Resonating Through Time -- Forty Two Ain't Gonna Work This Time
Title: Forty Two Ain't Gonna Work This Time
dwtwprompts prompt: Paternal
Date Written: 4/27/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 1,956
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Doctor, Jack/Ianto, Team Torchwood
Spoilers: Torchwood seasons 1 & 2, Doctor Who Seasons 01-04
Warnings: Angst. Sorry, but it's there.
Author's Notes: Seven's split again. *laughs* But no cliffs. This time. Title's taken from Douglas Adams, one of my favorite sci-fi authors. And a little Who trivia: Did you know that Douglas Adams actually wrote for the old school Doctor Who?
1/9: Salt and Pepper
2/9: That's the Thing About Gloves, Sir
3/9: Leading Back To Rome
4/9: It's So Nice To See That Insanity Translates
5/9: Cariad, Dwi'n Unig
6.1/9: I Can Resist Everything But Temptation
6.2/9 : Are You Sure You Really Want To Do That?
Ianto couldn't sleep.
That in and of itself wasn't surprising. Jack barely slept, something he attributed to his immortality. The few rare times Jack did manage to drift off, they ended up being catnaps, precious times where Ianto was afraid to even breathe, because even that minuscule motion would wake him up.
It would come in convenient, not being able to sleep. He'd be able to catch up on the paperwork he knew was piling up back at the Hub.
He'd lost the escape sleep presented. Over the four years he'd worked for Torchwood, Ianto had trained his psyche to suppress anything while he slept. He'd close his eyes at night, and then open them in the next moment, the hours gone in a flash.
As a result he had few dreams. The ones he had were complete and utter nightmares.
So while Ianto would have loved to just have dropped down into a coma and wake up in a few years, he couldn't. So he did the best thing.
He cleaned.
He cleaned for hours, for days, time slipping off into a quiet, contented blur as he scrubbed the TARDIS from top to bottom and the millions of miles between. He lost ten pounds from not eating, from the constant motion before the Doctor stepped in.
Stepped in with muddy trainers, on the floor he'd just scrubbed on his hands and knees. Ianto frowned and sat back on his heels, looking up at him.
"You know," the Doctor said conversationally, "You're the first human Companion I've had that didn't comment on the TARDIS' dimensions." Susan would have gotten a kick out of everyone's reactions, but she'd have adored Ianto for his lack of one.
"Where do you want to start?"
"Um... the inside's bigger than the outside?"
Ianto reached over to dip the bristle brush into the bucket next to him, warm soapy water flowing over his hand. "I was a researcher for Torchwood One. Things bigger on the inside are all across the universe, sir."
"Ah." The Doctor rocked back and forth on his feet, watching his newest Companion carefully.
"Also, my nephews are big Harry Potter fans, and Rowling's got things bigger on the inside all throughout her books," Ianto continued, shaking the excess water off the brush and going to scrub at the Doctor's muddy footprints.
Ianto blinked as he looked down at his watch, frowning. There was no way it had gotten so late so quickly. Sure, his paperwork had taken longer than he'd expected it to take, but he'd lost about two hours somewhere as he sifted through receipts.
Oh, he was getting old before his time.
"What are you still doing here?"
Ianto turned towards the hidden Hub entrance and gave Jack a tired smile. "Sorry sir, I was just finishing up the expenses," he said, gathering his papers and tucking them away in a manila file.
Jack chuckled knowingly. "Is Owen trying to get his porn written off?" the Captain asked, a fond tone in his voice.
"He tried under 'Entertainment' this time," Ianto replied, ducking behind the beaded curtain to lock the papers up for the night. Jack's laughter floated towards him and Ianto added, "When I told him no, he said it was yours."
The Captain scoffed. "And what did you say to that?"
"Three things, sir." Ianto stepped back into the Information Booth, straightening up. "One, I can go through his browsing history. Two, frankly, the sites he visit are crap and you'd never pay for that quality. And three, your bill would be much, much higher than his."
Jack's roar of laughter gave Ianto enough time to shut his computer down. Ianto looked at his watch again and frowned a little at the time.
"What is it, Ianto?"
"Oh! Oh, it's nothing," Ianto said, shaking his head and smiling. Jack raised an eyebrow and Ianto relented. "I was hoping to stop by the bookstore before I went home and pick up some books for my nephews." He shrugged. "I doubt they're open at one in the morning."
