Jack had automatically extended to her and allowed him to escort her across to the bar.
“How may I serve you, sir?” asked the slender, doe-eyed creature behind the bar as she flashed a professional smile that got a little warmer when she got a good look at Jack.
“One Champagne Charlie for my lady and a premium rum on the rocks for myself,” Jack ordered.
“Of course, sir.” The drinks were produced with deft speed and Jack sipped at his own drink, raising his eyebrows in appreciation. They weren’t stinting on the quality of their drinks.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” a voice purred.
Jack turned to find himself facing a stunning blonde vision wrapped in a silvery-gold dress. He blinked, a little taken aback at being gazed at by deep, almost indigo eyes that fairly radiated sincerity and an abiding interest in him. He pulled in a shaky breath, realising that Ianto had understated the severity of the problem and carefully folded up his libido and buried it under the professionalism few people realised he possessed.
“Jack Dexter, at your service, ma’am,” he drawled, shading his accent towards the Texan to fit in with the background he had created for himself. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss-?”
The vision smiled, revealing perfect teeth. “Andrea Mattheus. I’m one of the owners of the Rule. I like to meet all of our new members when they come for their first visit.” She shifted her attention to Tosh. “That means you must be Ryoko Suzuki. Konbanwa,” she said, bowing with just the right touch of deference.
Tosh went from bristling to appreciation in a nanosecond and felt her own instincts stir. She smiled and bowed back. “Arigato gozaimashita.” She switched back to English. “This is an impressive place. I must admit I would have expected to find it somewhere like London or Paris.”
Andrea continued to smile. “Cardiff is an up and coming city, with many exciting possibilities to explore. My partners and I appreciate the many advantages to choosing a less clichéd location for our venture and the locals have been most kind to us. In response, we try as much as possible to employ local people to tend to our guests. Would you like a tour?”
“That would be great,” Jack said enthusiastically.
They were shown the three main gambling rooms the Rule boasted, as well as the restaurant, the second bar that also held a dance floor and the small theatre where torch singers, jazz musicians and an impressively talented drag queen performed. Jack was tempted to wait until the drag queen came on, but Andrea was gently relentless and quietly escorted them back to the gaming rooms.
“Where does your interest lie, Jack?” she asked.
Jack grinned. “I’m pretty eclectic, although I have a weakness for blackjack. Ryoko, here, is the better player, though. Sometimes I dabble in poker, but I prefer to play that with my friends. More of a challenge when you know the other players real well.”
“No roulette?” she asked with the tiniest of pouts.
Jack shook his head. “Sorry. Bit too random for my taste. Maybe later on in the evening?”
“Of course.” Andrea inclined her head in good-humoured defeat. The roulette table was where a casino got most of its winnings. “I’ll leave you to choose your game of choice. There are waiters and waitresses on hand to supply you with drinks but we have to ask you to eat either at the bar or the restaurant.”
She drifted away and Jack watched her go with the air of a connoisseur. He felt Tosh nip at his arm and gave her a look of amusement. “Not bad for a robot, eh?” He laughed at the look of pure astonishment on her face.
“A robot?” Tosh echoed in a stunned whisper.
“Uh-huh. Made of flesh rather than metal, but she’s about as human as a jellyfish. Not that I haven’t met some really nice jellyfish,” he continued as he steered her towards the blackjack table. “I was even engaged to one once. Lovely girl/boy colony, but the parents didn’t approve so it kind of fizzled out. She’s probably about as bright as a ten year old kid when you get past her programming,” he decided as he slid onto the seat at the blackjack table and helped Tosh onto another one. “Right, Ianto?”
Skilfully loading the cards from the pack he had just broken open into the dealer shoe, Ianto smiled and inclined his head. “She’s more like mid-teens, sir, and the brightest of the group.”
Tosh smiled back at him, admiring the way his croupier’s costume showed off his body. The short jacket was in the matador style while the trousers were a lot more fitted than the ones he usually wore. The entire ensemble was in white, as well, which she had never seen Ianto wear and either he had acquired a tan that she hadn’t noticed under the artificial lights of the Hub or he had applied a fake tan, since his skin was a pale gold that was several shades deeper than the electrum of his waistcoat. The only other flash of colour was the deep sapphire buttons on the waistcoat.
“Dear God, you look good enough to eat!” Jack said with a hint of a throaty growl in his voice. Tosh nodded enthusiastically before she caught herself and she blushed in mortification. To her relief, Ianto simply looked amused. Fortunately for them, the evening was still young enough that there were only a few patrons at the table and none of them were at Ianto’s station, so they could converse in relative freedom.
“No bugs?” Tosh asked warily.
“I would have stopped you talking if that were so,” Ianto said, with just the faintest hint of a reproof in his voice. Realising that he still felt insecure about his place as a field agent, Tosh ducked her head and apologised.
“So, we have a small nest of Telmerran pleasure-drones setting up shop in Cardiff,” Jack commented once Ianto had set up to his satisfaction. “I’m surprised they went this route and not a brothel.” He tossed a wad of fifty pound notes at Ianto and divided the chips Ianto gave him back between himself and Toshiko.
“They seem to be behaving in an atypical fashion to the notes about them that I remember reading,” Ianto said as he dealt the first set of cards. “None of them seem the slightest bit interested in seducing the clientele and if it wasn’t for the fact that some of the customers have been acting so oddly after coming here, I would say that they have no ulterior motive in setting up the casino.”
“No suspicious activity? No weird alien mind-control devices in the light fittings? No chemicals in the drinks?” Jack asked in surprise.
Toshiko gave her Champagne Charlie a horrified look and put it to one side as she accepted her cards.
