Yes, I know I really should be continuing my more serious Torchwood fic instead of starting something else, but I'm in a fluffy, cracky mood right now, so I present to you a fluffy and slightly cracky fic centering around my favourite ship of the moment, Jenny/Ianto - or as I like to call it, Jento. Enjoy!


Best Laid Plans

Chapter One

It's been seven days since Jenny came to work for Torchwood Three, and already they all get along with her swimmingly. The identity of her father was revealed on the first day, after meeting Martha and having a lovely bit of a reminisce, and the information has made Jack back right off; normally he'd go for anything - man, woman or alien - as long as it looks good, and Jenny does look fantastic, but Jack loves the Doctor. He's not about to go there.

Ianto, on the other hand, has seriously been considering going there. A week isn't a long time really, but it's long enough for him to have noticed her, really noticed her. Jenny's stunningly beautiful, but that's not all; she's also adorably enthusiastic, endearingly naive (Jack says she gets these traits from her father) and she laughs at every single one of Ianto's jokes like they're the funniest things she's ever heard. He's rather enamoured with her, and goes out of his way to make sure he hands Jenny her coffee before anyone else, or opens doors for her, or sits next to her in the conference room. He feels a bit like a teenager with a crush.

Jack's actually feeling a little jealous about all this, but not too much; he lets it continue, and sometimes he actually smiles to himself when he sees Ianto and Jenny laughing together. Because Jack loves the Doctor. And he knows that one day, Ianto is going to find out. It's better that Ianto has someone else that he truly cares about, when that time comes.

And Jenny is quite oblivious to the whole affair. She likes Ianto a lot, but she's never been in a situation like this and hasn't noticed any of it, the looks he gives her or the special treatment in small ways, or how he always tries to be close to her. She just thinks of him as a good man, and a good friend.

Gwen, Martha and Mickey are impartial observers of all of this - all have noticed Ianto's infatuation and Jenny's naivety - and now the three of them are sharing a pizza and having a few drinks back at Gwen's place after a long day at work, discussing it. Mickey is a bit out of his comfort zone amidst all this gossiping and scheming, but soon becomes accustomed to it and begins to rather enjoy himself. Rhys opts to stay right out of it.

"Something's got to happen either way," Gwen is saying, around a mouthful of mushrooms and cheese. "We can't let them keep going on like this, or Ianto's just going to get hurt."

"Yeah," agrees Martha, "in a big way. Better for Jenny to realise, you know? Accept him or reject him now, rather than him getting too attached to her."

Mickey swallows a mouthful of beer. "Yeah, but Jenny doesn't know. What do we do, just come right out and tell her?"

The two women look at him like he's an idiot, and Mickey sheepishly takes a bite of his pizza in an attempt to cover his embarrassment.

"We've got to..." Gwen thinks for a moment, gesturing vaguely with one hand while clutching her drink with the other. "Oh, I dunno, but we've got to make her realise somehow. Maybe we should throw a party or something."

"But Jack," Martha cuts in, and they understand this to mean: He'll be watching them.

They toss around a few other ideas, each as shockingly dumb and impractical as the last, when Rhys pops his head in out of the kitchen, where he'd been busy making a tea and sneaking a read of a tabloid magazine, and suggests, "Why don't you invite them out for lunch, and cancel at the last second? Leaves the two of 'em alone, and Jack never has to know."

The three stare at Rhys for several moments, dumbfounded; this plan is so obvious and they're each wondering why in the world they didn't think of it. Rhys tires of their lack of reaction, shrugs and returns to his tea and celebrities, entirely unconcerned.

--

The next morning, at work - when Jack and Gwen have gone off to question a distraught family member regarding the Weevil that attacked their nephew - Martha, Mickey, Jenny and Ianto are left at the Hub with some paperwork and a great deal of free time. Martha is watching Jenny and Ianto, who are standing over by the coffee maker and discussing some book or other. Mickey, however, is disinterestedly eating a curry he'd picked up on the way there. Annoyed, Martha shoves him gently and jerks her head in the direction of the other two, and Mickey gives her an "oh yeah" look, suddenly paying rapt attention.

"You or me?" he mouths.

Martha, fairly certain that Mickey will stuff it up either by stumbling over his words or just generally being a terrible actor, replies, "Me," and gets deftly up off her swivel-chair, crossing to where her targets are standing.

"Hi, guys!" she greets them, enthusiastically, and both smile at her. Ianto's smile is notably less warm and inviting than Jenny's. He looks as though Martha has just trodden on his sandcastle.

"Hi Martha," says Jenny happily, not noticing the silent despair in Ianto's eyes at this distraction. "What's up?"

Martha's smile widens terrifyingly; she hadn't previously taken into account that she might be just as bad an actor as Mickey, and she's currently regretting her lack of foresight. "Oh, well, me and Mickey were gonna go out for lunch later, grab a bite together, and we were wondering if you guys would want to come too?"

The expression Ianto bears now is one beyond hopeless; if he wasn't afraid to do so in front of Jenny, he would bury his head in his hands exasperatedly, or shoot a death-glare at Martha. Or both. Jenny doesn't see this, however, since she's too busy looking delighted at the proposition. She claps her hands together once and says, "Oh, that sounds excellent! I'd love to!" then whips round to face Ianto, ponytail nearly smacking him in the face. "What about you, Ianto? D'you want to come?"

At this moment, Ianto would rather dig his own eyeballs out with a spork than go anywhere with Martha and Mickey, but Jenny just looks so pleased to have been invited that he can't possibly say no to her. He manages a smile, but only because the one Jenny is giving him is particularly beautiful. "Yeah, all right," he says quietly and, to his utter delight, she's so happy that she throws her arms round his shoulders in a tight hug. Ianto feels his face getting quite flushed and hopes Martha doesn't notice - and prays that Jenny doesn't - and places a tentative hand on her back before she pulls away to hug Martha as well.

Jenny smells of tea and ice cream, with a faint whiff of leather that makes him feel a bit flustered. He files these scents away in his mind, so as to always remember them.

"Great!" says Martha when the embrace is over. "Well I've got some paperwork to be getting on with, but yeah, we'll see you guys at lunch!" With that, she walks off, back to where Mickey sits. He's laughing into his coffee at her awful performance and she smacks him on the arm playfully, whispering, "Well, I'd like to see you do better." They both grin in a goofy, childish way at the success of their plan - they have naturally chosen to deny Rhys's involvement - and get back to work, eagerly awaiting lunchtime.

To be continued.