A/N I do not own any of these characters, if I did then Ianto, Tosh and Owen would still be alive. Torchwood is owned by the BBC and RTD.
Ianto's Past Rewritten
"Right guys, there's been a weevil sighting down in Splott but luckily only one this time. The last one was a nightmare, it did my head in, literally." Jack told his team hoping that someone else would volunteer to deal with this one. It was ten at night and although he didn't sleep much, he was shattered and he hoped that this would be the last call out because he just wanted to go to bed.
"I'm sorry Jack but I'm working on this complicated translation programme at the minute and if I leave it now it'll ruin the last few weeks of hard work that I've put into it." Tosh sounded genuinely apologetic but somehow he knew that Gwen and Owen's excuses wouldn't be so genuine.
"I'm in the middle of dissecting an alien corpse. We need a new team member, Jack. Someone who can clear up after us and who will go on field missions as well as catching weevils." Jack knew Owen well enough to know that he just couldn't be bothered to go out catching weevils but he did agree that they needed someone else on their team.
"Owen's right - we do need another team member - and I'm waiting for a call from the police so I cant go, sorry Jack you're going to have to go.." Yeah right she was waiting for a call from the police, Jack thought sarcastically. Gwen just loves the action a bit too much, catching weevils to her is lame and boring but this is work, she shouldn't choose what she can or can't do. Jack stored this information away for their next argument or debate. See what response she'll have to that, Jack thought slyly.
"Okay, I guess it's just me going then, but someone else can clear up the blood and guts from the SUV afterwards." Jack heard Owen groan, as he knew he'd be the one cleaning up. Gwen would always get out of it somehow; Jack never made Tosh clear up even though most of the time she volunteered, so it was Owen who always had to clean up.
Jack climbed into the SUV whilst tracking the weevil, using one of Tosh's pieces of alien tech. He admired Tosh; she was hard working, genuine, beautiful and quiet, although sometimes a bit too quiet. He knew that Tosh had a crush on Owen, maybe she even loved him but Owen never noticed her, the way she looked at him and the way she wanted to talk to him about her feelings for him, but she could never get them across. Jack hoped that one day they might get together and Owen could see what he had been missing, but at the moment he just didn't understand why Tosh was so crazy about him, because he had never been very nice to her or anyone else for that matter. Jack was suddenly brought out his thought when he almost crashed into the weevil that he was searching for. He didn't want to kill the weevil, just keep it out of the way so it wasn't a threat to anyone, so he stopped the SUV and grabbed a tazor, his gun and some weevil spray. He jumped out the SUV and looked around for the weevil, he had seen it a few minutes ago but now all he could see now was shadows, darkness and trees. He heard some rustling to the left of him so he ran in that direction holding weevil spray in one hand and a tazor in the other. He carried on running but he slowed down and the next thing he knew he was being pushed to the ground by what he presumed was a weevil that had landed on top of him. Just as he was about to use the weevil spray, he realised that from what he could see of it, it wasn't a weevil on top of him, it seemed too human.
"Hey, you're not the weevil, are you?" Jack yelled at his attacker.
"What? What the hell? I thought you were the weevil." His attacker spluttered in shock.
"How could you think I was a weevil? I'm far too good looking to be mistaken for one of those." Jack didn't know if he was just plain shocked or if his natural instinct to flirt was just kicking in, even though he should be concentrating on catching the weevil.
"Oh no, you're Captain Jack Harkness aren't you?" His attacker sounded mortified and disgusted. "You can catch the weevil I'm leaving." He told Jack whilst climbing off of him and walking away.
"What? Yeah I'm Jack but why are you leaving and how do you know who I am?" Jack questioned wondering what answer he would get.
"I'm Jones, Ianto Jones and I met you back at Torchwood One quite a few times. You were so busy flirting with the other guys and girls there that you never would have noticed me. Anyway I was just trying to help out with the weevil, but as you're here you can deal with it so I'm going home." As his attacker spoke about Torchwood One, Jack wondered if he would be any good as the team member that they needed desperately, but he decided that if he was right for the job, then he was going to have to get to know him a bit better first.
"Right, Jones, Ianto Jones, I'm sorry I didn't notice you at Torchwood One but can't you just help me with this weevil, just this once, please? I'm knackered and it'll be far easier if you help me." He paused for a second. "And then maybe we could go out for a drink or something after?" The words he spoke sounded kind but the way he suggested a drink sounded as if he was talking about more than just a drink, and Ianto didn't want to be just one of Captain Jack's little shags.
"Enough with the flirting! I know what you're like; all you want is someone different in your bed each night. Everyone knows the famous Captain Jack Harkness is known only because of his reputation for flirting and shagging. So if you think I'm falling for that one, you can think again. I'll help you, just this once, but afterwards why don't you try going to sleep, you know, instead of going out to find a random shag. Then you might not be so tired. Huh?" Ianto barely knew Jack, only his reputation, and already he was angry and shouting at him.