"Safe bet," Jack agreed. He was leaning against the counter now, watching Ianto. "You have three nephews, right?"
"Yes sir, my brother's sons." Ianto smiled proudly. "Eight-year-old triplets."
"Your poor brother."
"They're not all that bad. They're having a bit of trouble in their Welsh lessons, so I thought I'd help them out a bit."
"Oh? Get them some study books or something? Welsh for Dummies? Great presents, I bet you're the favorite uncle," Jack teased.
"Actually, sir, I was planning on buying them the first Harry Potter book," Ianto said, gathering his things for the night.
"I thought that book was standard issue to kids."
"They don't own it in Welsh." Ianto pulled his overcoat on, laughing a little at the incredulous look on Jack's face. "Don't look so surprised, sir, that's how I taught myself French. Douglas Adams," he added for clarification.
"Ahh, a classic."
"If you say so, sir." He touched his pockets, making sure he had his mobile and his keys. "I'm about to lock up for the night. Do you need anything else before I go?"
"Nope." Jack pushed away, letting Ianto pass. "Have a good night."
"And you, sir."
When Ianto came into the Hub the next morning, there were three copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Welsh on his desk.
"Ooh, J. K. Rowling, she would be a dream Companion," the Doctor said, looking upwards and grinning. "Her and Douglas Adams, fantastic man that he was. Then again, they'd probably write all my secrets."
"A true tragedy, sir. They might make up stories about you," Ianto deadpanned, continuing to scrub.
"Adams would probably do a fantastic job, it's old J.K. I'd worry about." The Doctor scratched the underside of his chin. "She might pull that 'epilogue' bit she did in Book Seven."
"What was that all about?" Ianto agreed, sitting back onto his heels to look up at the Time Lord. "If anyone ever needed to define the term phoned in..."
"I know! I told her it was fine without it, but she didn't listen."
Ianto blinked, a little confused at the sudden turn in the conversation. He gave a little head shake. "Why are we discussing Harry Potter?"
"You started it!" the Time Lord protested.
"I'll end it then." Ianto said, bending over to start scrubbing again. "Now if you don't mind, you're tracking mud all over my clean floor."
"It's my floor, technically; I can do what I want."
"You're being rude to the TARDIS," Ianto snapped. "I don't imagine she likes you dirtying her up like that."
"Oh, but she loves the cleaning you're giving her, so it's a necessary evil." He squatted down, pulling the brush from Ianto's hand. "But you need to stop now."
Ianto shook his head, reaching for the brush. "I'll finish up here--"
"No, Ianto. You need to stop now," the Doctor gently repeated, putting the brush into the bucket and pushing it away.
The stress, the worry, the heartbreak was getting to the Welshman. He reached for the bucket again, struggling a little when the Doctor held him back with surprising strength. "Doctor, let me finish--"
"No. Ianto, you're going to kill yourself." The Doctor carefully took Ianto's hands in his. "Look, look at what you're doing to yourself," he said, turning the human's palms up.
Ianto's hands were red and raw, covered in nicks and cuts in various stages of healing. He experimentally flexed his fingers, wincing as the pain suddenly registered in his brain. "Ow."
The Doctor smiled softly and helped him to his feet, resisting the urge to flinch when Ianto's bones cracked in protest. "Come on, let's get you into the infirmary, I'll patch you up."
"You have an infirmary."
"Of course! Now trust me, I'm a Doctor."
Ianto gave him an exasperated look. "The last time a doctor told me that, I nearly got blown up."
"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Ianto asked to no one in particular.
"I need a test subject for the Singularity Scalpel," Owen replied, adjusting the knobs on the side of the alien device. "And you pulled the short straw."
Ianto sighed. His back was to Owen and he was holding his tea tray in front of him as requested, as the others looked on. An empty mug sat on the tray.
"Oh, trust me, tea boy, I'm a doctor!" The device made downright frightening whirling noises, and Ianto almost buckled. "Okay, ready! Hold still now, Ianto," Owen warned as he pulled the trigger.
Three meters to Ianto's left, a jar of formaldehyde exploded, the alien specimen within flopping to the floor with a wet splat.
Ianto turned and threw the tea tray directly at Owen's head.
"Okay, new rule!" Jack called out as Owen proceeded to turn the air blue, rubbing his forehead where the tray smacked him. "No more human test subjects until we absolutely know what we're doing!"
