Point Blank Range
Title: Point Blank Range
Author: sanginmychains
Rating: M for bad language
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Post ep 2.04, "Meat." Gwen accused her coworkers of not being able to understand her pain because they don't have anyone on the outside. Jack lets her know what it's like to have someone on the inside. (Um...that wasn't supposed to be smutty).
Author Notes: ORIGINAL NOTE: This one is a bit angsty, it's complete, it's about 900 words, and it involves a bit of hanging Gwen out to dry, but honestly her self-absorbed histrionics deserved it in this case.
NEW NOTE: I'm embarrassed that this is still on my LJ, because it was one of the first things I wrote (3rd or 4th thing, I think), and I cringe to read it now -- it's self-indulgent and badly OOC. But, live and learn. I'm leaving it here because I think it's good for a writer to show her early, silly pieces. Hopefully it gives hope to other writers who are currently writing kinda bad stuff.
"For all intents and purposes, I saw him die, and then I sent him back to war again."
***
Gwen arrived back at the Hub at 9am, as she had been ordered. As the cog door noisily rolled back, Jack came out onto his perch.
"Gwen. My office!" The command required no answer and allowed no delay.
The others exchanged looks as Gwen's face set itself into the same belligerent look she had left with last night, and she walked up the stairs.
"Ianto?" Tosh didn't finish the question.
"Don't know. Jack seemed pretty worked up last night, though. I doubt he's let it go." He certainly gave me a working-over, Ianto didn't add out loud. Not altogether unpleasant. Didn't actually talk to me, of course, he thought with some renewed frustration.
"Yeah, that didn't look like it was over last night, did it?" Owen observed from the hallway.
****
When Gwen walked in, Jack was sitting behind his desk with is fingers tented.
"Look, Jack, I wanted to say that I'm sorry if I stepped over the line."
Jack cut her off with an upheld hand. "Stop Gwen. I heard you last night. Man you love, in danger, desperate need to protect him, hard to carry your burdens alone, etc."
"You have no idea how hard it's been to lie to him all this time! The things we see, the things we do -- it's too much." Gwen fixed him with a pleading look.
"Yeah I heard you. Heard it all. And it's not entirely untrue -- relationships with outsiders are very difficult for Torchwood employees. You're something of a pioneer here."
"That's all I meant, I want some consideration for what I have to go through. You said it, it's a burden -- doing this job and maintaining an outside relationship. Rhys isn't just anyone, he isn't like one of Owen's casual shags, he's my fiancee. You don't get to have that kind of a relationship if you lie, hide, and lie some more. You keep telling me to have my outside life -- this is the price."
"Stop. I get it. And I can live with the idea that Rhys won't be drugged to forget. That's not even about this. But what I can't live with anymore is your attitude. This morning, you are going to listen to me. I understand your position, but you have got to drop this 'poor misunderstood emotional me' crap." Jack stood up, his volume rising.
"Well that's not exactly what I meant, I only said that none of you have anyone on the outside, so you can't quite get what I -- "
Jack walked closer to her, his eyes fixed on hers. "Yeah, on the outside. But what about those of us with someone on the inside?"
Gwen didn't try to answer. She looked a bit as if she were trying to determine whether a small bug might have flown into her mouth.
Jack jumped into the silence. "What about me? What about what I went through yesterday?"
"Jack, I know you care about us all, but it's not the --"
Jack waved his hands to get her attention, and his volume rose considerably. "Stop! You are not hearing me. Pay attention." He put his hands in his pockets, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Do you realize what I -- I watched a stupid, vicious, viper of a man hold a gun to his head, Gwen. Point a gun at his face, and I saw the finger pull the trigger. I've seen men die. I've seen them die in every way, and I have seen hundreds die that way -- gunshot, point blank range, to the face. Have you see that?"
He looked into the middle distance, face tortured with the image he hadn't been able to shake since that moment. "For a moment yesterday, I saw it -- I saw him, dead, shot in the face. I saw the ruined face, the blown out head. Blood, skull, and brain matter in a spray, and a limp body above. It looks like a gruesome exclamation mark, and I saw it happen to my Ianto."
