THE TEA BOY
"I bet you Jack's shagging him!"
Was Owen's immediate reaction to the announcement of a new arrival in the Hub. Owen being Owen didn't even have the decency to wait until 'The new boy' was out of hearing range before saying it either. Suzie shot him a wicked smile.
"Want a wager on that?"
"Twenty says Jack's already had him." Owen responded with a grin.
"Twenty says he hasn't." Suzie was in the know; she'd met Ianto Jones months ago at Canary Wharf before it burnt. Ianto was definitely straight in those days. Mind you Jack had a way of opening peoples minds and their legs, or anything else he could get near, for that matter.
Toshiko listened to the debate with dignified silence; she was not going to get involved in the gutter politics of Torchwood's sexual sagas. The poor boy had looked sad enough when he first walked in through the door. Canary Wharf had only been gone a few weeks, Tosh couldn't imagine how Ianto was feeling right now; it couldn't be good that was for sure. What did it matter whether Jack was doing whatever it was he did with his lovers? Ianto looked like he needed a friend and not to be laughed at. Toshiko, shaking her head returned to her work. Jack had told her that Ianto made the best coffee he'd ever tasted so she was quietly looking forward to that, because Owen's was disgusting.
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"So." Said Owen.
Ianto stood there, hands clasped in front of him.
"I'm here for my medical Dr Harper."
Owen swung out of his chair. "Right, of course you are. Well you'd best get undressed then."
Ianto hitched in a breath. "Everything?" He looked mildly shocked.
"Well, no, just your top half. I don't need to listen to your legs." Owen held up his stethoscope.
"Of course, Dr Harper."
Owen watched the carefully measured movements as his new colleague removed his expensive tailored jacket, silk tie and shirt. Owen sucked in a breath took a note of the pale skin, an almost healed burn mark across his upper left arm and painfully obvious ribs.
"Sit down, Ianto this will take a while."
Ianto perched himself on the edge of the table.
Owen got his clipboard out and a biro.
"So er…How have you been since….since Canary Wharf?" He asked examining the old injury, with gentle proddings from gloved fingers.
Ianto winced. "Fine, really."
"No problems then?"
"None."
"This burn……"
"Electrical, from a Cyberman. It's fine." Ianto's tone remained clinically neutral.
"It seems to be healing alright. Any nightmares? Panic attacks? Shortness of breath?"
The young man appeared to think about his answer before speaking.
"Nothing of note. I had a couple of bad dreams just after. I'm fine now."
A scanner was waved up and down. Owen then made some notes. Ianto watched in silence.
He blanched at the touch of the cold stethoscope on his skin. Seven times Owen repositioned it, humming to himself as he listened. More notes.
"Do you have any allergies?"
"Antibiotics, Cephlasporans and Penicillin."
"Anything else?"
Ianto shook his head.
The torch came next and Owen shone it into Ianto's eyes making him look around in every which way as he did so.
"Everything looks fine. I'll need a sample of your blood and also take a pint for our blood bank, ok with that?"
Ianto paled slightly if that was at all possible. "Fine."
"Good lie down then."
Jack had appeared on the upper level of the autopsy bay, taking in the view.
"Jack stop perving, this is a confidential medical consultation." Owen sarked. Jack didn't move.
"Just making sure you are taking care of my new office boy."
Ianto rolled his eyes. It was the first proper facial change Owen had seen on the boy's face since he arrived that morning.
"I apologise for our smutty boss. Would you like him to leave?"
Ianto wasn't sure what the correct answer should be.
"It's ok, thank you Dr Harper."
"There!" Jack exclaimed. "Ianto doesn't think I'm a perv."
"With all due respect sir, that's not what I said." It was out before Ianto could stop himself, right down to his deadpan tone.
Owen caught the look of horror on the young man's face and started to laugh. Perhaps the tea boy wasn't going to be such a dead loss after all. The expression on Jack's face was priceless.
"Oooohhh, Mr Jones Ianto Jones, I believe you owe me coffee for that one."
