Gwen didn't know what to make of this anymore. Jack and Ianto were behaving very unusual lately. First she had put it on the anniversary of the deaths of Tosh and Owen: they had thought of their fallen colleagues with a little ceremony and shed a lot of tears, but after a year they've started to come to terms with the loss, horrible as it may sound. The sadness was still lingering, but the team did their best to move on in honour of Tosh and Owen, to keep fighting for the people of Earth.
Two weeks after the ceremony, Gwen was almost sure that Jack and Ianto's odd behaviour wasn't due to grief, but something else. She guessed they might have had a fight, but the subtle touches and stolen kisses every now and then negated that idea. They were treating each other like always but it was when they were not together that their demeanour changed. Jack would sit in his office and stare at the far wall, pretending to do paperwork. But when Gwen had stepped into his office once, he didn't even realize she was there until she clapped her hands in front of his face. Every question as to what was wrong was blocked and shoved away and he beamed at her with his usual smile.
The same with Ianto. Although Gwen found a distracted Ianto even more strange than a brooding Jack. She caught the young man staring at the coffee machine while his hand were operating it, filling a mug until it flowed over and the coffee spilled all over the floor.
"Ianto!" Gwen jumped next to her colleague and pulled his hand from the lever, having him look at her utterly confused.
"Gwen?"
"What's wrong Ianto?" Gently lowering her friend's hand, she picked up a towel and started to mop up the coffee from the floor.
"Nothing. What... what happened?" Still completely confused, Ianto watched how Gwen stood up again and threw the now soaked towel into the sink.
"You spilled the coffee." Rubbing her hand over his arm, she looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay, sweetheart? You can talk to me, if something is bothering you." Smiling at the young man, she managed to coax a half grin out of him. "Does this have anything to do with Jack? Did you two have a fight?" For split second she thought there was something like shock flickering over Ianto's face and it worried her to no end. "Did he hurt you? If he has done anything, you know you can talk to me. I..."
"He's done nothing, Gwen," Ianto quickly cut in, before she could talk herself into a frenzy. "We haven't had a fight."
"Then why are you both behaving so strange since we had the ceremony for Owen and Tosh? I know you still grief for them, as do I, but this has nothing to do with them, does it?" Gwen pressed.
Ianto sighed, catching himself just in time not to roll his eyes. Gwen had never been one to give up easily, but this wasn't anything she could help him with. He wasn't even sure why he was acting like he had been in the last couple of weeks. Well, to be honest with himself he knew exactly what the reason for his behaviour was. There was something burning in him he wanted to ask Jack, he just hadn't found the courage to confront Jack with it yet. And that was the problem, he didn't know if he would ever talk to Jack about this. They had grazed the topic once or twice, but Ianto still didn't know where Jack was standing. But he was behaving strangely as well? Ianto hadn't noticed that. Hopefully the Captain hadn't picked up on his brooding and was suspecting anything. "No, it's not about Tosh and Owen."
"Then what?" Gwen was determined now not to let it slip. She had tried several times to talk to Jack, but she could have had a nice conversation with Janet and would have gotten more information than from the Captain. Ianto wouldn't get away now.
"Listen Gwen, I really appreciate your concern, but this is..." The rift monitor chose this moment to blare its alarm out and Ianto had never been so thankful for it. Quickly stepping out of Gwen's reach, he hurried over to the station that had once belonged to Tosh and was now his working space. He was already tapping away on the keyboard when Jack joined them.
"What's up?"
"Looks like something came through. The readings are not conclusive, it could be anything from a space hamster to a world destroying bomb. Although I think, we can rule out the bomb, the energy readings are too low," Ianto reported while looking through the information on his screen.
"Okay, Ianto you're with me. Gwen, you stay at the Hub and keep monitoring the area around the rift spike. Comms open at all times."
Gwen nodded and took the place at Ianto's station, already pulling up any CCTV footage of the respective area. "I have a lock on it. It seems to be an animal of some kind." Gwen tried to zoom in on the picture the CCTV camera provided her with. "I can't really make out what it is. It seems to be very furry, but that's about everything I can give you for now. Sorry guys."
