Title: Getting There
Author: Caz251
Beta: janiemc – she is amazing trust me. Thank you again hun x
Prompt: Getting There done with a Torchwood Twist.
Characters: Jack, Tosh, Ianto, Gwen, Andy, Owen, Rose, Mickey, Donna with mention of 10th Doctor.
Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, Rose/Mickey, onesided Andy/Gwen
Rating: pg
Warnings: slash, het
Spoilers: Some plot spoilers for the film Getting There and general character spoilers for Torchwood.
Artist (cover): Caz251
Word Count: 8,182
Disclaimer: I do not own Getting There, nor do I own Torchwood.
Summary: When Ianto Jones decided to go to the Winter Olympics in France to see athlete Jack Harkness he should have gone alone, instead he made it a road trip with his friends. See how getting there can be as good as being there.
AN: This fic is written for reel_torchwood and is based on the film Getting There written so as to give the story a Torchwood twist.
AN2: I will be posting a chapter of this a day until it is all posted, however if you want to read it all at once or to view the artwork it can be found at my dreamwidth account: .org
Chapter One
Ianto Cooper-Jones stared out around his garden out at his friends, they had all gathered at his house so they could finalise their plans for the next day. His twin, Gwen, was holding court with her best friends Tosh and Rose laughing over Andy's antics. Owen was in one corner of the garden with Mickey, no doubt trying to convince him to do something stupid. All Mickey really wanted was Rose's attention, but he didn't know how to go about getting it, or not the attention that he wanted anyway. He was always the source of derision, mainly because he listened to Owen when the other boy suggested some scheme. The last one had been the previous weekend, they had been enjoying a pool party when Mickey had done his now infamous cannonball move, managing to soak them all, as well as the food. Ianto knew that he should try more to rein Owen in, but Andy had insisted that they let Mickey deal with Owen himself. His point had been that Owen would only stop tormenting him in the way he did when he learnt to stand up for himself. Picking up the jug of juice Ianto made his way back out into the garden placing it down on the table in front of his sister. Gwen and Rose smiled at him while Toshiko thanked him quietly, despite having been friends with each other for years Tosh was still quiet, even when it was just their small group. A few minutes later the others all converged on the table, most likely for the fresh juice.
As they all sat around the table Ianto gazed around his friends, this time tomorrow they would have split into two groups, and begun their journey to the Winter Olympics. When he had suggested going to the Winter Olympics Owen had immediately suggested a road trip, something that the others had immediately agreed to. Ianto himself wasn't as keen, he would have preferred to fly straight there, but he'd agreed to the road trip anyway, mainly to keep the peace. He had to admit that it was something that he had always wanted to do, but he would have preferred to have been able to travel with Owen and the other guys rather than with his sister and the girls. Unfortunately that had been their parent's sole restriction on their trip; that he and Gwen had to travel together. Their mother had explained that she didn't want the girls travelling on their own, especially as they wouldn't be able to fix the car if anything went wrong with it, but Ianto was sure that their parents just wanted him to keep Gwen out of trouble.
It had been agreed that everyone would meet at their house and leave from there, taking their own routes but meeting up at key points in the journey. Ianto was sure that his trip was going to be torture, Toshiko was quiet at times, but even she would join in with Rose and Gwen's conversation about boys, fashion and makeup. Ianto may have been gay, but makeup was not something he was interested in, and women's fashion was a far cry from men's. While he didn't mind discussing different guys, he really had no wish to know about his sister's thoughts on the subject.
For the most part Ianto was dreading the journey, but that might be because he just wanted to get to the Olympics. He had tickets for many different events, but he had to be there to get the tickets for the giant slalom, an event he really wanted to see, after all, Ianto's favourite athlete Jack Harkness was competing in the event and was the favourite to win, and Ianto wanted to be in the crowd watching when he did. It was that one event that he had wanted to go to the Olympics to see, while he would enjoy the other events; that was the one that he was looking forward to the most.
Everyone had headed to bed rather early that evening, mainly so that they would be able to wake early enough to get on the road and start their journey. He had suggested that since they were all there they should just leave that night, however his parents had vetoed that idea rather quickly, something that he didn't find particularly surprising. They had not long gone to bed before they were awake again and Ianto was not looking forward to having to drive. After a large breakfast and an even larger coffee he had felt more alive and was more willing to get behind the wheel of his and Gwen's shared car. He needn't have been concerned however as he wasn't even given the opportunity to get behind the wheel.
Once they were out the front door Gwen had thrown her holdall at him to put in the boot with his own, and had then proceeded to get in the driving seat before he even had the chance to protest. So instead of complaining he had got into the passenger seat and buckled himself in before his sister could drive off, while Toshiko and Rose climbed into the back of the car, and Ianto's mother started to run through all her last minute checks, making sure they had money, bank cards and phones. They were also reminded to listen to the chaperones when they got to the lodge, something that Ianto was sure that he heard Owen snort at, but even he promised to be on his best behaviour.