Ianto found himself smiling for the first time that day. "I'll be happy to oblige, sir. Just as soon as Dr Harper's work is done."
Owen faced him with a big needle. Ianto thought it was big anyway.
"Call me Owen."
"Yes. Sir. Owen, I mean."
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"So, Tosh? What do you reckon?"
Owen was swivelling on his chair again.
"About what?"
"The tea boy, Jack's new shag and office dogs body."
"Owen!" Tosh tried to sound scandalised, but realised working for Torchwood and especially Jack Harkness the word scandal took on a whole new meaning on so very many levels. Jack was apparently showing the boy around the archives…………..
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Ianto stood stiff as a board beside his new boss and patiently listened as Captain Harkness prattled on about some date from months ago. The man was a walking aphrodisiac. Ianto couldn't deny his immediate physical attraction to him. It made his gut tighten with guilt. He just wanted to be left alone to get on. Jack wasn't about to do that. Ianto couldn't decide if he were trying to be helpful or predatory, it was hard to tell. The loud-mouthed American who wasn't a yank at all was rather too fond of resting his hand on Ianto's shoulder for Ianto's liking. Hadn't the man ever heard of personal space? Ok, so last night they had been lying on top of each other and almost……well thank god it was almost. The Captain was still wittering on about this date and Ianto tried his damndest to look interested and distant at the same time. He wondered if he looked like a dog trying to chew a caramel toffee. The tour of Torchwood Three continued. Ianto knew it all anyway. He'd already broken in three times undetected before today to get orientated with the place. He'd already worked out where all the sensors and CCTV cameras were. It rather surprised the young man at how stupid this lot seemed to be. Captain Harkness seemed more concerned about the length of his dick than actually saving the world. Not that Ianto minded; if the Captain could be this easily diverted then smuggling Lisa into the facility would be a doddle. He suspected it was Suzie he would have to watch out for. He was surprised she had remembered him. Anyone with a good memory of insignificant, boring, wallflower Ianto Jones was a force to be reckoned with. Harkness' hand was on his shoulder again and it was drifting down to the small of his back. Fortunately it stopped there. The Captain's demeanour completely changed and Ianto realised he was being confronted by the man himself and not his persona.
"It can't have been easy for you, what happened in London." All trace of humorous banter was gone and Ianto looked into steely enquiring eyes that were rather too penetrating for comfort.
Ianto backed off a pace, time for some honesty, just not too much.
"It hasn't been. I'm still reeling to be honest."
"So why did you come here? Tell me the truth this time."
Ianto felt his innards freeze.
"Like I said. What else can I do? I'll never be able to forget what happened, never be able to share it with anyone. My mam and sister live here in Wales. If I'm here at least I'm in a position to protect them from whatever else is out there." There was no lie in that.
"You still having the nightmares you told Owen about?"
Ianto nodded. "Every time I close my eyes. I'm sure it'll pass in time."
Jack shoved his hands into his pockets. "I have a rather unique perspective on such things. If you ever want to talk my door is always open……and that's not a come on before you ask."
A brief smile graced Ianto's pale face and Jack just thought he looked adorable.
"That would be harassment but I'll remember that sir, thank you."
"Good. So..er.. You think you'll be able to straighten out this mess?"
Ianto glanced around the disorderly room. "It'll take a few months to get everything catalogued properly but I think I can manage."
Jack was grinning. "Excellent, consider it your first assignment and don't let Owen down here ever his filing is worse than mine."
"Right, sir. I'll get started then shall I?"
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Owen was more than a little surprised to see his Captain coming out from the archive alone. He was slightly worried by the smug look on Jack's face.
"Tell me you didn't?"
Jack was all innocence. "Didn't what?"
"Do the tea boy."
Jack smiled. "I didn't lay a finger on him. My office Owen. We need to talk."
Owen followed him up and closed the door behind him as Jack sat down behind his cluttered desk.
Owen plonked himself down on the other chair.
"First impressions?"
That's what Owen liked about his boss, always straight to the point.
"He's young, pretty and looks good in a suit?"
Jack smiled.
