(no subject)
Title: All The Best Stories Start With A Death
Author: phaetonschariot
Recipient: cruentum
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13, mild violence
Summary: Certain things just don't go together, like ice cream and ketchup, like Torchwood and parenting.
Jack inhaled sharply, oxygen flooding lungs gone lousy with CO2, and realised that he was was no longer lying on concrete. At least, part of him was, but then his back angled up awkwardly to get his upper torso to a place where it could be wrapped up in strong arms, his head cradled against a shoulder as he breathed heavily, blood moving sluggishly but picking up speed again.
There'd been Weevils, he remembered suddenly. Two of them - he'd just got one sedated when the other got a good slash in across his gut. Dying had taken just enough time for a hand to go instinctively to the wound, feel the slide of his intestines while blood poured out of him, and he felt dizzy now when he sat up and twisted to see where they'd gone to. The Weevils, that was, not his intestines - he felt fairly sure that his intestines were safely back where they belong, curled up behind his abdominal muscles like a sleeping cat.
Both of them (the Weevils) were on the ground, dead, with what looked like half a clip to the head each. He wasn't sure if that was efficiency or overkill.
"Careful," Ianto cautioned, and Jack realised that he'd known it was him even before he'd opened his eyes. He forced himself to relax, leaning back against him now he was reassured the danger was past. He could get a better bearing on his surroundings now - Ianto hadn't moved him from where he'd fallen in the alley, but the space around him was clear of trash, and Ianto's Audi was parked - badly, he noted with amusement - on the corner of the street. The SUV was a good block and a half away, he recalled, and he'd come alone. Ianto must have driven from home.
He frowned, taking another look at the car, and found his suspicions confirmed when he spotted a small white face pressed to the back passenger window. "You brought Chie?" he asked, and wanted to cringe at the dismay that he heard creeping into his voice.
"I was hoping to drive by a short notice alien baby-sitting service, but nothing was open. I could hardly leave her alone."
Even still half-snagged on a death, Jack could hear the censure in Ianto's tone that told him exactly what he was thinking. It wasn't hard to guess - they'd had that discussion too many times already. He knew Ianto was right, he knew they needed more staff, but it wasn't like they could advertise in the newspaper for qualified personnel. He'd been lucky so far, everyone had just fallen into his lap (literally or metaphorically), but he couldn't rely on that forever.
He groaned a little, sitting up again and pulling himself to his feet. His shirts were torn straight through and one bracer was snapped, making it twist around under his coat and hang down his back uncomfortably. "Gwen called you?"
Ianto nodded. "Go reassure Chie you're still alive. I'll bring the SUV around so we can get these bodies loaded."
Practicalities. Right. Navigating Ianto's moods could be a challenge at times, but this one Jack understood. He'd just wait til later to bring it up again, that was all.
---
Later turned out to be after Ianto crawled into bed beside him, soft-eyed with exhaustion. He wriggled like an agitated snake until he was pressed in against Jack, spare limbs slung across his body, and for a long moment he considered just letting the whole thing drop and enjoying the drowsy, late night warmth. He rejected the idea reluctantly - it was too comfortable for both of them sometimes not to talk about things, and that could far too easily lead to bad places. Experience had taught him that. "She asleep?"
Ianto shifted against him, as if in protest at being made to engage. "Finally. Kept crying when I put her down."
His fault, he thought guiltily. Not that he could see any reasonable action they could have taken to prevent it. If he hadn't gone out alone (and left the base unattended), if Gwen hadn't called Ianto (and let him handle three Weevils on his own), if Ianto had left Chie behind (and risk her getting into something dangerous)... "Are we doing the right thing?" he asked, voice low in deference to the muted atmosphere. For as old as he was, he had yet to figure out why things seemed so much louder when it was dark.
There was a long pause, and he was about to check that Ianto hadn't fallen asleep on him when he finally replied, "I don't follow."
"Keeping her here. Instead of relocating her, or keeping trying to find her a way home."
Evidently deciding that this was not a conversation that was going to be over in the very near future, Ianto rolled onto his back, head turned to gaze at Jack, and the way the streetlights shone in through the slit in the curtains made his eyes flash bright. "You said she'd go feral if she lost her parent figures," he accused, and his tone of voice really was an accusation. "That she'd never develop social skills or learn to relate to other lifeforms."
"Would that be such a bad thing?" He could hear Ianto inhaling in preparation for a response, and hurried on before he could interrupt. "We can't exactly send her to school or let her get a job. She doesn't even have the vocal ability to speak English. Maybe it would be better for her to just... be an animal."
"You're a shit sometimes," Ianto told him. Then: "Do you want to send her away?"
Jack sighed. "No."
"You're making her breakfast tomorrow then." Discussion over, the topic summarily dismissed. Ianto curled into a ball, drawing in on himself until he was just a lump under the covers, and a smile tugged at the corner of Jack's mouth as he shifted to wrap himself around him.
For a few moments he ran it all back through his head, trying to figure out if there were any elephants left in the room - hiding behind the drapes, perhaps, or poking out from under the dresser. Only once he'd concluded that they'd said everything that needed to be said did he press a kiss to the back of Ianto's neck, hair tickling his nose a little. "I'll start looking for new staff tomorrow," he murmured, and Ianto made a small sound of acknowledgement. Good enough.
