Torchwood:The Early Years
Okay, edited this as, although people like the content, the repition was annoying. Gotta agree too. Am taking out anything that isn't Ianto/Jack, Gwen/Rhys, Owen/Toshiko in a chapter. So this is all Janto, so for those of you who've already read it, please re-read and tell me what you think of new format. And those you haven't you'll have to read all chapters to get the proper story. I'll leave a bit of each chapter in all of them so that it's easier to follow, but please give it a chance : ) xxxx
Ianto Jones
No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in
but we feel like we do when we make fun of him
cause you want to belong, do you go along?
cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong
it's not like you hate him or want him to die
but maybe he goes home and thinks suicide
or he comes back to school with a gun at his side
and any kindness from you might have saved his life
heroes are made when you make a choice
For Ianto Jones everyday was the same as the one before. He would get up, get dressed, get on the school bus and, get kicked, thumped, pinched and every other cruel thing teenagers could think of to do to him. School wasn't exactly a safe haven for him either. Whenever he told the teachers what was happening, they would say that he was just attention seeking. After all he didn't seem like the type to get bullied; handsome, sweet, witty and clever. Although Ianto knew, just like the students of the school, the teachers thought he was weird too. He didn't exactly dress like every other teenage boy in his school, or even his class for that matter. Ianto wore his school uniform just like everyone else, except he wore his converse and a black hoodie. Outside of school, Ianto dressed 'strangely', apparently. 'Tight jeans, t-shirt, hoodie and black converse, how is that strange?" Ianto always thought.
"Hey everyone, Freaky Jones is getting on!" A girl shouted as Ianto stepped onto the school bus.
"Ya all right, Ianto?" Tony the bus driver asked.
"Yeah right, before I get on the bus in the morning." Ianto muttered.
"Just ignore them." Tony smiled reassuringly.
"Ok." Ianto mumbled, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, Jones. So what freaky stunts you been going this weekend?" Jamie Aughton the 'cool' guy asked.
"Shut it, Aughton." Ianto muttered as he walked down the bus.
"Temper, temper, Jones." Jamie called after him.
Ianto stopped suddenly when he got to his seat at the back of the school bus. Another teenage boy, with what Ianto assumed was his younger brother were sat talking absent-mindedly.
"You're in my seat." Ianto murmured.
"Sorry?" The teenager asked, not quite meeting Ianto's gaze.
"You're in my seat." Ianto repeated a little louder.
"Sorry, we didn't know, we're new in town. I'm Jack and this is my younger brother, Gray."
"If I was you I wouldn't talk to me." Ianto warned, throwing his bag into the corner and sitting down.
"Excuse me?" Jack asked, slightly shocked.
"Hey, newbies, I wouldn't sit with him if I were you." Aughton shouted, smirking.
"Jones, is that your name?"
"Yeah, to everyone at school, believe my mum christened me Ianto, though." Ianto replied, leaning back against the window and putting his feet up on the chair.
"Ianto, what does… er… that guy, mean?" Jack asked pointing in Aughton's direction.
"His name's Jamie Aughton, and he means that everyone sees me as a freak and believe me, you don't wanna be labelled with that." Ianto didn't even look at Jack, until he felt Jack's gaze burning him, that is.
"Stop it!"
"What?" Jack asked, slightly shocked at the teenager's outburst.
"Staring at me. It's not right, you'll get people suspecting things and trust me, being a bully victim is not exactly fun." Ianto hissed in a quiet tone.
"Are you trying to protect me?" Jack whispered, sliding away from his little brother slightly.
"No, I don't care about you, I just have experience with the students of St Matthew's High."
"Oh." Jack replied, slightly disappointed.
"Why you so disappointed, trying to make friends with a freak like me isn't something you wanna do."
Jack glanced at his brother then moved closer to Ianto before whispering,
"What if I wanna be friends with a freak like you?"
"You don't, trust me."
"Right, you evil lot, this is ya stop." Tony shouted, before Jack could reply.
Ianto got up before Jack and his brother, while Jack absent-mindedly watched the other teenager walk up the bus. He would have to avoid doing that; Ianto was right, people would figure out. Ianto was gorgeous though.
….
"Morning class." A young teacher greeted cheerfully.
"Morning, Miss Melbrooke."
"Did everyone have a good weekend?"
"Yeah, it was awesome!" A girl exclaimed.
"It was alright." A boy replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"No more crap than usual." Ianto muttered.