The Doctor had a batch of nanogenes in his infirmary. They tickled a little, making Ianto smile as he watched the minuscule technology flit over his skin.
Toshiko would die if she saw this. Maybe he could talk the Doctor into showing her some of the technology when they went back to Cardiff.
Which reminded him. "Doctor. When are you going to take me back home?"
The Doctor let out a little bit of a pout. "Do you really want to leave so soon? You only got one trip."
"One was plenty."
"Oh, no it wasn't, Ianto Jones," the Doctor said, shaking his head, that wide smile back. "Not nearly enough. You didn't even get to see an alien planet!"
"I think I've had enough."
"Just one more trip," the Doctor urged. "Even if it's just a quick jump over to Jupiter for a look at that storm they've got going."
"No, Doctor. I'd like to just go home. Cardiff, as close to the 21st century as you can get."
"Why not? You've just arrived, there's so much to see! There's a planet called New Wales, it's in the 62nd Century -- "
"Because if I don't leave now, I never will!" Ianto suddenly shouted, interrupting the Doctor mid-sentence. "Because if I stay here any longer than I should, even for just one trip, I won't be able to say good-bye to this, to you, to J--" He cut himself up roughly, shaking his head.
The Doctor moved to sit next to him on the examination table, two pairs of legs dangling off the floor. "You're bound to him, Ianto. You have to face that somehow."
"Can't you fix it?"
So young, so much grief, and he hadn't even died yet. "No. What's done can't be undone. Fact cannot become Unfact."
Ianto laughed bitterly, the edge of hysteria in his voice. "At One, we called you Gandalf," he said, not noticing the Doctor's flinch. "You were magical to us, always coming back different, saving the day before disappearing off again. We thought you could do anything."
The Doctor shook his head. "I have rules. I have to follow them."
They sat in silence for minutes, not looking at each other as the clock on the infirmary wall marked steady time. Finally, the Doctor took a deep breath.
"He loves you."
"I know."
Those two little words were spoken with such genuine, heartfelt pain that they broke the Doctor's hearts into pieces. Someone was hurting, and he couldn't help. Ianto and Jack had to help themselves, and right now, the Doctor could only do one thing.
He reached out and pulled Ianto close, letting the child cry himself to sleep against his shoulder.
ETA: Chapter seven part two here
dwtwprompts prompt: Paternal
Date Written: 4/27/08
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 1,956
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Characters/Pairings: Doctor, Jack/Ianto, Team Torchwood
Spoilers: Torchwood seasons 1 & 2, Doctor Who Seasons 01-04
Warnings: Angst. Sorry, but it's there.
Author's Notes: Seven's split again. *laughs* But no cliffs. This time. Title's taken from Douglas Adams, one of my favorite sci-fi authors. And a little Who trivia: Did you know that Douglas Adams actually wrote for the old school Doctor Who?
1/9: Salt and Pepper
2/9: That's the Thing About Gloves, Sir
3/9: Leading Back To Rome
4/9: It's So Nice To See That Insanity Translates
5/9: Cariad, Dwi'n Unig
6.1/9: I Can Resist Everything But Temptation
6.2/9 : Are You Sure You Really Want To Do That?
Ianto couldn't sleep.
That in and of itself wasn't surprising. Jack barely slept, something he attributed to his immortality. The few rare times Jack did manage to drift off, they ended up being catnaps, precious times where Ianto was afraid to even breathe, because even that minuscule motion would wake him up.
It would come in convenient, not being able to sleep. He'd be able to catch up on the paperwork he knew was piling up back at the Hub.
He'd lost the escape sleep presented. Over the four years he'd worked for Torchwood, Ianto had trained his psyche to suppress anything while he slept. He'd close his eyes at night, and then open them in the next moment, the hours gone in a flash.
As a result he had few dreams. The ones he had were complete and utter nightmares.
So while Ianto would have loved to just have dropped down into a coma and wake up in a few years, he couldn't. So he did the best thing.
He cleaned.
He cleaned for hours, for days, time slipping off into a quiet, contented blur as he scrubbed the TARDIS from top to bottom and the millions of miles between. He lost ten pounds from not eating, from the constant motion before the Doctor stepped in.
Stepped in with muddy trainers, on the floor he'd just scrubbed on his hands and knees. Ianto frowned and sat back on his heels, looking up at him.
"You know," the Doctor said conversationally, "You're the first human Companion I've had that didn't comment on the TARDIS' dimensions." Susan would have gotten a kick out of everyone's reactions, but she'd have adored Ianto for his lack of one.