Author: phaetonschariot
Recipient: cruentum
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13, mild violence
Summary: Certain things just don't go together, like ice cream and ketchup, like Torchwood and parenting.
Jack inhaled sharply, oxygen flooding lungs gone lousy with CO2, and realised that he was was no longer lying on concrete. At least, part of him was, but then his back angled up awkwardly to get his upper torso to a place where it could be wrapped up in strong arms, his head cradled against a shoulder as he breathed heavily, blood moving sluggishly but picking up speed again.
There'd been Weevils, he remembered suddenly. Two of them - he'd just got one sedated when the other got a good slash in across his gut. Dying had taken just enough time for a hand to go instinctively to the wound, feel the slide of his intestines while blood poured out of him, and he felt dizzy now when he sat up and twisted to see where they'd gone to. The Weevils, that was, not his intestines - he felt fairly sure that his intestines were safely back where they belong, curled up behind his abdominal muscles like a sleeping cat.
Both of them (the Weevils) were on the ground, dead, with what looked like half a clip to the head each. He wasn't sure if that was efficiency or overkill.
"Careful," Ianto cautioned, and Jack realised that he'd known it was him even before he'd opened his eyes. He forced himself to relax, leaning back against him now he was reassured the danger was past. He could get a better bearing on his surroundings now - Ianto hadn't moved him from where he'd fallen in the alley, but the space around him was clear of trash, and Ianto's Audi was parked - badly, he noted with amusement - on the corner of the street. The SUV was a good block and a half away, he recalled, and he'd come alone. Ianto must have driven from home.
He frowned, taking another look at the car, and found his suspicions confirmed when he spotted a small white face pressed to the back passenger window. "You brought Chie?" he asked, and wanted to cringe at the dismay that he heard creeping into his voice.
"I was hoping to drive by a short notice alien baby-sitting service, but nothing was open. I could hardly leave her alone."
Even still half-snagged on a death, Jack could hear the censure in Ianto's tone that told him exactly what he was thinking. It wasn't hard to guess - they'd had that discussion too many times already. He knew Ianto was right, he knew they needed more staff, but it wasn't like they could advertise in the newspaper for qualified personnel. He'd been lucky so far, everyone had just fallen into his lap (literally or metaphorically), but he couldn't rely on that forever.
He groaned a little, sitting up again and pulling himself to his feet. His shirts were torn straight through and one bracer was snapped, making it twist around under his coat and hang down his back uncomfortably. "Gwen called you?"
Ianto nodded. "Go reassure Chie you're still alive. I'll bring the SUV around so we can get these bodies loaded."
Practicalities. Right. Navigating Ianto's moods could be a challenge at times, but this one Jack understood. He'd just wait til later to bring it up again, that was all.
---
Later turned out to be after Ianto crawled into bed beside him, soft-eyed with exhaustion. He wriggled like an agitated snake until he was pressed in against Jack, spare limbs slung across his body, and for a long moment he considered just letting the whole thing drop and enjoying the drowsy, late night warmth. He rejected the idea reluctantly - it was too comfortable for both of them sometimes not to talk about things, and that could far too easily lead to bad places. Experience had taught him that. "She asleep?"
Ianto shifted against him, as if in protest at being made to engage. "Finally. Kept crying when I put her down."
His fault, he thought guiltily. Not that he could see any reasonable action they could have taken to prevent it. If he hadn't gone out alone (and left the base unattended), if Gwen hadn't called Ianto (and let him handle three Weevils on his own), if Ianto had left Chie behind (and risk her getting into something dangerous)... "Are we doing the right thing?" he asked, voice low in deference to the muted atmosphere. For as old as he was, he had yet to figure out why things seemed so much louder when it was dark.
There was a long pause, and he was about to check that Ianto hadn't fallen asleep on him when he finally replied, "I don't follow."
"Keeping her here. Instead of relocating her, or keeping trying to find her a way home."
Evidently deciding that this was not a conversation that was going to be over in the very near future, Ianto rolled onto his back, head turned to gaze at Jack, and the way the streetlights shone in through the slit in the curtains made his eyes flash bright. "You said she'd go feral if she lost her parent figures," he accused, and his tone of voice really was an accusation. "That she'd never develop social skills or learn to relate to other lifeforms."
"Would that be such a bad thing?" He could hear Ianto inhaling in preparation for a response, and hurried on before he could interrupt. "We can't exactly send her to school or let her get a job. She doesn't even have the vocal ability to speak English. Maybe it would be better for her to just... be an animal."
"You're a shit sometimes," Ianto told him. Then: "Do you want to send her away?"
Jack sighed. "No."
"You're making her breakfast tomorrow then." Discussion over, the topic summarily dismissed. Ianto curled into a ball, drawing in on himself until he was just a lump under the covers, and a smile tugged at the corner of Jack's mouth as he shifted to wrap himself around him.
For a few moments he ran it all back through his head, trying to figure out if there were any elephants left in the room - hiding behind the drapes, perhaps, or poking out from under the dresser. Only once he'd concluded that they'd said everything that needed to be said did he press a kiss to the back of Ianto's neck, hair tickling his nose a little. "I'll start looking for new staff tomorrow," he murmured, and Ianto made a small sound of acknowledgement. Good enough.