Gwen gave a little frown, and her eyes widened as the penny dropped.
"Jack, I didn't realize -- "
"Shut. Up. I saw that. And then I realized that I'd heard a click, not a bang. The gun had jammed." He gave a slightly hysterical chuckle at that bit of black comedy.
Surprised, Gwen tried to recover by using her fall back position: empathy. "What a relief it must have been, I -- "
Jack stood up to his full height, and approached Gwen. "Will. You. Shut. THE FUCK UP! Then, then I had to order him to chase the man who nearly killed him, because The Mission still had to be accomplished. No time for a cuddle, not even a moment for a MOTHERFUCKING SMILE, because there was a job to be done, and I was The Captain."
Outside, the others heard only clipped words, mostly out of context: "hold a gun to his head...dead, shot in the face...gun had jammed...the Mission...no time"
The words no one had missed: "saw it happen to my Ianto"
Tosh's head snapped up to Jack's office and then over to Ianto, in a comic double-take. Owen's eyes rolled ostentatiously, but he muttered a quiet "well that's out, then."
Ianto, for his part, coloured a deep purple, and studiously kept his eyes on the computer screen he was pretending to work on.
And then, Jack's voice rose to a full-throated shout, fully audible to everyone in the Hub. "Get this, you self-absorbed child. Please let it sink in. For all intents and purposes, I saw him die, and then I had to decide to send him back to war again. And you think YOU have it hard?"
His voice lowered down again, and he glared coldly at Gwen, who was looking up at him through her eyelashes like a chastened child. "So keep your Rhys, let him keep his memories, and go about your job. But always know that you have the better deal here -- you watched him nearly die once, in a fluke coincidence where he was briefly working with us. Me -- I get to watch Ianto nearly die all the time, and I get to be the one that sends him to do it. Now go and do your job, and FUCKING FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR AWHILE."
Gwen rushed out of Jack's office, and the others made a sham of pretending not to have noticed the drama.
Later on that day, Owen brought Tosh a cup of tea.
Later on still, Ianto pulled Jack by the hand down a quiet hallway and kissed him breathless.
THE END
Author: sanginmychains
Rating: M for bad language
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Post ep 2.04, "Meat." Gwen accused her coworkers of not being able to understand her pain because they don't have anyone on the outside. Jack lets her know what it's like to have someone on the inside. (Um...that wasn't supposed to be smutty).
Author Notes: ORIGINAL NOTE: This one is a bit angsty, it's complete, it's about 900 words, and it involves a bit of hanging Gwen out to dry, but honestly her self-absorbed histrionics deserved it in this case.
NEW NOTE: I'm embarrassed that this is still on my LJ, because it was one of the first things I wrote (3rd or 4th thing, I think), and I cringe to read it now -- it's self-indulgent and badly OOC. But, live and learn. I'm leaving it here because I think it's good for a writer to show her early, silly pieces. Hopefully it gives hope to other writers who are currently writing kinda bad stuff.
"For all intents and purposes, I saw him die, and then I sent him back to war again."
***
Gwen arrived back at the Hub at 9am, as she had been ordered. As the cog door noisily rolled back, Jack came out onto his perch.
"Gwen. My office!" The command required no answer and allowed no delay.
The others exchanged looks as Gwen's face set itself into the same belligerent look she had left with last night, and she walked up the stairs.
"Ianto?" Tosh didn't finish the question.
"Don't know. Jack seemed pretty worked up last night, though. I doubt he's let it go." He certainly gave me a working-over, Ianto didn't add out loud. Not altogether unpleasant. Didn't actually talk to me, of course, he thought with some renewed frustration.
"Yeah, that didn't look like it was over last night, did it?" Owen observed from the hallway.
****
When Gwen walked in, Jack was sitting behind his desk with is fingers tented.
"Look, Jack, I wanted to say that I'm sorry if I stepped over the line."
Jack cut her off with an upheld hand. "Stop Gwen. I heard you last night. Man you love, in danger, desperate need to protect him, hard to carry your burdens alone, etc."
"You have no idea how hard it's been to lie to him all this time! The things we see, the things we do -- it's too much." Gwen fixed him with a pleading look.
