Prompt Fic - Agency Blues - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Clipped
Vargus 9 is like no other planet Ianto had ever seen, not that he’d seen many, but there was something about the planet, underneath the destruction, that you could tell the world had been one of the most beautiful places.
He was attached to Tosh’s team; Tosh, two graduates and another student, a third year, making up the rest of the team.
“Alright, Ianto, stick close to me,” Tosh said, as they walked over the rubble. “We need to make it to the archives. The base’s archives were apparently four floors below the ground. We’re going to have to look for the stairs, see if we can make our way down that way.”
Their job was to collect any objects that the Agency deemed ‘important’ and also try to figure out exactly what had happened in their region. The Agency knew the basics, but there didn’t seem to be any sense to the attack.
It took them a long time to find the stairs, and even longer to make it down them, the attack having caused debris to fall and block the way. The floor where the archives were was surprisingly intact, and Ianto looked around in wonder at the cabinets and files.
They spent the whole day going through the different relics and files, and Ianto was relieved to not come into contact with the Cybermen that were supposedly still on the planet.
Tosh finally called it a day when one of the Archivists almost blew the floor up after accidentally rubbing a necklace.
“We’ll start the same time tomorrow, people,” she called, as they made their way back to camp. Walking along and talking to the others, Ianto found himself trailing off, as a pit settled in his stomach, feeling like something bad was about to happen.
Everything seemed to slow down, as shots took out the two people in front of him. Reacting on instinct, Ianto pushed Tosh down, looking up as the man next to him also fell.
Rolling off to the side, he pulled his phaser out of his belt, glad that he had clipped it on before he had left that morning, and fired as the two Cyrbermen came into view. Next to him, Tosh was also firing.
“Tosh,” he called, the alien he was firing on moving closer, making him back track. He kept one eye on Tosh, as she kept firing, not hearing him, a smile crossing her face as she took the Cyberman out, and the other on his Cyberman, still firing, hoping that the thing would fall soon.
He cried out as the Cyberman’s shot clipped his leg, stumbling and falling to the ground. Taking a deep breath, he fired again, relief rushing through him as the other fell to the ground.
Standing up gingerly, he grimaced as he put pressure on his leg.
“Ianto,” Tosh said, running up to him, putting her arm around him. “Are you okay?”
“It clipped my leg,” he said, trying to ignore the pain.
“Toshiko?” a familiar voice called.
Looking up, Ianto’s eyes briefly met with Jack’s, taking in how good the man looked in his uniform, before looking at the four men standing behind him, guns in hands.
“Are you two okay?” Jack asked, eyes flitting between Tosh and him, resting on his leg, a look of worry crossing his face.
“Fine, Jack,” Tosh replied. “Ianto got clipped though.”
“I’ve got him,” Jack said, moving forward and taking Tosh’s place, his hand resting warmly on his hip, sending a thrill through Ianto, his heart beating a little faster. Tosh stared at him and Jack, eyes narrowed, before she turned away.
He tried to ignore the heat coming from the other man, Jack’s scent surrounding him, as they moved slowly back towards base camp.
“So,” Jack started nervously, fingers caressing his hip soothingly. “… how’s your first day been?”
“You mean apart from the shooting?” he joked, sending a smile Jack’s way so that he knew he was kidding.
“I-”
“Heard there was a shooting, thought we’d come and make sure everything was okay,” Hart said, cutting off whatever Jack had been about to say.
“John,” Jack replied, glaring at the other man.
“Jack,” John said, smirk on his face as he moved to Ianto’s other side, brushing Jack’s hand away and putting his arm around Ianto, fingers brushing lightly over his back. Jack rolled his eyes and put his arm back, fingers pulling Ianto a little closer to him.
Rolling his eyes, Ianto was glad to see they were almost back to camp. His eyes met Tosh’s, who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised in question. He sighed and tried to walk faster, gritting his teeth as the pain ran up his leg.
“Okay,” Tosh said, standing in front of them. “Jones needs medical attention, so if you two gentlemen would mind going and doing whatever it is you’re here to do. I’ll take him to where he needs to go.”
“But-” Jack started to say.
“Why-” John said at the same time.
“No,” Tosh replied, holding her hand up to stop the other two, a dangerous glint to her eye. “You two are leaving. Go!”
Ianto tried not to smile as the two men let him go, both walking away with reluctance.
“I’ve got to admit,” Tosh said quietly to him. “They are kind of cute.”
Ianto couldn’t help but smile at that, grin spreading across his face.
**
Walking into his tent after seeing the medical team and having a long de-brief session; Ianto froze as he took in the man sitting on his bed.
“Hello, Ianto.”
Taking a deep breath, Ianto looked out behind him, before walking further into the tent, and toward the man he still wasn’t sure about.
“What do you want, Jack?” he asked, pulling off his vest, and giving a small groan at the soreness in his arms.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Jack replied, standing up and taking a step towards him.
“I’m fine,” he said, running a hand through his dirty hair. “They patched my leg up, so I’m fine. Really.”
Jack gave him a small grin when he looked up, eyes flicking down to his leg before looking back up at him.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Jack said, sincerity in his tone, before a nervous look crossed his face, as he looked around. “You know, there’s something about tents. I always get excited in these places. There’s something erotic about them: young soldiers, forbidden love, cooks putting who knows what in your food. Well, maybe not the cooks so much …”
“Jack,” Ianto said, fighting to stay awake. “What are you doing here?”
“I guess … I was just wondering … maybe we could, when this is all done … dinner, a movie-”
“-a-are you asking me out on a date?” Ianto asked, interrupting Jack, feeling himself wake up a little as shock ran through his system.
“Interested?” Jack asked, a flash of doubt crossing his face.
“Well,” Ianto replied, feeling flabbergasted, “as long as it’s not in a tent.”
“Was that a yes?” Jack asked, walking towards him. Nodding, Ianto looked around the tent, before letting his eyes be drawn back to the other man.
“Yes,” he said quietly, before clearing his throat. “Yes.”
Jack’s face broke into his usual cheeky grin, the sight of it making Ianto’s heart turn over, before the other man brushed past him to the tent entrance. Ianto saw him look back at him once more before leaving the tent, and leaving Ianto feeling better than he had in days.
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