Fic: Tricky Problem
Title: Tricky Problem
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1320
Summary: The Hub is old, and sometimes things break down, but Ianto can usually fix any problems that crop up without needing to bother anyone else. Not this time though.
Spoilers: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 438: Leak at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
The Hub was old, like over a century old, and many of its fixtures were still the originals, installed when it was first built, so it was hardly surprising that things broke down on occasion. Even though the various systems had been the very best available at the time, some even enhanced with alien technology, a hundred plus years of daily, and often none too gentle, use was bound to result in a certain amount of wear and tear.
Some things had been updated in the last few decades, mostly in and around the main Hub and Jack’s quarters, but for the most part, everything below level one just kept being repaired over and over again, until it reached the point where fixing it was no longer a viable option. This was partly a case of out of sight out of mind, but also because bringing people with the required skill sets into the Hub meant they had to be retconned every evening until they completed the job, which was a nuisance for everyone concerned.
Still, most of that fuss and bother was now firmly in the past. Since joining the team at Torchwood Three, Ianto had become quite the expert handyman, able to fix just about anything. It was amazing what you could learn from YouTube tutorials; every time anything developed a fault, Ianto simply went online and started researching how to deal with the problem. Then he ordered whatever tools and materials he needed, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
He was so efficient that ninety percent of the time, Jack never even knew there’d been a problem until it came time to pay off the Torchwood credit card. Since that task often fell to Ianto anyway, the Captain got to live in a happy little bubble where the Hub ran like clockwork, everything worked perfectly all the time, and the only problems he had to bother about came from the outside, in the form of Rift Gifts, Weevils, aliens, UNIT, the Cardiff police, and the occasional nosy politician or civil servant.
Today was a different matter.
Jack, as per usual, was up in his office, pretending to do paperwork, and completely oblivious to the drama unfolding somewhere down below, until it occurred to him that it was past lunchtime, no lunch had appeared on his desk, and he couldn’t remember being served his midmorning coffee either. None of this was totally unheard of, because although Ianto was usually the soul of efficiency, there were times when he became so engrossed in reorganising the archives that he lost track of time. Nevertheless, it was usually a good idea to check up on him if he didn’t appear on schedule, just in case there was something untoward happening, so Jack clicked his comms on, knowing Ianto always wore his when belowdecks.
“Ianto! Are you planning on ordering lunch today, or did you go on a no food diet without telling anyone? Not that you need to diet or anything, because obviously you don’t, but…”
He was cut off abruptly by a harassed-sounding Ianto. “Yes, right, sorry. I’m a bit busy down here, so you’ll have to organise your own lunch today. And don’t bother getting anything for me; I won’t have time to eat.”
“I can’t imagine anything in the archives that could require your attention so badly you can’t spare a few minutes for lunch,” Jack chided. “You need to keep your strength up, never know when you might have to save the world.”
“I’m not in the archives, I’m in the locker room. We have a leak, and I need to get it fixed before the lower levels end up flooded.” Jack heard a grunt of effort.
“That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think? The locker room’s tiled, a bit of water isn’t going to harm anything.”
“Just because it’s tiled, doesn’t mean it’s watertight. I was down in my office when water started dripping on my head, which is why I came up here to investigate in the first place” Ianto snapped, exasperated with his lover. “Now I’m paddling in a good six inches, and if it wasn’t for the shower drains, the water would be over the step, out the door, and turning the stairs into an indoor waterfall. I’ve had to shut off all electricity to the lower levels to avoid accidental electrocution, so I’m working by torchlight, and I’d have the water turned off by now if some idiot hadn’t blocked off the bloody stopcock so I can’t get at it!”
Jack didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Oh. So, no lunch?”
“I already told you that! Were you even listening?”
“Of course I was! Um, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Depends. I could use a couple of extra hands, if you’re willing to skip lunch for now, roll up your sleeves, put your wellies on, and help me shift the bloody lockers out the way so I can turn the water off,” Ianto said, panting with exertion.
“Say no more, I’ll be right there. Don’t go away.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. And bring a torch. You’ll need it.”