"Yeah I heard you. Heard it all. And it's not entirely untrue -- relationships with outsiders are very difficult for Torchwood employees. You're something of a pioneer here."
"That's all I meant, I want some consideration for what I have to go through. You said it, it's a burden -- doing this job and maintaining an outside relationship. Rhys isn't just anyone, he isn't like one of Owen's casual shags, he's my fiancee. You don't get to have that kind of a relationship if you lie, hide, and lie some more. You keep telling me to have my outside life -- this is the price."
"Stop. I get it. And I can live with the idea that Rhys won't be drugged to forget. That's not even about this. But what I can't live with anymore is your attitude. This morning, you are going to listen to me. I understand your position, but you have got to drop this 'poor misunderstood emotional me' crap." Jack stood up, his volume rising.
"Well that's not exactly what I meant, I only said that none of you have anyone on the outside, so you can't quite get what I -- "
Jack walked closer to her, his eyes fixed on hers. "Yeah, on the outside. But what about those of us with someone on the inside?"
Gwen didn't try to answer. She looked a bit as if she were trying to determine whether a small bug might have flown into her mouth.
Jack jumped into the silence. "What about me? What about what I went through yesterday?"
"Jack, I know you care about us all, but it's not the --"
Jack waved his hands to get her attention, and his volume rose considerably. "Stop! You are not hearing me. Pay attention." He put his hands in his pockets, and looked up at the ceiling.
"Do you realize what I -- I watched a stupid, vicious, viper of a man hold a gun to his head, Gwen. Point a gun at his face, and I saw the finger pull the trigger. I've seen men die. I've seen them die in every way, and I have seen hundreds die that way -- gunshot, point blank range, to the face. Have you see that?"
He looked into the middle distance, face tortured with the image he hadn't been able to shake since that moment. "For a moment yesterday, I saw it -- I saw him, dead, shot in the face. I saw the ruined face, the blown out head. Blood, skull, and brain matter in a spray, and a limp body above. It looks like a gruesome exclamation mark, and I saw it happen to my Ianto."
Gwen gave a little frown, and her eyes widened as the penny dropped.
"Jack, I didn't realize -- "
"Shut. Up. I saw that. And then I realized that I'd heard a click, not a bang. The gun had jammed." He gave a slightly hysterical chuckle at that bit of black comedy.
Surprised, Gwen tried to recover by using her fall back position: empathy. "What a relief it must have been, I -- "
Jack stood up to his full height, and approached Gwen. "Will. You. Shut. THE FUCK UP! Then, then I had to order him to chase the man who nearly killed him, because The Mission still had to be accomplished. No time for a cuddle, not even a moment for a MOTHERFUCKING SMILE, because there was a job to be done, and I was The Captain."
Outside, the others heard only clipped words, mostly out of context: "hold a gun to his head...dead, shot in the face...gun had jammed...the Mission...no time"
The words no one had missed: "saw it happen to my Ianto"
Tosh's head snapped up to Jack's office and then over to Ianto, in a comic double-take. Owen's eyes rolled ostentatiously, but he muttered a quiet "well that's out, then."
Ianto, for his part, coloured a deep purple, and studiously kept his eyes on the computer screen he was pretending to work on.
And then, Jack's voice rose to a full-throated shout, fully audible to everyone in the Hub. "Get this, you self-absorbed child. Please let it sink in. For all intents and purposes, I saw him die, and then I had to decide to send him back to war again. And you think YOU have it hard?"
His voice lowered down again, and he glared coldly at Gwen, who was looking up at him through her eyelashes like a chastened child. "So keep your Rhys, let him keep his memories, and go about your job. But always know that you have the better deal here -- you watched him nearly die once, in a fluke coincidence where he was briefly working with us. Me -- I get to watch Ianto nearly die all the time, and I get to be the one that sends him to do it. Now go and do your job, and FUCKING FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF SOMEWHERE ELSE FOR AWHILE."
Gwen rushed out of Jack's office, and the others made a sham of pretending not to have noticed the drama.
Later on that day, Owen brought Tosh a cup of tea.
Later on still, Ianto pulled Jack by the hand down a quiet hallway and kissed him breathless.
THE END