Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Regrettably, not mine. Lucky ol' BBC.
Notes: I'm not sure where this came from. But it stuck. And it took up residence. And so now it's here. It's my second Torchwood/CCTV fic - maybe I'm creating my own niche genre...?
I'm tempted to try expanding some of the situations in here into their own little fics... let me know what you think!
...
He would struggle to put his finger on when he started watching, and although deep in his heart, knows why he does it, he would struggle to elucidate if anyone were to ask. Perhaps it was the third, or was the fourth, reference the team made that he didn't understand, perhaps it was the new scars that they all bore but that no one wanted to explain, perhaps it's that its only now he's back that he can fully appreciate how much he's missed them. Whatever the reason, for the last few weeks, he's waited until he's alone, until Ianto is asleep, and then he's sat to review the CCTV footage of everything he's missed.
Most of it he fast-forwards through of course; there's hours of emptiness when they are all out on missions and yet more hours of silence when they are there but focussed on the screens in front of them, puzzling through whatever mystery they were attempting to unravel at the time.
...
The time immediately after he left is easier to watch than he thinks it might be, on the whole they deal with his disappearance calmly and professionally. Tosh reviews CCTV footage from more angles than he thought possible, Ianto combs the archives for references to disappearances and Gwen collates their meagre results in a corner of her incident board designated, "Where's Jack?".
An hour later, though it was weeks for them, Jack feels the start of a lump in his throat when Owen finally voices what they all must have been feeling - Jack wasn't coming back. He watched Gwen slowly take down her notes, observes Tosh surreptitiously wipe away a tear and sees Ianto clear his desk, his face an impenetrable mask.
...
He sees them try to get to grips with the new team dynamics - watches Gwen and Owen amiably and not-so-amiably argue over the leadership of the team, settling into a truce by which Owen leads in the field while Gwen manages otherwise. It largely works well, Gwen's compassion, while an asset can also be a liability when confronted with close on a ton of clawed, snarling beast hoping to devour the team for lunch, and it is in these circumstances that Owen's hardness is an asset.
He can barely believe Ianto's excitable grin as he follows the team into the field with increasing and startling regularity, and it's not long before his face bears the same expression of tense excitement he called Tosh on all those months ago in Brynblaidd. He worries, wondering how the younger man will take being in the field, and is disproportionately relieved when Owen dispenses a rare, congratulatory shoulder thump at the end of a mission.
...
It's not all happy families - there are some blazing rows. Unsurprisingly Gwen and Owen have a belter lasting well over an hour that has Jack at times shaking his head in despair and at times chuckling at the bemused expressions being traded by Tosh and Ianto. Owen and Ianto too have occasional spats, cutting insults and jibes flying between the two - often for what seems like no reason at all. They never seem to officially "make it up" but the insults become less heated at the two trade grins before all is forgotten.
It's the row between Gwen and Tosh that has him really surprised though, and it's hard for him to fully get to grips with what's going on as they appear through the cog already screaming like banshees, causing Myfanwy to disappear into her roost with a disconsolate squawk. From what is said it appears that Gwen has ignored something Tosh has said, her compassion winning out over her common sense once again. For once, Tosh hasn't taken this lying down and has to be forcibly manhandled by Ianto into the boardroom for a calming cup of tea, while Gwen is similarly wrestled to the autopsy bay by Owen.
...
Christmas comes along quickly, Ianto's red scarf making its seasonal appearance along with a CD of Christmas songs which seemed to mysteriously appear year on year - even watching the CCTV footage Jack remains unable to fathom who is the guilty party. The weather has been poor, Jack notes as the team track in snow on more than one occasion, and one afternoon the hub remains empty for several hours before they all troop in, flushed and soaked to the skin. Switching to the external camera footage reveals the Plass-wide snowball fight that has them all laughing and screaming like carefree children.
On Christmas Eve he sees Ianto erect a small tree, beneath which the team leave a selection of small gifts which are distributed at the close of the day. One present remains sat alone, under the tree and he sees Owen tease Ianto for buying a gift for their absent boss. The lump reappears in Jack's throat as Ianto simply shrugs, leaving the gift in place, until the 6th of January when the tree is taking down and the neatly wrapped gift disappears.
Gwen slips away on Christmas Eve to be with Rhys, and he's unsurprised to see that Ianto stays in the Hub to monitor the alarms, that so often increase in frequency around the festive season. What does surprise him is that Owen and Tosh stay along with him, sharing stories - and a bottle of Jack's whisky - until the dawn breaks on Christmas Day.
...
What's hardest to watch is the team coming back hurt - which they all do at one point or another through the year. Each incident has Jack's heart in his mouth, even though he's well aware that the team are all fine. Its Tosh first, who comes back from one Rift alarm cradling a broken wrist, which Owen sets with much grumbling.
Next is Gwen, pale and bloodied having come of worst in a fight with an unidentified creature with claws. She visibly winces as Owen sets to work stitching her arm, Tosh sits on the stairs unconvincingly reassuring Gwen that's she's sure Rhys won't notice.
Owen is mocked mercilessly when he sprains his ankle chasing a Weevil and he's forced to hop around the Hub with the help of an old man's walking stick that Ianto has dug out from who-knows-where. They treat him a bit more gently a few weeks later when he re-twists the same ankle going back to help Tosh when she stumbles while making her escape from another Rift refugee.
Ianto is half-carried into the Hub in the early hours of the morning, slung between Gwen and Owen, his head lolling uncontrollably. He spends the next two days curled up in the autopsy bay, vomiting from the mother of all concussions. Watching that sends Jack to the manhole in his office, just to reassure himself that the young man is still safely asleep below.
...
He's not sure how long he's been indulging in watching the team when he's disturbed by the quiet footstep behind him.
"New soap opera?" Ianto asks mildly, as though there is nothing at all strange about finding his boss obsessively watching CCTV.
Jack spins in surprise, his face flushed with surprise, and perhaps embarrassment, at being caught.
"I was just..." he falters, not sure how the young Welshman will react to discovering sat here, with twelve months of CCTV queued up on the computer. Ianto peers for a moment at the screen, brows momentarily furrowed before his face clears of confusion, when he realises what it is he's looking at.
He rests his hand on Jack's shoulder, squeezing reassuringly.
"I would have told you," he says mildly, "'You just had to ask."
Jack sighs, tiredly, finally looking up to meet Ianto's understanding blue eyes.
"I know," he pauses, "I just needed..." he took a deep breath, "I can't tell you everything about where I've been Yan," he forges forward, before Ianto can interrupt, "I wish I could. But what I can tell you is that all the time I was gone this is what I missed. Gwen, Tosh, Owen, you just being yourselves. All the nitty gritty, all the rows, all the jokes," he brushes Ianto's hair out of his eyes catching sight of the new scar, and he stands to press a gentle kiss to it, "the concussions. I just wanted to... catch up."
Ianto wraps his arms around Jack, and as he does so Jack wonders how anyone can ever thing he is the strong one when he's so clearly anchored in the here and now by Ianto. After a long pause, Ianto releases him and gestures for him to retake his seat, before pulling up another chair.
"Go on," he says gently, eyes full of love, "I'll fill in the gaps."
Jack grips his hand firmly.
"You always do, Ianto. You always do."