When Jack arrived at the locker room, he found water pooling outside the door, and as he pushed it open, he saw that Ianto hadn’t been exaggerating. For reasons best know to whoever had designed the Hub, there was a step down into the locker room, which now resembled a paddling pool, a good six inches of inches of water sloshing about as Ianto struggled to move the bank of heavy metal lockers aside, so he could get at the stopcock, located just above floor level in the narrow gap between the end locker and the wall.
Without saying a word, Jack set his torch on a nearby bench, opened the door of the locker furthest from the wall, and started pulling as Ianto braced one foot against the wall and shoved from the other end. Between them, they managed to shift the whole thing far enough that Ianto could reach in and shut the water off. Then it was just a matter of using buckets to bale water into the sinks until the water tank was empty, and the level finally dropped, what was left slowly running away through the shower drains.
The two men stood there, wet and exhausted, panting with exertion, staring at each other in the flickering light of their two torches, Ianto’s balanced on the sinks and Jack’s still on the bench.
“Thanks,” Ianto said when he’d got his breath back.
“Why didn’t you call me for help?”
“Never usually need to,” Ianto admitted. “Something breaks down, I figure out what the problem is, and I fix it.”
“You want me to call a plumber?”
Ianto shook his head. “No need. I have a rough idea of where the leak is, and now the water’s turned off I should be able to fix it. Barring further complications, it should only take a couple of hours.”
“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you take a break? We’ll have lunch, then I’ll come back down here with you and play plumber’s apprentice. You can show me what you’re doing while I hold the torch and pass you your tools.”
For a moment, Jack thought Ianto would refuse, but then he smiled. “Might as well, I could use a break after all that. I just hope nobody needs to use the showers until I get everything fixed and the water turned back on.”
“If they get mucky, they’ll just have to go home and change.” Jack picked up his torch. “Come on, late lunch, coffee, and then we’ll get that leak sorted. And Ianto? Next time someone goes wrong and you need an extra pair of hands, just ask. You don’t have to do everything around here by yourself.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1320
Summary: The Hub is old, and sometimes things break down, but Ianto can usually fix any problems that crop up without needing to bother anyone else. Not this time though.
Spoilers: Nada.
Written For: Challenge 438: Leak at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
The Hub was old, like over a century old, and many of its fixtures were still the originals, installed when it was first built, so it was hardly surprising that things broke down on occasion. Even though the various systems had been the very best available at the time, some even enhanced with alien technology, a hundred plus years of daily, and often none too gentle, use was bound to result in a certain amount of wear and tear.
Some things had been updated in the last few decades, mostly in and around the main Hub and Jack’s quarters, but for the most part, everything below level one just kept being repaired over and over again, until it reached the point where fixing it was no longer a viable option. This was partly a case of out of sight out of mind, but also because bringing people with the required skill sets into the Hub meant they had to be retconned every evening until they completed the job, which was a nuisance for everyone concerned.
Still, most of that fuss and bother was now firmly in the past. Since joining the team at Torchwood Three, Ianto had become quite the expert handyman, able to fix just about anything. It was amazing what you could learn from YouTube tutorials; every time anything developed a fault, Ianto simply went online and started researching how to deal with the problem. Then he ordered whatever tools and materials he needed, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work.
He was so efficient that ninety percent of the time, Jack never even knew there’d been a problem until it came time to pay off the Torchwood credit card. Since that task often fell to Ianto anyway, the Captain got to live in a happy little bubble where the Hub ran like clockwork, everything worked perfectly all the time, and the only problems he had to bother about came from the outside, in the form of Rift Gifts, Weevils, aliens, UNIT, the Cardiff police, and the occasional nosy politician or civil servant.
Today was a different matter.
Jack, as per usual, was up in his office, pretending to do paperwork, and completely oblivious to the drama unfolding somewhere down below, until it occurred to him that it was past lunchtime, no lunch had appeared on his desk, and he couldn’t remember being served his midmorning coffee either. None of this was totally unheard of, because although Ianto was usually the soul of efficiency, there were times when he became so engrossed in reorganising the archives that he lost track of time. Nevertheless, it was usually a good idea to check up on him if he didn’t appear on schedule, just in case there was something untoward happening, so Jack clicked his comms on, knowing Ianto always wore his when belowdecks.