"Mr Jones, you know I hate that language in my class. How many times have I told you?" Miss Melbrooke replied softly; she was the only one who believed Ianto was being bullied.
"Sorry, Miss."
"Aw, isn't she sweet, eh, Jones?" Aughton teased.
"Shut it, Aughton."
"Honestly."
"I said shut it."
"You've got a terrible temper, Jones."
Ianto tried to ignore Aughton and focus on his English lesson. Then Aughton kicked Ianto's chair, hard. Aughton pushed Ianto's chair causing Ianto to hit his ribs on the desk.
"Ow."
"Did that hurt, Jones?" Aughton asked.
"Did it?" Aughton's friend, David Price asked.
"Stop it."
Ianto hit his ribs on the desk again.
"What about that, Jones?"
"Sod off!" Ianto exclaimed, standing up and glaring at Aughton and Price.
"Ianto Jones!" Miss Melbrooke yelled, turning round to look at the teenager.
"I'm going. Anything to get away from him and his gits." Ianto replied, heading for the door.
"Ianto, I suggest you take a walk first." Miss Melbrooke replied, sternly.
"You're a twat, do you know that?" Jack informed Aughton, as loud as he could.
"Mr Harkness, you're new so you don't know the rules, I suggest you learn them."
"But, Miss Melbrooke, you know what they're doing to Ianto."
"Jack."
"Be a good little boy now, Jack." Aughton teased.
"Sod off, you arrogant son of a bitch!" Jack hissed.
"Jack Harkness, I warned you, headmaster's office. Now!"
"Don't worry, I'm going."
"I suggest you take a walk as well." Miss Melbrooke suggested, giving Aughton and Price a dirty look before turning back to the board.
Jack walked down the corridor searching for Ianto. He had only known him five minutes but he knew it was wrong what was happening to him.
"Ianto." Jack said when he spotted the other teenager.
"What do you want?"
"Got sent to headmaster's office but, funny thing is, I don't know where is office is."
Ianto smirked.
"Miss Melbrooke doesn't tend to send pupils to the head's office, especially new kids. She's too nice and, new kids tend to be in school a week before getting into trouble."
"Yeah well, there was this kid I met and I didn't like the way people were treating him but it seems like no one ever says anything to stop the bullying so I thought what the hell."
"You're gonna get your ass kicked, you know."
"You're worth it." Jack replied with a smile.
"What?" Ianto asked, stopping walking suddenly.
"You heard me."
"Listen, you really shouldn't have done that. Not that I don't appreciate it but… you just shouldn't have."
"Ssh, I can hear footsteps."
"Shit, that's Aughton, Price and Johnson."
"How did they get out of class?"
"Are you kidding? Aughton and his gang are above the school. We're just lucky that it's just those three."
"Are they looking for us?"
"Yeah, crap, what are we gonna do?"
"Toilets?"
"First place they'll look. And before you say it, no, not the head's office, second place they'll look."
Jack noticed Ianto was stood in front of a storage closet door. He slide his hand past Ianto's thigh and turned the handle.
"What the hell?"
The footsteps were getting closer.
Jack pushed Ianto into the closet and shut the door behind himself.
"A closet, oh, that'll look good when we come out to go to the head's office."
"Come out?"
"Oh my… I didn't mean it like that." Ianto hissed.
"You're gonna have to be quiet or they'll kick both our asses."
"Why do you care about me so much?"
"I don't know, I guess I just see…"
"If you say you see me like a little brother, I'll kill you myself."
"I don't… why do you care?"
"Coz we're the same age, so it would be pretty insulting."
"Ssh, I can hear them."
"What we gonna do?"
"You need to stop breathing so heavy."
"Oh, sorry, would you rather me not breathe?"
"For a shy guy, you don't half have a big mouth."
"Charming, you've only known me five minutes and you're already insulting me."
"Ssh."
"Stop sshing me."
"Shut up or I'll hit it you instead."
"You can try."
The footsteps were really close now.
"Ianto, shallow your breathing otherwise I'll knock you out."
"I can't help it."
"I can."
"What are…" Ianto broke off.
Jack pushed Ianto up against the wall and kissed him. Before Ianto could stop himself, he relaxed into Jack's touch and kissed back. The kiss lasted for what seemed like an eternity but when it broke it felt like there was something missing in both teenagers' lives.
"Have they gone?" Ianto whispered.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Can't believe that."
"I know, I was only defending you."
"Not that."