"Furry? Now that narrows it down. Could be that space hamster after all," Ianto joked over the comm. He was busying himself with preparing their weapons, while trying not to bang his head on the window every time Jack hurled around another bend.
"Well, when you get a closer look make sure to give me a more accurate description, maybe I can find a reference to it in the data base."
"Will do." Ianto checked the clip of his automatic once more before shoving it back into the holster. "Jack, how are we doing this? Usual Torchwood style?"
"And that would be?"
"Bring the car to a screeching halt, jump out and run towards the creature, hoping that it won't escape, or worse, decides to attack." Ianto's voice was serious but the twinkle in his eyes told Jack that he wasn't actually against that modus operandi.
"Yup, Torchwood style." Jack ripped the wheel around and steered the car around the last bend before jumping on the breaks.
Ianto was out of the car before Jack could even release his belt and the Captain cursed when he saw the young man running towards the furry creature. "Gwen, maybe you should have mentioned that the thing is the size of a grizzly!" Quickly jumping out of the car, Jack drew his gun and set after Ianto.
"Sorry, I couldn't make out the size," Gwen's voice came over the comm. "Be careful."
Ianto had almost reached the creature and was pulling out the tranquilizer pistol, already loaded with an anaesthetic dart and pointed it at the creature when it suddenly jumped out of the corner it had crawled into and growled menacingly before heading off into the next alley, the dart with the narcotics missing its target by a few inches.
"Fuck." Quickly reloading the weapon, Ianto picked up the pace and followed the creature, which ran surprisingly fast on all fours and extended the distance between them with every passing second.
"Quickly Ianto, you're losing it."
"Thank you Gwen," Ianto hissed back and tightened the grip around the weapon when he neared the end of the alley. He saw the creature skidding left into the next street and pumped his legs to keep up. His lungs were burning and he knew he couldn't maintain that speed for long. When he reached the end of the alley, he grabbed on to a drainpipe and used it to hurl himself around the corner stopping in his tracks when the creature was no where to be seen. "Gwen, where is it?" Panting heavily, Ianto bent forward, pressing his hand to his knees, trying to catch his breath. "And where's Jack?"
"The creature has turned left at the next corner. Jack has taken a turnaround and is coming from the other side, intercepting the creature."
"I'm on my way." Setting himself in motion again, Ianto ran along the street and headed left into the next alley. He slowed down when he couldn't see the creature, but let out a relieved sigh, when he saw Jack's figure at the far end of the alley. "Do you have any visuals, Gwen?"
"No, sorry."
"Be careful, Ianto. When it feels cornered it will probably attack," Jack's calm voice filtered through the comm.
Both men started to walk slowly through the alley, carefully checking every dark corner for the creature. They had almost met in the middle, when Ianto suddenly saw something moving in the shadows. But before he could even lift his weapon, a large furry ball crashed into him and razor sharp teeth were trying to rip his throat out. Managing to get his hands free, Ianto grabbed the creature by the throat, squeezing as hard as he could in the hope it would stop the attack.
Unfortunately, that move made it even wilder and the claws were now tearing into his suit, thankfully only barely scratching the skin below. Then the weight was suddenly gone and Ianto took a second to catch his breath before the sounds of Jack trying to out-growl the animal filtered back into his perception. Scrambling back to his feet, Ianto grabbed for the weapon he had dropped and aimed at the creature, one dart with heavy narcotics hitting its target instantly. The dose should have been enough to knock an elephant out, but it didn't even slow the creature down.
Ianto only marginally heard Gwen screaming for a status report, but there was no time for that now. Fumbling for another dart, Ianto didn't waste time with loading the gun, but lunged himself at the creature, determined to push it off of Jack. The momentum carried them both over and he crashed into a rubbish container, his arms firmly around the neck of the creature, pulling it on its back while plunging the dart into the vulnerable skin of its throat.
The creature howled in pain and fear, fighting the grip and trying to roll them over. Ianto felt his grip slip and knew that it would be his end, if the creature got free now. The claws would rip him apart. But just as he lost his hold, Jack was next to him and pulled the creature back down, while plunging yet another dart with narcotics into it.