“Ianto! Are you planning on ordering lunch today, or did you go on a no food diet without telling anyone? Not that you need to diet or anything, because obviously you don’t, but…”
He was cut off abruptly by a harassed-sounding Ianto. “Yes, right, sorry. I’m a bit busy down here, so you’ll have to organise your own lunch today. And don’t bother getting anything for me; I won’t have time to eat.”
“I can’t imagine anything in the archives that could require your attention so badly you can’t spare a few minutes for lunch,” Jack chided. “You need to keep your strength up, never know when you might have to save the world.”
“I’m not in the archives, I’m in the locker room. We have a leak, and I need to get it fixed before the lower levels end up flooded.” Jack heard a grunt of effort.
“That’s a bit melodramatic, don’t you think? The locker room’s tiled, a bit of water isn’t going to harm anything.”
“Just because it’s tiled, doesn’t mean it’s watertight. I was down in my office when water started dripping on my head, which is why I came up here to investigate in the first place” Ianto snapped, exasperated with his lover. “Now I’m paddling in a good six inches, and if it wasn’t for the shower drains, the water would be over the step, out the door, and turning the stairs into an indoor waterfall. I’ve had to shut off all electricity to the lower levels to avoid accidental electrocution, so I’m working by torchlight, and I’d have the water turned off by now if some idiot hadn’t blocked off the bloody stopcock so I can’t get at it!”
Jack didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Oh. So, no lunch?”
“I already told you that! Were you even listening?”
“Of course I was! Um, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Depends. I could use a couple of extra hands, if you’re willing to skip lunch for now, roll up your sleeves, put your wellies on, and help me shift the bloody lockers out the way so I can turn the water off,” Ianto said, panting with exertion.
“Say no more, I’ll be right there. Don’t go away.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. And bring a torch. You’ll need it.”
When Jack arrived at the locker room, he found water pooling outside the door, and as he pushed it open, he saw that Ianto hadn’t been exaggerating. For reasons best know to whoever had designed the Hub, there was a step down into the locker room, which now resembled a paddling pool, a good six inches of inches of water sloshing about as Ianto struggled to move the bank of heavy metal lockers aside, so he could get at the stopcock, located just above floor level in the narrow gap between the end locker and the wall.
Without saying a word, Jack set his torch on a nearby bench, opened the door of the locker furthest from the wall, and started pulling as Ianto braced one foot against the wall and shoved from the other end. Between them, they managed to shift the whole thing far enough that Ianto could reach in and shut the water off. Then it was just a matter of using buckets to bale water into the sinks until the water tank was empty, and the level finally dropped, what was left slowly running away through the shower drains.
The two men stood there, wet and exhausted, panting with exertion, staring at each other in the flickering light of their two torches, Ianto’s balanced on the sinks and Jack’s still on the bench.
“Thanks,” Ianto said when he’d got his breath back.
“Why didn’t you call me for help?”
“Never usually need to,” Ianto admitted. “Something breaks down, I figure out what the problem is, and I fix it.”
“You want me to call a plumber?”
Ianto shook his head. “No need. I have a rough idea of where the leak is, and now the water’s turned off I should be able to fix it. Barring further complications, it should only take a couple of hours.”
“Well, if that’s the case, why don’t you take a break? We’ll have lunch, then I’ll come back down here with you and play plumber’s apprentice. You can show me what you’re doing while I hold the torch and pass you your tools.”
For a moment, Jack thought Ianto would refuse, but then he smiled. “Might as well, I could use a break after all that. I just hope nobody needs to use the showers until I get everything fixed and the water turned back on.”
“If they get mucky, they’ll just have to go home and change.” Jack picked up his torch. “Come on, late lunch, coffee, and then we’ll get that leak sorted. And Ianto? Next time someone goes wrong and you need an extra pair of hands, just ask. You don’t have to do everything around here by yourself.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
The End