Jack just stared at Ianto; he was so shocked with what he had just said to him that he couldn't think of a comprehendible answer. He couldn't even think of anything flirty to say, and that's saying something.
"Oh, now you're not going to speak to me. Great, well, I guess I won't bother helping you and I'll be off home then." Ianto knew he had stunned Jack; he had silenced the great Captain Jack Harkness and he was proud, but he knew that Jack wasn't going to let him go that easily so he didn't even start walking off, there was no point at the moment.
"No." Jack raised his voice a little to make it sound like he wasn't pleading, "Don't go, you just shocked me with what you said, that's all. Look, I'm sorry. You're wrong though, I don't want you as a one night stand, I was actually wondering if you wanted to join Torchwood Three because we need a new team member and you seem perfect for the job."
Jack was being serious when he asked Ianto about joining their team, although he was pretty sure that he would decline the offer. Jack had been researching possible candidates for a new team member, people who had worked on the other Torchwood institutes around Britain but mainly the survivors from the Battle of Canary Wharf at Torchwood One. He had previously severed all links with Torchwood One but there was no one suitable from Torchwood Two or Four so he had looked through the names of people from Torchwood One and looked at how useful their skills would be working for him. He had considered Ianto as one of these people but quickly dismissed him when he realised that he had disappeared from Torchwood One and there was no way of tracing where he was. Jack was soon brought out of his thoughts as Ianto started shouting at him, although he didn't seem angry at him, just curious and maybe a bit confused.
"Seriously? I come here, attack you, you don't know who I am, you try and flirt with me so I shout at you and now you're offering me a job? Are you crazy?"
"I have been told many times that yes, I am crazy. But I am also sensible and I know a good team worker when I see one and you look just about perfect to me. I'm not trying to flirt with you, I'll stop the flirting completely if you'll just consider the job offer, please?" Jack knew what he was talking about but he didn't know if Ianto would believe him, there was no way that Ianto would say yes to this sudden job offer and if he going to stand any chance of Ianto accepting the offer he was going to have to stop flirting with him and start being serious.
"Wow, you sound desperate, you really do need a new team member don't you?" Ianto paused as he quickly considered the job offer. "Even if I do consider accepting this job that you're offering me, how do you know I have the right qualities and skills that you need for your new team member I mean, I don't really do field work, I used to be an archivist for Torchwood One and I make a hell of a good coffee, but like I said, I'm no good at field work." If Ianto was honest to himself, he really did need a better job because at the moment he was working at a chippy not far from where he knew the Torchwood Three hub was and he needed more money and something more enjoyable than just serving fish and chips.
"Well, you seemed pretty good at field work to me, the way you attacked me earlier would have probably knocked a weevil out and you're good at interrogations and figuring people out, I've also read and heard that you are extremely intelligent, you were an archivist and you make great coffee, so I think you are the best person for this job so please just accept what I am saying and just have ago, even just for a few days to see how it goes. The pay is great, better than what you used to earn at Torchwood One and I'll stop the flirting. I promise." Jack was determined to get Ianto working for him now, he had suddenly realised that maybe he didn't want to accept the offer because he was lacking in self-confidence. Ianto honestly didn't think he was good enough for the job when really, he was probably over qualified; if that was possible when working for Torchwood. Ianto's voice suddenly burst him out of his thoughts as he listened to the Welshman.
"Okay, I accept, you've persuaded me. You can show me what the job is like and then I'll decide if I definitely want it or not. When I'm working I am professional but I don't mind you flirting with me, as long as you're not trying to get me into your bed, because it won't work. I'll be there at nine tomorrow morning but at the moment we need to concentrate on catching this weevil." Ianto knew he had given into Jack Harkness but he knew that it was probably worth it, after all, doesn't everybody have a crush on the famous Captain Jack Harkness?
"You accept? Wow! That's awesome; I thought I was going to work harder to get you to take the job. You won't regret it, I'm sure you'll end up loving it. And I'm not trying to get you into my bed but it is in my natural instincts to flirt and most people love it so I'm sorry, I'll tone it down a bit. Anyway, lets get on with catching this weevil!" Jack was suddenly overjoyed about the prospect of working with Ianto Jones and he was seriously surprised that he didn't need half as much persuading as Jack thought he would.
"Yeah, let's go catch this weevil, Sir." Ianto had already dropped into formalities before they had even started working together so Jack just raised an eyebrow and as they tried to catch the weevil in almost pitch black darkness, he thought about and looked forward to what a different character Ianto was going to be to work with.