"Seriously."
"He's suffering from obvious signs of PTSD, he's underweight, probably not had a decent nights sleep since Canary Wharf or a decent meal, but his sense of humour is intact and that's a good sign."
Jack leaned back in his seat.
"Why did you employ him Jack?"
"Truthfully?"
Owen nodded.
"He's tenacious. The guy has been stalking me for 2 weeks. He also managed to break into this facility three times without tripping the alarms….."
"You're kidding?"
"His HR file from T1 is pretty impressive, commendations all the way and he really does look good in a suit, looks pretty in jeans too."
"So why, apart from the obvious need for you to get into his pants?"
Jack threw him a look of mock horror then his expression became deadly serious.
"I felt he needed a chance. Torchwood One stole his life, ripped it apart at the seams. He was strong enough not to take the offer of Retcon along with the other survivors. He still believes he has some purpose and quite frankly we need a good administrator, the archives are a mess and Tosh shouldn't be handling the workload that she has on her own."
"So what exactly will he be doing?"
"Anything we ask of him in the short term, lets see what he can do."
"Has he had field training?"
Jack shook his head. "It says not on his record, but he can handle himself. He's on some of the footage from CW fighting the Cybermen and he single handedly managed to get that dinosaur into the warehouse before he intercepted me. I'll put him through his paces in the firing range tomorrow."
Owen fidgeted in his seat for a moment. "He's just a kid Jack. Maybe you should Retcon him and give him his life back, a new start."
Jack picked up something from his desk, then put it down again. "I considered that, somehow with him I don't think it would work. Retcon is not an exact science. I think all he would be left with is questions and doubts. He's stronger than he looks."
Owen noted the slightly wistful look in Jack's eyes.
"He reminds you of some one?"
Jack nodded. "Not in the way that you think. I just have a gut feeling about him."
Owen rolled his eyes. "Jack you can't afford to go on your instincts like that."
"I did with you, Suzie and Tosh and I wasn't wrong."
Owen couldn't argue that point.
DENY EVERYTHING
Ianto sighed as he slid back into the shadows. Shit, so she was killing people after all. Suzie was a murderer. Ianto leant back against the brick wall and hauled in a steadying breath. He had known something was amiss from day one. Her quiet obsession with that glove, the one he couldn't stand to touch, the one that made his flesh crawl when he picked it up to photograph it for the archive. Ridiculous really, it should have been catalogued straight away. Suzie's research files had all been encrypted to keep the others out, no one had even given that a second thought except him. Getting into her files had been easy, reading them had not. The woman was possessed or something. It made his OCD look like a hobby. Still he reasoned it was ammunition if he needed it. He decided in an instant to keep his trap shut. What Harkness didn't know about wouldn't hurt him and Ianto wasn't responsible for Suzie's actions he had Lisa to think about. He would watch and wait and exhibit plausible deniability if asked. Perfect strategy really.
TOO MANY SKELETONS: NOT ENOUGH CUPBOARDS
The Hub was in darkness. Jack sighed as he walked past the workstations to his office. A noise behind him made him freeze and swing round Webley aimed and at the ready.
"Jeez Ianto! Don't you have a home to get to?"
Ianto looked completely unruffled by the weapon pointing at him. Jack holstered it.
"Sorry, I was expecting to be alone at this time of night."
Ianto didn't believe that for one moment, he knew the Captain's habits well; some one had turned him down obviously.
"I was fixing the generator sir. It was being 'arsey' to quote your description, you asked me to take a look."
Jack frowned pulling off his great coat and hanging it up.
"That was seven hours ago."
"I've been cataloguing as per my job description." The young man added. "Coffee?"
Jack's face lit up. "Love one, thank you Ianto."
"I'll bring one up to your office before I leave then shall I?"
"So you do intend on going home for the rest of night?"
Ianto gave him a measured look. Jack thought he looked tired and half wondered if Ianto actually had a home to go to. Silly, of course he did.
"Yes, sir. Unless there's something you need me to do?"