They were now lying almost next to each other, both holding on to the struggling creature with all their might, when Jack suddenly turned his head and looked at Ianto.
"Do you want a Civil Partnership?"
"What?!" He couldn't have heard correctly, maybe the creature released some sort of poison and Ianto was already in a delirium or had Jack really just asked what he thought he had asked?
"A Civil Partnership, do you want one?"
Okay, obviously no delirium or this was really a cruel world.
"I don't think this is the time and the place to discuss this." Ianto shouted, changing to a groan a second later when the creature managed to push a limb painfully into his groin.
"I think it's the perfect time," Jack panted and tightened his grip on the creature, feeling it finally getting weaker. "So, what is your answer? Do you want to have a Civil Partnership with me?"
Ianto just stared at Jack with an open mouth and couldn't believe what was happening. Here they were in a filthy alley, wrestling with an alien creature, both smeared with blood and just a few seconds ago fighting for their lives and Jack popped the question. Could it get any more Torchwood?
Feeling bubbles of laughter travelling up from his belly Ianto just couldn't stop himself and burst out laughing. His body was shaken from laughter and tears were streaming down his face, while he still held on for dear life to the creature that by now was merely twitching. He threw his head back and laughed so hard that the muscles in his belly protested and his throat became raspy after a few minutes. But when he looked at Jack the laughter died in his throat. His Captain was wearing the most horrified and hurt expression he had ever seen on him. (
"So that's a no then?" Jack finally croaked out, pushing at the now unconscious creature to get it off of him, so he could give into the urge to run away. Far away.
"What? No! I mean yes." Ianto chuckled when complete confusion settled on Jack's face. "I would love to have a Civil Partnership with you!"
Both men cringed at the loud squeal that suddenly sounded through their comms. "Yes! Congratulations!" Gwen's voice was an octave higher than normal, showing her excitement.
"But you were laughing at me," Jack pouted, not yet believing Ianto.
"I wasn't laughing at you, Jack. I was laughing at the situation. Come on you have to admit to pop the question while we were rolling around in the dirt, wrestling with an alien creature is pretty unique."
"Torchwood style," Jack finally grinned.
"Exactly!" Ianto wanted to kiss Jack senseless now, but he couldn't even move his arms. The creature was lying squarely on top of them and kept him from reaching out to his soon-to-be husband. "Let's get rid of this thing." He started to wriggle, while Jack was pushing at the dead weight. Together they managed to shove it to the side so they could scramble out from beneath it. When Ianto tried to get up, a sharp pain shot through his body and he fell back to his knees, clutching his side.
"Ianto!" Jack was at his side in an instant, his hands already searching for injuries.
"I'm fine. Just a few minor cuts and I think I might have a cracked rib." Trying to get his breathing under control, Ianto relaxed his muscles and slowly sat back on his heels. Jack was hovering over him, not believing a word he had said.
"You're going to the hospital," Jack said, worry clearly lining his words. "Gwen, call UNIT, they need to deal with the creature this time. Give them our location and tell them to act quickly. The creature is sedated now, but it won't last for long. I have to take Ianto to the hospital." Patting his pockets, Jack fumbled another dart out and plunged it into the creature for good measure. It would help no one if that thing would get away because UNIT wasn't quick enough.
"Jack, we can't leave it here," Ianto protested, when Jack was grabbing him under the arms and tried to pull him to his feet.
"Yes, we can. You need a hospital now. The creature is heavily sedated and UNIT is on their way."
"You only want to see me in hospital scrubs," Ianto teased.
"No, I want you to be checked over and patched up properly so I can have my wicked way with you later to celebrate our future Civil Partnership." Jack's beaming smile could have lit all of Cardiff.
"Maybe you should switch your comms off now, guys," Gwen reminded them of their audience. "I'll take care of dealing with UNIT. Ianto, get better! Jack, take good care of him! And congratulations, you two."
"Thank you, Gwen," both men replied in chorus and smiled at each other when they switched their comms off.
"Now, let's get you to the hospital and then I will take very good care of you later."
"Torchwood style?"
"Torchwood style," Jack confirmed with a dirty grin.