"Where do you want to start?"
"Um... the inside's bigger than the outside?"
Ianto reached over to dip the bristle brush into the bucket next to him, warm soapy water flowing over his hand. "I was a researcher for Torchwood One. Things bigger on the inside are all across the universe, sir."
"Ah." The Doctor rocked back and forth on his feet, watching his newest Companion carefully.
"Also, my nephews are big Harry Potter fans, and Rowling's got things bigger on the inside all throughout her books," Ianto continued, shaking the excess water off the brush and going to scrub at the Doctor's muddy footprints.
Ianto blinked as he looked down at his watch, frowning. There was no way it had gotten so late so quickly. Sure, his paperwork had taken longer than he'd expected it to take, but he'd lost about two hours somewhere as he sifted through receipts.
Oh, he was getting old before his time.
"What are you still doing here?"
Ianto turned towards the hidden Hub entrance and gave Jack a tired smile. "Sorry sir, I was just finishing up the expenses," he said, gathering his papers and tucking them away in a manila file.
Jack chuckled knowingly. "Is Owen trying to get his porn written off?" the Captain asked, a fond tone in his voice.
"He tried under 'Entertainment' this time," Ianto replied, ducking behind the beaded curtain to lock the papers up for the night. Jack's laughter floated towards him and Ianto added, "When I told him no, he said it was yours."
The Captain scoffed. "And what did you say to that?"
"Three things, sir." Ianto stepped back into the Information Booth, straightening up. "One, I can go through his browsing history. Two, frankly, the sites he visit are crap and you'd never pay for that quality. And three, your bill would be much, much higher than his."
Jack's roar of laughter gave Ianto enough time to shut his computer down. Ianto looked at his watch again and frowned a little at the time.
"What is it, Ianto?"
"Oh! Oh, it's nothing," Ianto said, shaking his head and smiling. Jack raised an eyebrow and Ianto relented. "I was hoping to stop by the bookstore before I went home and pick up some books for my nephews." He shrugged. "I doubt they're open at one in the morning."
"Safe bet," Jack agreed. He was leaning against the counter now, watching Ianto. "You have three nephews, right?"
"Yes sir, my brother's sons." Ianto smiled proudly. "Eight-year-old triplets."
"Your poor brother."
"They're not all that bad. They're having a bit of trouble in their Welsh lessons, so I thought I'd help them out a bit."
"Oh? Get them some study books or something? Welsh for Dummies? Great presents, I bet you're the favorite uncle," Jack teased.
"Actually, sir, I was planning on buying them the first Harry Potter book," Ianto said, gathering his things for the night.
"I thought that book was standard issue to kids."
"They don't own it in Welsh." Ianto pulled his overcoat on, laughing a little at the incredulous look on Jack's face. "Don't look so surprised, sir, that's how I taught myself French. Douglas Adams," he added for clarification.
"Ahh, a classic."
"If you say so, sir." He touched his pockets, making sure he had his mobile and his keys. "I'm about to lock up for the night. Do you need anything else before I go?"
"Nope." Jack pushed away, letting Ianto pass. "Have a good night."
"And you, sir."
When Ianto came into the Hub the next morning, there were three copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Welsh on his desk.
"Ooh, J. K. Rowling, she would be a dream Companion," the Doctor said, looking upwards and grinning. "Her and Douglas Adams, fantastic man that he was. Then again, they'd probably write all my secrets."
"A true tragedy, sir. They might make up stories about you," Ianto deadpanned, continuing to scrub.
"Adams would probably do a fantastic job, it's old J.K. I'd worry about." The Doctor scratched the underside of his chin. "She might pull that 'epilogue' bit she did in Book Seven."
"What was that all about?" Ianto agreed, sitting back onto his heels to look up at the Time Lord. "If anyone ever needed to define the term phoned in..."
"I know! I told her it was fine without it, but she didn't listen."
Ianto blinked, a little confused at the sudden turn in the conversation. He gave a little head shake. "Why are we discussing Harry Potter?"
"You started it!" the Time Lord protested.
"I'll end it then." Ianto said, bending over to start scrubbing again. "Now if you don't mind, you're tracking mud all over my clean floor."
"It's my floor, technically; I can do what I want."
"You're being rude to the TARDIS," Ianto snapped. "I don't imagine she likes you dirtying her up like that."