"What then?"
"You, snogging me."
"You didn't exactly fight me off, after all you're not bloody skin and bone, are you?
"Yeah, well."
"Like you didn't enjoy it."
"What?"
"You relaxed and kissed me back, and don't go denying it."
"They're coming back."
"Oh great, I've switched places with you now."
"Well, in that case."
"In what case?"
"If you're gonna kiss someone, you gotta do it proper."
"Not really the time or place, do you think?"
"If I can hear your heart pounding, so can they."
"They're getting closer again."
This time Ianto pushed Jack up against the wall and kissed him, hard. Jack wrapped his arms round the other teenager and felt Ianto relax again.
Ianto had never kissed a boy before but for him, there was something about kissing Jack. It wasn't weird, more natural.
"They've gone again." Ianto replied, looking at the shocked expression of the other teenager.
"Oh, does that mean we have to go to the head?"
"I don't know if I want to."
"Don't tell me you enjoyed kissing me." Jack smirked.
"Have you ever kissed another lad before?"
"No, I haven't, wow, I think I'm gay."
"So you've never thought it before?"
"No, whenever I kissed a girl I thought that the reason it felt weird was coz I didn't love her."
"Oh."
"Have you ever, you know, kissed a lad before?"
"No, not even as a dare."
"Oh, Truth or Dare. Love that game, well, I'll have to come round to yours then." Jack smirked again.
"What you looking at?"
"Your eyes."
"What?"
"Your eyes, they're amazing and…"
"Blue?"
"Yeah, but something else."
"I can't believe a lad is coming on to me."
"Ianto, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what?"
"Can I kiss you again, just to make sure?"
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, it might help you as well, you know, kill two birds with one stone."
"I guess, but you'll have to bear with me, you know."
"I won't rush you, honest." Jack smiled, waiting patiently for the young teenager to compose himself.
"Oh, sod it."
Before Jack had a chance to comprehend what was happening, Ianto kissed him again, his hand In Jack's hair while clung tightly to the other teenager. Jack unconsciously ran his hand down Ianto's spine causing content shivers to run through the teenager.
"Well, I think we've solved that mystery." Jack said breathlessly.
"Guess we have. I think we should go now, Miss Melbrooke knows all my hiding places."
"I could just imagine her face if she caught us in here together."
"I think you're gonna get your wish." Ianto whispered, as he heard the handle turn.
The door opened and Miss Melbrooke stood there smiling.
"Jack, I see Ianto's been showing you his hiding places. I'm sorry, Ianto, you know those boys are high up in social status. I'm just glad they don't know about your unusual hideouts. And I hope you two become friends, you seem to connect."
"I think we'll be great friends, Miss Melbrooke." Jack smirked.
"Good, now, come on you two, you don't want them to find you."
"Thanks, Miss Melbrooke."
…..
The rest of the day passed unusually well. Well, until dinnertime that is…
"Oi, Harkness is your name, isn't it?" Aughton asked, the whole of his gang glaring at the two teenagers.
'Oh, crap.' Ianto thought. 'Once these guys started calling you by your last name, you knew you were in trouble.'
Jack kind of figured that with the whole 'Jones' situation.
"Yeah, Jack Harkness. Don't believe we were formally introduced, Jamie. What's that short for if you don't mind me asking, maybe Jamelia?"
"You what?" Aughton asked angrily.
"Calm down, I'm just trying to make conversation."
"Jones, are you actually gonna be friends with this idiot?"
"Hey, I thought we were chatting here, you can leave Ianto out of this."
"Listen, Harkness, no one ever calls Jones by his first name."
"Yeah well, I just did."
"Jack." Ianto hissed.
"Aw, looks like Jones has got himself a little boyfriend." Aughton teased.
"Aughton, why the hell do you always have to pick on people?" A young girl asked, glaring at Aughton.
"Shut it, you." Aughton ordered,
"Hey, don't talk to her like that! She's just asking you a justifiable question." A young boy spoke up.
The young girl blushed; he was the only cool boy in school who didn't hang around with Aughton and his gang and the girl had a MAJOR crush on him.
"Careful Williams, just coz I ain' smacked you before don't mean I won't ever." Aughton threatened.
"Leave him alone, or else." The young girl jumped in.
"Or else what, Gwen?"
"Remember, I know your full name, Aughton."
"Stop right there!"
"Why should I, when we were dating you never stopped…"
"Never stopped what?"
"You know exactly what."
