Torchwood Tool Box
Disclaimer: I do not own anything.
Summary: A conversation in the Hub one day leads to some interesting conclusions being drawn about the usefulness of the Torchwood Three members. No connection to the "Immortal Janto" series. Ianto and Gwen friendship.
This idea has been bouncing around my head the last few days and I wanted to expand on it. It takes place in season 2, after Jack returned from the Year That Never Was.
The Rift was unusually quiet the last few days, which was nothing short of a miracle for them. It gave them to catch up on old paperwork and other things that had piled up in the intervening weeks since their last quiet spell. A quiet few days was good, but it ultimately led them to getting very bored, very quickly.
Faintly, Jack's raised voice echoed down from his office as he yelled at some UNIT official who was giving Torchwood Three a problem.
Owen emerged from the Autopsy Bay, a stack of files in his hands, files that contained the reports of his findings on the three alien corpses that he had been working on. He stomped past Tosh's workstation, startling the computer genius enough to draw her out of the translation program that she was running. Gwen peeked out from behind her computer screen, where she was lazily typing up the last of her reports, giving the doctor a questioning look.
"It's official," Owen grumbled, "I have nothing left to do."
"You could always help with the filing," Ianto added, giving Owen a bemused look. "I need to get some work down in the Archives and I don't want to get distracted by the filing."
The responding snort was encouraging.
"Why don't you make some coffee, Teaboy," Owen replied, "and I might considered maybe helping you with the filing."
In Owen-speak, that meant, "I want coffee and I'm baiting you" and Ianto knew it. He raised an eyebrow at Owen, shuffling a few papers on his console. The young archivist knew the doctor well enough to know when to indulge the surly Londoner and when to stand his ground. They had grown to respect each other during the time that Jack had been away.
Loud profanities echoed from Jack's office.
"So, what do you think Jack's yelling about this time?" Tosh wondered, out loud.
"Last I checked, he was supposed to be talking to UNIT today," Ianto replied, leaning forward to put his elbows on his console.
"About what?" Gwen's voice piped up.
A moment later, they all heard, loud and clear, from Jack's office, "I don't care what you think or say, my team is good and I don't need a new one."
All four winced and shared a look. This wasn't good.
Jack had been having similar phone conversations a lot as of late. From what Ianto had relayed back to them, UNIT had wanted to check the continued validity and functionality of Torchwood Three in Jack's absence. The Captain had been very protective of them and they all appreciated him for it.
"He's like a hammer," Tosh mused.
"What?"
"Jack," she elaborated. "If this were a toolbox, he would be the hammer. He's big and brash and very forceful when he needs to be, driving the nail home."
Owen snorted. "And he's got the biggest ego out of all of us."
Gwen giggled some. She looked at Owen. "Well, if Jack's the hammer, then you'd be the wrench, Owen."
"What?"
Ianto rolled his eyes, rising from his chair. "I'm not going to be a part of this conversation," he pronounced, smiling indulgently at them. "I'll make the coffee then." As he walked towards the kitchenette and the much-appreciated and much-overworked coffee machine, it was evident that he was amused by their antics.
"What is this about me being a wrench?" Owen said, directing his attention back to Gwen.
It was Tosh who explained. "Well, wrenches are necessarily for repairing things, like pipes. You're always around to put us back together whenever we get hurt."
"And they can be effective at whacking things when necessary as well," Gwen added, chuckling. The two women shared an amused as Owen fumed a bit. "But everyone knows that the wrench is necessary."
"Fine, if I'm the wrench, then Tosh is the screwdriver."
Tosh gave Owen a questioning look. "How am I the screwdriver?"
"Because you fix things and you're very handy," Owen replied. Tosh blushed fierecely at his very unexpected compliment. "Besides, screwdrivers are just as necessary as wrenches."
"He's right, you know," Gwen agreed. The two looked at Gwen and shared a look. Owen tilted his head to the side and made a face. He moved his hands, miming something that Gwen couldn't see and Tosh started giggling. "What? What is it?"
Tosh managed to control her giggles. "Owen said that you'd be the measuring tape of the team."
"Okay, now I want to hear the explanation of that one," she asked.
"She keeps us in check," Ianto said, as he walked back in, carrying a tray of five mugs of coffee in his hands. As he walked around, handing off the mugs to his teammates, he continued, "Gwen is the one who measures us against the reality and the normal. You might not always want or use the measuring tape, but it's there for the big projects, to keep you in line."
"Aw, thanks, sweetie," Gwen said, smiling at Ianto as she took her mug of coffee. The Welshman set the tray down on her desk, picking up one mug and leaving the last one for Jack, whenever he emerged from his phone conversation.
"Fine, so if Jack's the hammer, Tosh's the screwdriver, Gwen's the measuring tape, and I'm the wrench," Owen commented, "what's the Teaboy?"
"Duct tape."
"Excuse me?" Ianto looked down at Gwen and gave her a confused look.
She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. "You're duct tape, Ianto. Duct tape is important to any project. It keeps everything together and it's probably the most important tool in any good toolbox."
"Gwen's right," Tosh added. "You keep us together, keep us running, and give us coffee when we most need it."
The blush that crossed Ianto's face was endearing and showed his humble appreciation of their acknowledgement of his importance to the team. Gwen stood up and wrapped an arm around Ianto, squeezing his shoulders lightly. Tosh and Owen gave the young archivist appreciative looks. They didn't need words because they could read each other well by now and they were important to one another.
"What's going on out here?"
Jack's voice floated down from above. The four looked up at the bemused Captain and the spell was broken.
"We were just talking," Owen said shortly.
"About what?"
"Oh, this and that," Tosh replied, "and that Ianto's duct tape."
Ianto glared at Tosh and the Japanese woman gave him a teasing smile.
"I knew that. Duct tape has a dark side and a light side and it holds the universe together, just like Ianto does for us," Jack said.
"We need him in our toolbox, just like Tosh is our screwdriver, Owen is our wrench, and Gwen is our measuring tape." They all traded confused looks. How did Jack know? "Though I do have to ask something."
"What?"
"Why am I the hammer?"
Alright, that's it. Hope you liked it. Let me know. Push that lovely blue button that says review to tell me what you think.
As always, I will attempt to have another "Immortal Janto" story up as soon as I can.