"Oh, but she loves the cleaning you're giving her, so it's a necessary evil." He squatted down, pulling the brush from Ianto's hand. "But you need to stop now."
Ianto shook his head, reaching for the brush. "I'll finish up here--"
"No, Ianto. You need to stop now," the Doctor gently repeated, putting the brush into the bucket and pushing it away.
The stress, the worry, the heartbreak was getting to the Welshman. He reached for the bucket again, struggling a little when the Doctor held him back with surprising strength. "Doctor, let me finish--"
"No. Ianto, you're going to kill yourself." The Doctor carefully took Ianto's hands in his. "Look, look at what you're doing to yourself," he said, turning the human's palms up.
Ianto's hands were red and raw, covered in nicks and cuts in various stages of healing. He experimentally flexed his fingers, wincing as the pain suddenly registered in his brain. "Ow."
The Doctor smiled softly and helped him to his feet, resisting the urge to flinch when Ianto's bones cracked in protest. "Come on, let's get you into the infirmary, I'll patch you up."
"You have an infirmary."
"Of course! Now trust me, I'm a Doctor."
Ianto gave him an exasperated look. "The last time a doctor told me that, I nearly got blown up."
"Remind me why I'm doing this again?" Ianto asked to no one in particular.
"I need a test subject for the Singularity Scalpel," Owen replied, adjusting the knobs on the side of the alien device. "And you pulled the short straw."
Ianto sighed. His back was to Owen and he was holding his tea tray in front of him as requested, as the others looked on. An empty mug sat on the tray.
"Oh, trust me, tea boy, I'm a doctor!" The device made downright frightening whirling noises, and Ianto almost buckled. "Okay, ready! Hold still now, Ianto," Owen warned as he pulled the trigger.
Three meters to Ianto's left, a jar of formaldehyde exploded, the alien specimen within flopping to the floor with a wet splat.
Ianto turned and threw the tea tray directly at Owen's head.
"Okay, new rule!" Jack called out as Owen proceeded to turn the air blue, rubbing his forehead where the tray smacked him. "No more human test subjects until we absolutely know what we're doing!"
The Doctor had a batch of nanogenes in his infirmary. They tickled a little, making Ianto smile as he watched the minuscule technology flit over his skin.
Toshiko would die if she saw this. Maybe he could talk the Doctor into showing her some of the technology when they went back to Cardiff.
Which reminded him. "Doctor. When are you going to take me back home?"
The Doctor let out a little bit of a pout. "Do you really want to leave so soon? You only got one trip."
"One was plenty."
"Oh, no it wasn't, Ianto Jones," the Doctor said, shaking his head, that wide smile back. "Not nearly enough. You didn't even get to see an alien planet!"
"I think I've had enough."
"Just one more trip," the Doctor urged. "Even if it's just a quick jump over to Jupiter for a look at that storm they've got going."
"No, Doctor. I'd like to just go home. Cardiff, as close to the 21st century as you can get."
"Why not? You've just arrived, there's so much to see! There's a planet called New Wales, it's in the 62nd Century -- "
"Because if I don't leave now, I never will!" Ianto suddenly shouted, interrupting the Doctor mid-sentence. "Because if I stay here any longer than I should, even for just one trip, I won't be able to say good-bye to this, to you, to J--" He cut himself up roughly, shaking his head.
The Doctor moved to sit next to him on the examination table, two pairs of legs dangling off the floor. "You're bound to him, Ianto. You have to face that somehow."
"Can't you fix it?"
So young, so much grief, and he hadn't even died yet. "No. What's done can't be undone. Fact cannot become Unfact."
Ianto laughed bitterly, the edge of hysteria in his voice. "At One, we called you Gandalf," he said, not noticing the Doctor's flinch. "You were magical to us, always coming back different, saving the day before disappearing off again. We thought you could do anything."
The Doctor shook his head. "I have rules. I have to follow them."
They sat in silence for minutes, not looking at each other as the clock on the infirmary wall marked steady time. Finally, the Doctor took a deep breath.
"He loves you."
"I know."
Those two little words were spoken with such genuine, heartfelt pain that they broke the Doctor's hearts into pieces. Someone was hurting, and he couldn't help. Ianto and Jack had to help themselves, and right now, the Doctor could only do one thing.
He reached out and pulled Ianto close, letting the child cry himself to sleep against his shoulder.
ETA: Chapter seven part two here