They arranged their first meet up point and said goodbye before both cars drove off, Mickey taking off before Gwen even had the keys in the car. Ianto knew that his sister would be tempted to race the other boys and realised that was probably the reason that he had been made to travel with the girls. He may not have been able to rein Owen in easily, but Gwen was someone he could handle. His sister, while older than him by five minutes, could be a brat at times, but she always seemed to listen to what he had to say and took his advice to heart.
The drive wasn't as bad as he had thought, and the company was actually quite enjoyable. He suspected that Toshiko had spoken to the girls the night before and they had probably agreed that making him uncomfortable would not make for a pleasant journey. They had mostly been talking about the Olympics and how they were all looking forward to hitting the slopes when they got there, well with the exception of Toshiko who was nervous having never skied before in her life. About half an hour into the journey Ianto's phone rang; he looked at the caller before answering it, half expecting it to be their parents checking up on them already. It wasn't though, it was Andy on the other end of the call, he wanted to know how if they wanted to meet up a little earlier and get some food.
Ianto snorted, "Andy, we ate less than an hour ago. How can you need to stop for food already?"
He supposed that he should really know the answer to that one though, he had been friends with the other guys for years, they had Mickey in their car. He quickly checked with the girls, but none of them really cared for food at the moment. He spoke with Andy for a few more minutes, fielding questions about his sister; he really was beginning to wonder about Andy's rather, in his opinion, unhealthy interest in his sister.
Hanging up he turned to look at Gwen, "What is going on with you two? I know that there is something." He really didn't want to know if there was a relationship forming between his sister and his friend, but he also knew that he needed to. Watching his sister's facial expression he could tell that the whole conversation that was about to follow was one that was going to be uncomfortable for her, which made him really curious as to what had already happened.
"He kissed me." Gwen admitted, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she continued to drive. Rose sat forward a bit in her seat, and Ianto could tell that she was just as interested to hear the details as he was. "He wanted to define what we were. Whether we were friends or something more, and I couldn't."
Ianto raised his eyebrow at that, Gwen had always been one who could define a relationship in an instant; it was him that was more stunted socially. Gwen shrugged again, and Ianto could tell that this whole situation was weighing on her. "When was this?" Ianto asked.
"Last night." Gwen said quietly, it was obvious that she had been thinking a lot about what had happened. "He asked what we were, and I said we were friends, but good friends. It was lame I know, but it was all that I could come up with. I mean we are friends, and I think that he is an amazing friend I also think he is cute and sweet. I like him, he's a great guy, but I don't know if I like him."
Ianto sighed, he couldn't believe that he was about to ask his sister for more information than he already knew. He had always maintained that he wouldn't get himself involved in his sister's love life unless she needed him to beat up some jerk that had hurt her, in which case he would be more than willing to get involved. "When he kissed you, did you kiss back? How did it feel for you?"
"Um, not really, I think I was in shock or something. I mean, I had no idea that Andy felt anything for me at all, to be honest I thought he was into you." Gwen told him, shocking Ianto to the core. He had certainly never thought that Andy was gay, and he told Gwen so, listing a few of the people that he knew Andy had dated to prove that he liked women.
Gwen was saved from answering his second question as his phone rang again. He didn't check the display this time, just answered it in a polite voice, "Hi mam."
"I'm not your mam, Ianto." Andy's voice could be heard through the phone, Owen could be heard snorting in the background, Ianto's assumption obviously amusing him greatly.
"Andy. What can we do for you this time?" Ianto asked, wondering what the guys wanted now, but knowing that it was probably directions as Owen couldn't navigate to save himself.
He could hear the nervousness in Andy's voice as he began to speak and knew that whatever I was that he had to say was not going to be good news. "We've had a bit of an accident." He stated before Tosh cut in asking if they were all okay and where they were. Before long they were at the sight of the so-called accident watching as Mickey's car was being placed onto a tow truck, the back wheels punctured. They were outside a fast food restaurant and Mickey had been the one who had been driving so the cause of the accident was obvious to Ianto; food. Andy confirmed it; Mickey had driven backwards into the drive in because they hadn't been given sauce to go with their order.
Ianto was to say the least unimpressed, even more so when Toshiko suggested that they ride with them, Rose quickly agreed with her. However, neither he nor Gwen were on board with the idea and because it was their car they had the casting votes. There was no way that seven of them would be getting into their car, if Ianto's parents found out about it, and they would, they always seemed to know everything, they would go mental. In the end the other boys decided to go back home and just fly to the Olympics, something that Gwen was sorely tempted to do as well. Ianto protested though, the winter Olympics had already started, he wanted to get there before they finished.
Ianto took the wheel then, intending to drive right through until they reached their destination, unfortunately it wasn't long before the girls insisted on a break so that they could get lunch. Ianto reluctantly agreed to stop, on the condition if it was a quick stop and they were back on the road within half hour. When they left the café twenty-five minutes later it was to find that their car was gone and they were now in the exact same boat as the others, with no car to get them to the Olympics. Ianto supposed that he should be grateful that he still had all his event tickets, and that he had kept them in his messenger bag which he kept on him at all times. He didn't feel that great though, not as he called them a taxi, not when he had spoken to the police and certainly not when they arrived home and had to tell their parents that they were now without a car.
