Turning Point - 44/64
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 Forty-Four
“Ianto…”
Ianto sighed and put down the folder he was sorting. Jack had that slightly wheedling tone in his voice that told Ianto he was probably about to ask the semi-impossible of him. He tapped his comm. unit. “Yes, Jack?”
“When you tidied up and reorganised everything last month, where did you put the basketball?”
Ianto blinked in the dull lighting of the archives. “The basketball?” He wasn’t sure he even remembered finding a basketball, let alone where he had put it. He was even less sure about why Jack might possibly be looking for one.
“Yes, Ianto, the basketball.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t rem…” Oh, but now that he thought about it. “Actually, no, I do remember. It’s in the back of the stationery cupboard, along with various other miscellanies that didn’t have anywhere better to go.”
“Brilliant.” Ianto could hear the grin in Jack’s voice, even over the comms. “You should come up and join us, by the way, Ianto.”
“Join you in…?” Ianto wasn’t sure he wanted to know what sort of research they were doing that involved a basketball.
“What do you think?” Jack asked. “A game of basketball.”
“A game of basketball,” Ianto repeated slowly, wanting to make quite sure that he had heard correctly.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “It’s been so quiet all day; I thought we could do with a bit of fun. And we haven’t had a game of Hub basketball in a really long time.”
That much was true, as - unless they’d indulged in a game or two while he was in hospital and then recuperating at home, which he doubted - there hadn’t been a game in the six months he’d been there.
“No thanks,” Ianto said firmly, remembering with a wince a painful incident that had occurred while he had been playing basketball in a PE lesson at school in his very early teens. “I think I might just finish up down here.”
“Oh come on…” Jack’s pout was audible. “The archives will still be there tomorrow. Come on up and join in.” He paused. “For me?”
Ianto sighed and wondered, dismayed, if he was starting to turn into a bit of a pushover. “Oh, all right, I’ll come up,” he said. “But…” He forestalled Jack’s crow of celebration. “I’m not going to actually play. For one, that would make us an odd number and that’s not going to be fair. And two, I nearly broke my hand playing basketball at school; I’m not exactly desperate for a repeat performance.”
“Fine, okay, you may have a point,” Jack admitted. “Just get yourself up here - no saying ‘just one more folder’ and hiding down there for another hour.”
Ianto shook his head, despite the fact there was no one but him there to see it. “I’ll be right up.”
The game was already underway when he reached the main Hub floor. Well, the ball was being thrown around and there was a lot of yelling, so he assumed it was a game. He wondered briefly how he had managed to miss the fact that there was a basketball hoop mounted high on the wall near the door. It wasn’t an area of the Hub he’d ever consciously looked closely at, but he thought he knew the place pretty well.
“Over here!”
“Oi!”
“To me!”
“No!”
It took several minutes of watching the energetic chaos in front of him before he even managed to figure out that there were in fact teams - Gwen and Owen against Jack and Tosh. Even if it did appear to be every man for himself at first.
Dropping to the stairs leading up to the office area, he grinned to himself as the others broke almost every rule in the book, bumping, shoving and blatantly grabbing the ball from each other’s hands.
By the time he saw it coming, he didn’t have time to twist away. The recipient of an enthusiastic nudge from Gwen as she wrested the ball from him, Jack fell over his own feet and toppled straight into Ianto’s lap.
Ianto took a second to catch his breath, winded a little from the impact. Jack didn’t shift off immediately, and it wasn’t until Tosh cried his name loudly in protest that Ianto realised how distracted he had become with Jack in his personal space.
He looked over just in time to see Gwen catch the basketball under the net.
“Ianto! You’re impartial; tell me that point is disallowed!” Tosh called out. “It’s clearly cheating to go for the net when your team-mate just shoved your opponent to the floor!”
Ianto pushed gently at Jack, who slid to the floor beside his feet. “Technically, yes it’s cheating.”
Tosh pointed at Owen. “See?”
“But,” Ianto continued, “so was most of what was going on before that. You were all cheating shamelessly.”
“I don’t think we were cheating,” Gwen said. “Not really.”
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t in the rules. In my book, that counts as cheating.”
“And I’m the only one who’s allowed to cheat at Hub games,” Jack interjected, climbing to his feet.
“Who made that rule up?” Owen asked, taking the ball from Gwen.
“I did,” Jack told them all, grinning widely. “And, since I’m the boss, what I say goes.”
He offered Ianto a hand up, holding the other one out for the ball.
“And right now, I say it’s long past time we all took our new colleague out for a drink.”
“Are you buying then?” Owen asked, smirking. Ianto saw what was about to happen and grabbed the basketball from Jack before he could toss it at Owen’s head. He knew from experience quite how much damage one of those things could do - they were far from light.
“Actually, Owen,” Jack said, “just for that, you’re buying.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Author's Note 2: Ianto's 'painful incident' involving basketball at school is loosely based on my own, except I actually DID break a finger. I haven't played it since. (Even at school they let me skip it every year afterwards.)