Jack could think of plenty of things. He took a few steps in Ianto's direction. The young Welshman remained frozen on the spot meeting Jack's lustful gaze with one of stony indifference.
"What do you suggest?"
"Are you thinking about harassing me again, sir?" Ianto decided that two could play this game very easily, he just didn't want Jack to question why he was still there, unless the man thought it was for him.
"I think you enjoy it too much as it is, time to make good I say."
Ianto faked a look of horror, his eyebrows climbing into his hairline. "Sorry you are so easily led astray. I thought I was being rather more…….."
"Of a tease? You're certainly that!"
"Actually I was thinking of the word challenge, slightly less seedy." Ianto quipped.
Jack was only a foot away from him now. Those bloody pheromones. Ianto reprised his look of indifference with great difficulty; it was almost physically impossible not to respond to his boss. The wicked smile on the older man's face wasn't helping any. Lisa, you are doing this for her, keep him off his guard. Ianto wondered whom he was trying to kid. He'd been having doubts about his ability to save her for days now.
Jack's fingers were suddenly there around his. The delicate touch was electrifying and Ianto forced himself not to react.
"So, Jones Ianto Jones, how's about that coffee?"
"Of course sir." He looked down at their entwined fingers. "I'll need my hand back though."
Jack released him being sure to touch his thigh briefly as he did so.
"I'll be waiting for you in my office."
"Of that I've no doubt sir."
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Owen sighed unhappily, that had been a very disappointing shag to say the least and he didn't even have a decent hangover to enable him to forget it. Bloody marvellous, just what he needed to start his Tuesday morning. Still he only had some follow up tests to do today so it would be an easy one. Suzie wanted to test out the glove on the corpses in the morgue as well. Why the hell she thinks it's for raising the dead? Fuck knows. Suzie was weird; it was why he had stopped shagging her. Tosh was weird, Ianto was creepy and Jack was just a freak of nature. That made Owen the only normal one of the lot. God help him!
Ianto was at his customary place behind the desk of the tourist office, looking as dapper as always. Owen noted he had a slightly drawn expression on his face and was more blank than usual, he wondered if the younger man had actually gone home the previous night. Owen doubted it some how, the boy was always working. Not that he was complaining, the coffee really was to die for and Owen never went hungry these days either. The Hub was clean and smelt of something other than weevil corpse and Jack had been in a much better mood ever since the kid had first stepped in through the roller doors. Owen was certain that Jack was doing him, he needed evidence though and there was nothing on the CCTV logs to confirm his suspicions.
"Morning Tea Boy."
Ianto graced the medic with a look of disdain,
"At least get it right Owen. I make coffee, not tea. Unless of course you fancy drinking Earl Grey?" The sarcasm was laced with undisguised venom. Ooooopps touched on a nerve there then.
"Cappuccino King then?"
Ianto nodded curtly and pressed the buzzer to let his colleague into the depths of the Hub.
Owen trotted down the stairwell deciding that he needed the exercise rather than using the lift.
He found Jack and Suzie in heated debate over that glove thing she was so obsessed with and Tosh was working quietly as ever on something at her computers, God only knew what because Owen certainly didn't. Owen gave a cheery wave and carried on straight down to his beloved autopsy bay. Ianto had scrubbed it clean over night again. Owen reminded himself to make some comment about that later. He knew he should thank the boy really, but that was just wrong in every sense of the word. He slung his leather jacket over the back of his chair and started organising his work for the day.
Ianto appeared on the upper level a few minutes later.
"Coffee, sir?"
Owen looked up sharply aware that there was something not quite Iantoish about the tone of voice. He narrowed his eyes, something wasn't right.
"Yep."
Ianto walked from view his back ramrod straight as always. Owen shrugged off his misgivings and forgot about them.
