Past Tense, Future Tense
The secret door into the hub slid shut and the automatic lock snicked back, once again allowing for the grubby little tourist office to open again to any misplaced tourists. They were going to need another front sometime fairly soon, he thought, what with the redevelopment, again. Time for Torchwood to reinvent its outside appearance or perhaps not, that was a question for another time. Right here, right now, what Ianto wanted was an hour or two to himself without the team around, without Jack to distract him, most of all without Tarleton over his shoulder, ordering him around.
It had been almost two months since he had come back from London. The latest tests showed him clear, completely cured, and Martha and Chris had finally cleared him for fieldwork again. He was actually looking forward to something, anything even a weevil hunt. Though it had led to the first argument between he and Jack since he had gone back to his life.
"You know, Gwen asked to be taken off active field duty, except in emergencies, says she is getting too old for it."
"Yes, what of it? She is a bit more than ten years older than I am. Besides, she has the children, and Rhys, which comes to the same thing."
"Not on paper, she isn't. Officially you are only four years younger than she is. You could…" he said cautiously.
"Do not finish that sentence, Jack," Ianto said, his voice sharp. There was a noticeable temperature drop as he continued. "I suggest if there is a conflict between the job and our relationship, Sir, then it is time that one of those things will have to be reevaluated." He didn't need to say more, Jack knew better than to suggest which one should change.
"I just got you back, Ianto. I don't want to lose you," Jack said, reaching out for the younger man. Nothing more was said, nothing had to be. Now he was once again cleared for the field and nothing was happening. It was almost frustrating.
In the office Ianto had little to do that did not involve being in the archives and right now that was the last place he wanted to be. Dr. Tarleton was driving him mad and he was fairly sure it was deliberate. Also there was something about the files and equipment he had been requisitioning that didn't add up. He thought something was odd before he went up to London but he hadn't been able to pin anything down and had been too tired to try too hard.
So when Tish was out for a week or so dealing with both the flu and her latest pregnancy he had volunteered to take over. He hadn't manned the tourist office regularly in years but it would give him a chance to go through the files and figure out exactly what it was that there self taught weevil behaviorist was really up to. Unfortunately the man had made himself at home in Ianto's domain while he was gone, and at the moment evicting him would serve even less purpose, making him even more suspicious. Slipping into the back office, Ianto pulled the program up on his laptop and started to run a few 'special programs' that Tosh had helped him develop years ago for an occasion just like this one. He didn't trust the man to log all the files that he was taking, but to find them he would still have to do a search of the inventory and database. The program they had built was designed to log all activity in regards to the archives, something they had sorted after the debacle with Susie and the glove. Now that little piece of software was going to help him figure out exactly what Tarleton was up to. Setting it to run, he punched his comm into internal to keep himself apprised of everything that was going on below. It was one of the things that helped keep up his reputation for clairvoyance.
"Rift activation, looks like a pretty big one," he heard Patrick call out urgently. Ianto put down the requisition he had been killing time with while his searches ran and turned on the CCTV of the main floor of the hub.
"Where?" That was Thomas, ever practical, much like David had been.
"What kind?" Jack had called from the railing outside his office, his full attention on the Irishman and his computer. "And someone cut that damned alarm, I don't think that anyone in the building is unaware that we have activity."
"Sorry, Jack, been recalibrating the alarm system," Jake said putting himself out from under the desk and punching in a code and the noise ended suddenly.
"Ok, folks, the rift spike, it's…Shit, it's practically on top of us!"
"Where?" Jack was still calm but moving down the stairs at speed.
"Narrowing it down, it looks like its coming through up on the Quay, practically on top of…"
"Jack, I've been monitoring, I've got it," Ianto said, watching the startled look on the CCTV as he pulled his sidearm out of the drawer and clipped the holster on. He pulled his jacket to cover and headed out the door as the first flap broke out below.
"Ianto, we're on our way up. Don't go out there without backup!" Jack shouted over the comm system, even as he directed Jake and Thomas out the lift with the idea of hitting from the other direction, and called Chris to join him. Too late, he knew that as he flung himself up the stairs two at a time. He burst into the tourist office like a tornado, Chris following behind, having caught him up on the straight away.
"Jack," Patrick shouted from his monitoring station. "We have life signs, at least one."
Ianto opened the door to the tourist office cautiously. As anxious as he was for action, he might be stir crazy, but he wasn't mental, or no more than the average Torchwood employee. It was windy and damp outside, practically empty, which would cut down on the number of retcons he had to administer, he thought vaguely, as his eyes automatically searched and discarded…there.
Ianto took one step toward the familiar figure, realizing instantly who it was. He started to say something, to cue his comm. when the man turned and almost collapsed in his direction. He dove forward and caught the smaller man before he hit the ground. Then he saw the blood. "Tell Jack," the man said, clearly struggling to stay conscious.
"Shhhh, there is a doctor coming. Tell him yourself."
"Tell him…five, only five now," he coughed, gripping Ianto's hand tight enough to leave marks as he lowered them both to the ground.
"Jack, get up here now! It's John Hart, he's been shot."