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 Forty-Four
“Ianto…”
Ianto sighed and put down the folder he was sorting. Jack had that slightly wheedling tone in his voice that told Ianto he was probably about to ask the semi-impossible of him. He tapped his comm. unit. “Yes, Jack?”
“When you tidied up and reorganised everything last month, where did you put the basketball?”
Ianto blinked in the dull lighting of the archives. “The basketball?” He wasn’t sure he even remembered finding a basketball, let alone where he had put it. He was even less sure about why Jack might possibly be looking for one.
“Yes, Ianto, the basketball.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t rem…” Oh, but now that he thought about it. “Actually, no, I do remember. It’s in the back of the stationery cupboard, along with various other miscellanies that didn’t have anywhere better to go.”
“Brilliant.” Ianto could hear the grin in Jack’s voice, even over the comms. “You should come up and join us, by the way, Ianto.”
“Join you in…?” Ianto wasn’t sure he wanted to know what sort of research they were doing that involved a basketball.
“What do you think?” Jack asked. “A game of basketball.”
“A game of basketball,” Ianto repeated slowly, wanting to make quite sure that he had heard correctly.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “It’s been so quiet all day; I thought we could do with a bit of fun. And we haven’t had a game of Hub basketball in a really long time.”
That much was true, as - unless they’d indulged in a game or two while he was in hospital and then recuperating at home, which he doubted - there hadn’t been a game in the six months he’d been there.
“No thanks,” Ianto said firmly, remembering with a wince a painful incident that had occurred while he had been playing basketball in a PE lesson at school in his very early teens. “I think I might just finish up down here.”
“Oh come on…” Jack’s pout was audible. “The archives will still be there tomorrow. Come on up and join in.” He paused. “For me?”
Ianto sighed and wondered, dismayed, if he was starting to turn into a bit of a pushover. “Oh, all right, I’ll come up,” he said. “But…” He forestalled Jack’s crow of celebration. “I’m not going to actually play. For one, that would make us an odd number and that’s not going to be fair. And two, I nearly broke my hand playing basketball at school; I’m not exactly desperate for a repeat performance.”
“Fine, okay, you may have a point,” Jack admitted. “Just get yourself up here - no saying ‘just one more folder’ and hiding down there for another hour.”
Ianto shook his head, despite the fact there was no one but him there to see it. “I’ll be right up.”
The game was already underway when he reached the main Hub floor. Well, the ball was being thrown around and there was a lot of yelling, so he assumed it was a game. He wondered briefly how he had managed to miss the fact that there was a basketball hoop mounted high on the wall near the door. It wasn’t an area of the Hub he’d ever consciously looked closely at, but he thought he knew the place pretty well.
“Over here!”
“Oi!”
“To me!”
“No!”
It took several minutes of watching the energetic chaos in front of him before he even managed to figure out that there were in fact teams - Gwen and Owen against Jack and Tosh. Even if it did appear to be every man for himself at first.
Dropping to the stairs leading up to the office area, he grinned to himself as the others broke almost every rule in the book, bumping, shoving and blatantly grabbing the ball from each other’s hands.
By the time he saw it coming, he didn’t have time to twist away. The recipient of an enthusiastic nudge from Gwen as she wrested the ball from him, Jack fell over his own feet and toppled straight into Ianto’s lap.
Ianto took a second to catch his breath, winded a little from the impact. Jack didn’t shift off immediately, and it wasn’t until Tosh cried his name loudly in protest that Ianto realised how distracted he had become with Jack in his personal space.
He looked over just in time to see Gwen catch the basketball under the net.
“Ianto! You’re impartial; tell me that point is disallowed!” Tosh called out. “It’s clearly cheating to go for the net when your team-mate just shoved your opponent to the floor!”
Ianto pushed gently at Jack, who slid to the floor beside his feet. “Technically, yes it’s cheating.”
Tosh pointed at Owen. “See?”
“But,” Ianto continued, “so was most of what was going on before that. You were all cheating shamelessly.”
“I don’t think we were cheating,” Gwen said. “Not really.”
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t in the rules. In my book, that counts as cheating.”
“And I’m the only one who’s allowed to cheat at Hub games,” Jack interjected, climbing to his feet.
“Who made that rule up?” Owen asked, taking the ball from Gwen.
“I did,” Jack told them all, grinning widely. “And, since I’m the boss, what I say goes.”
He offered Ianto a hand up, holding the other one out for the ball.
“And right now, I say it’s long past time we all took our new colleague out for a drink.”
“Are you buying then?” Owen asked, smirking. Ianto saw what was about to happen and grabbed the basketball from Jack before he could toss it at Owen’s head. He knew from experience quite how much damage one of those things could do - they were far from light.
“Actually, Owen,” Jack said, “just for that, you’re buying.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Author's Note 2: Ianto's 'painful incident' involving basketball at school is loosely based on my own, except I actually DID break a finger. I haven't played it since. (Even at school they let me skip it every year afterwards.)
Comments and concrit are loved!