Suzie and Jack were still arguing. Ianto glided past them and snuk a look at Jack who caught his eye and offered a faint smile and mouthed the words 'thank you'. Ianto just assumed he wanted coffee and not another shag, well not right now in front of everyone anyway. Though with Jack it was hard to tell. Tosh just smiled at him shyly and asked if he needed a hand making it. Ianto liked Tosh, she was kind and thoughtful and just as lonely as he was. He found himself wishing that Lisa really had died three months ago, then he wouldn't be offering distracting favours to Jack and wanting to date the beautiful and brilliant Toshiko. Guilt welled up and he felt sick as he made his way stiffly back to the coffee machine. He was sore and ashamed, mostly because he had enjoyed himself the previous night far more than he should have. Far more than he had a right to. He hated lying, he hated acting out this role of …….of whatever it was they wanted him to be. He just wanted Lisa, whole and human again, in his arms and safe. The longer this went on the harder it got because he knew his resolve was slipping and that he really liked the people he was deceiving. And Jack? Well what's not to like?
The arguing died down and much to his dismay Ianto found himself under Jack's scrutinizing gaze as he prepared the coffees.
"Sir?"
Jack leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.
"You can call me Jack you know."
Ianto's hands were shaking.
"Hardly appropriate, you're my boss." Came the terse reply.
Jack frowned rather confused; a few hours ago the boy had been whispering his name in a state wild abandonment.
"Are you pissed at me?"
"No sir, I just feel we should keep things on a professional footing."
"Oh." Jack was disappointed. "That bad huh?"
Ianto froze; he faced Jack, three months of grief and stress flashing through his oceanic eyes. Jack saw it and felt his heart stop for a second.
"Ianto?"
The moment was gone, the mask of indifference back in place.
"Not bad sir, just inappropriate, especially at work." He resumed his task.
"Not bad, I was kinda hoping for spectacular or mind blowing……"
"It was sir, really."
Jack wasn't reassured. Ianto wondered if the man's ego would ever recover.
"Another time then?" Jack offered.
Ianto looked at him and smiled ever so faintly. Jack took that as a yes and just wanted to pounce on him for that.
EVERYTHING CHANGES
Perhaps he should have told Jack after all. She'd killed three people that they knew of. Ianto wondered if there were any more. He could have stopped this. Should have really. The sickness in his stomach just got worse. At least Jack had another distraction now. The newbie police officer was a bit too flaky in Ianto's view, but Jack wanted her that was obvious. Ianto wondered if he'd had her yet and realised he was probably not in a position to judge. God, Suzie. Jack had been knocked side ways, hadn't seen that one coming at all. The man was too trusting. Ianto found himself wondering when it would be his turn to break the man's heart. He leaned over the toilet bowl and threw up again. Nothing seemed to stay down these days. He'd had to buy a couple of new suits because of the weight loss. Jack had actually commented the last time they were in bed together. Ianto had almost blabbed that night. He wanted so much for this all to be over; he wasn't sure how much longer he could live with himself. Jack was a master at hiding his feelings, Ianto knew because he did it himself every second of the day. Somewhere along the line Jack had fallen for him and Ianto hated himself for it. Hated the betrayal of Lisa and Jack and his own values. Ianto sighed before heaving up again; nothing else was coming up now. Maybe Jack would fall for Gwen and cast him aside. Ianto half hoped he would but somehow he didn't think so. The time that he spent with Jack had changed in recent weeks. Jack tried to get him to talk, was disappointed when he wouldn't, and was even more disappointed when Ianto would never stay with him after sex. It was the hardest thing walking away each time.
Lisa.
Oh God, Lisa.
Can you ever forgive me?
Will Jack?
Ianto leaned back against the tiled wall and sighed rubbing at his sore stomach.
"Ianto, are you alright?"
Ianto snapped out of his reverie. It was Owen standing above him.
"Dodgy Chinese I think."
Owen knelt down at his side.
"You don't look good mate."
Ianto hauled up a smile from somewhere. "Egg fried rice obviously doesn't agree me."
"Come on, on your feet. I'm driving you home."
Ianto baulked at the physical contact as Owen grasped his arm.
"Owen, really I'm fine. There's no need to fuss."
Owen settled down on the floor beside him.
"So then what do you reckon to the new chick?"
Ianto shrugged.
"Twenty notes says Jack's shagged her already!"
finis