“Not unless Owen missed something in his analysis and while it pains me to admit to anything positive where Owen is concerned, he does know his stuff when it comes to finding unidentified chemicals in alcohol. The light-fittings are either genuine Tiffany - and very good quality, I might add - or solid lead crystal. Unless they have equipment my instruments can’t detect, Captain, this place is clean. In fact it’s probably cleaner than most other casinos in the country.”
“Well, you should know,” Jack said with a smirk as he looked at his own cards.
Ianto sighed. "I should never have told you that I worked for a short time as a croupier,” he said.
“Hey, I like to play my people to their strengths and experiences,” Jack said in wounded accents. “Another card.”
Ianto gave him a look of mischief. “A more appropriate term would be ‘hit me’, sir.”
Jack snorted. “Oh, no, Mr Jones. No way am I going to lay myself open like that!”
OOOO
Jack and Tosh got back to the Hub at five the following morning. Tosh was single-mindedly trying to teach Jack the words to a Japanese drinking song, only mildly hindered by the fact that (a) Jack was more interested in singing ‘One Hundred and Fifty Green Aliens Sitting On A Rift’, and (b) she didn’t know the words to any Japanese drinking songs. They fell out of the lift to find themselves being glowered at by Gwen and Owen.
“Whoa, you two got in early for once?” Jack said in mock amazement.
“We were waiting for you to get back!” Gwen said in exasperation. She glowered at Tosh. “You’re drunk!”
“Nonononono,” Tosh said, shaking her head and putting a finger to her nose and winking conspiratorially. “I have it on the best authority that I am pie-eyed.”
“Who’s authority would that be, then? Jack’s?” Gwen’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
“Nah, I think she’s sober as a judge,” Jack said, throwing a friendly arm around Tosh’s waist and lifting her up and around in a somewhat shaky circle. “Mind you, most of the judges I’ve known have all been either alcoholics or drug addicts.”
“Ianto said it!” Tosh said, squealing in appreciation as Jack took her around for a second circuit. “Ianto thinks pies have eyes!”
“Maybe Welsh pies do have eyes,” Jack said, struck by the sudden thought. “Hey, Gwen, do pies have eyes in Wales?”
“No, they don’t, and you’re both drunk!” Gwen snapped.
“It could be alien influence,” Owen pointed out.
“No, just champagne. Lots and lots of champagne,” Tosh said before giggling and snuggling up against Jack. “Nice Telly-whatsits.”
Jack laughed and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Maybe we got a little carried away with the celebrations.”
“What celebrations!” Gwen almost shouted. She hated being out of the loop like this.
“I believe the Captain is talking about the signing of an accord between Torchwood and the Telmerrans running The Golden Rule,” Ianto said as he appeared from the door leading up from the garages. “They were extremely relieved to discover that we had no intention of handing them back over to their owners.”
“Slavery is wrong!” Tosh said stoutly, then spoilt the effect by nuzzling against Jack’s chest and making a sound suspiciously close to purring.
Jack grinned down at her but nodded. “Seems that a glitch in their control-programming meant that they were able to slip their owner’s leash and they ended up on Earth of the grounds that no-one would look for them on a backwater planet like this one. They were fed up of being pleasure slaves so decided to make a lateral move into a different sort of leisure industry.” He shrugged and yawned. “They were doing a pretty good job at it and providing jobs for local people. I didn’t see the point in shutting them down.”
“And the brainwashed customers?” Owen asked, gazing at Ianto in his croupier’s costume with extreme disfavour.
“That was a bit of a misunderstanding. Seems our upstanding innocent victims are actually the front men for organised crime who tried to put the screws on the Telmerrans. They just gave them the equivalent to retcon and told them to go away and be nice to people.”
“Which was why their relatives were so alarmed, because they were donating to charity and introducing good working practices,” Tosh laughed. She finally registered Ianto’s presence. “Ooooh, you’re still wearing the suit!” she said in openly lecherous delight.
Ianto gave her a startled look and nodded. “For some reason Andrea insisted I keep it. She said I might find that it comes in handy, but it’s not very practical.”
“You look like a ponce,” Owen snapped.
The noise Toshiko made at that point might not have been in any known language on the planet, but it left Ianto under no illusion that it did not made him look like anything other than something she approved of completely, while Owen was given to understand that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Gwen muttered something under her breath and went to collect her coat and bag.
“I’ll be off then, seeing as how the three of you seem to think you’ve solved the problem.”
She stalked off, closely followed by Owen. Tosh peered after her before signalling at Jack to bend down to her. Jack did so with an indulgent smile on his face.
“I think she’s upset,” Tosh confided in a minor-key bellow before collapsing into giggles.
“I think the nose was ever-so-slightly out of joint,” Jack agreed gravely before joining in.
Ianto sighed and shook his head at the both of them. “Come on, Tosh, I think you need to get some water and orange juice down you before you go to sleep, otherwise you’ll be wanting to shoot yourself in the morning.”
“What about me?” Jack asked, batting his eyelashes.
“Just remember to shoot yourself in the shower stalls so I have less mess to clean up,” Ianto called over his shoulder as he ushered Tosh in the direction of the kitchen.
“Love you too,” Jack said sarcastically before smiling and trailing after them, enjoying the view of Ianto’s rear end in the tight trousers. His grin widened as he remembered Andrea’s smile when he’d asked if Ianto could keep the costume.
“I’m sure he’ll find an appropriate use for it, Captain,” she’d purred before giggling, happy that she and her people were officially under Torchwood’s protection.
“Trust me,” Jack said, placing his hand over his heart. “If Ianto can’t think of a use for it, I sure as hell will!”
Climbing the stairs to join Tosh in a late-night drink of orange juice, Jack lost himself in some very pleasant daydreams as to the kind of use Ianto could put that particular outfit to.
OOOO
Japanese translations:
Konbanwa - Good evening
Arigato gozaimashita - Thank you (formal)