"You're the one who was asking for it."
"Shut the fuck up, Aughton!"
"Why should I, Cooper?"
"Oh, so you callin me by my last name now, are you?"
"Is that a threat, Maximilian James Aughton?"
"That's it, Gwendolyn Lillian Cooper!" Aughton replied angrily, raising his fist to hit her.
"Hey Aughton, you wanna hit her, you'll have to go through me first!" The young teenager threatened, standing up and stepping in front of Gwen.
"Stay out of this, Jones!"
"You scared I might beat you down again?"
"Shut it, Jones!"
"What if I don't want to, 'bout time someone brought you down off your throne."
"I'm warning you, Jones." Aughton hissed.
"Don't bother, just leave her alone. A guy shouldn't hit a girl, it's wrong!"
"She shouldn't have pushed me!"
"What, like Toshiko Sato did? Is that why you put her in hospital for a week?"
"I've warned you about bringing that up."
"Why shouldn't I bring it up? You've never done anything for me. You made primary a living hell for me, now I'm gonna return the favour."
"Oh, look who it ain't." A young teenager's voice spoke up, mockingly.
"Harper. Thought you were suspended til the end of the term, we're only half way through it."
"Yeah well, my mum said that if I didn't misbehave and if the school would take me back early, I could come back."
"And?"
"Turns out Miss Melbrooke thinks I'm just a 'misunderstood' teenager who with the right help, will get better."
"That's bollocks and we both know it."
"Yeah, well, I'm also the only one who can stop you, like that." Owen Harper, the bad boy rebel replied, clicking his fingers.
"You ain't gonna stop me, Harper. There's only been one person who's ever knocked me down and unfortunately we all know who that is."
"Yeah and I suggest you leave the girls alone from now on, otherwise, you'll know what I'll do." Ianto warned.
"I'll get you one of these days, Jones, when your friends ain't around to protect you." Aughton threatened, before turning and walking out he dinner hall.
"Well, Jones, have to be honest, thought you'd lost your bottle after last time." Owen congratulated.
"Owen, you can call me Ianto, I know, we ain't exactly best mates but we still hang out together sometimes."
"Who's this?" Owen asked, pointing to Jack.
"This is Jack Harkness, he's new in town."
"Hey, Owen Harper. You better look after him coz if I find out Aughton or his gang have hurt him, I'll kick your ass."
"Ok, I will, promise, after all I've got a little brother so I've got experience when it comes to protecting people."
"Good."
Just then the bell rang for the end of dinner, which meant form time.
…
"Afternoon class." Miss Kelly greeted; she was their Maths teacher.
"Afternoon, Miss Kelly."
"Morning Miss, and may I say you're still as stunning as when I left."
Owen was a bad boy rebel who liked nothing more than to flirt with all the girls, and Miss Kelly and, even Miss Melbrooke were no exception.
"Owen Harper, nice to have you back, maybe you can keep Jamie Aughton under control. Oh and by the way, Owen, I am a little too old for you."
"But Miss Kelly, age is but a number…"
"Take a seat, Owen, and if you're going to flirt with Rosemary then please do it while I am not looking."
"You got it, Miss but I think I'm gonna sit next to Toshiko Sato." Owen smiled.
Toshiko Sato was a young, quiet Japanese girl who seemed to be a genius in everything; maths, I.T, Science and, even English.
"Hey Owen, need some help, eh?" The young girl asked, giving him a smile.
"Tosh, I was hoping we could talk, about us, you know."
"Owen, it was an accidental kiss at the school's Christmas party that you didn't even remember the next day. I know there isn't an us, you don't need to explain…"
"But Tosh…"
"Owen, please could you tell me what 275 times by 60 is?"
"Are you kidding me?"
A cautious hand went up of the only other pupil in class who was excellent a mental math.
"16.500 Miss."
Everyone looked at the young teenager in shock.
"Yes, Ianto. That is correct, I see your mental math has got better. Well done."
Ianto smiled shyly, causing Jack to smile at how cute Ianto's shyness was.
"Jack, I realise that Ianto might be a lot more good-looking than I am but please could you try and focus on my lesson rather than Ianto."
"Sorry, Miss I just can't believe how good Ianto is at mental math, wish I was that good." Jack smiled apologetically.
"Well, if you ask Ianto nicely enough then maybe he could teach you."
"Ok, I'll think about it."
"You do that, Jack. Right, while Jack's thinking about that, could the rest of you turn to page 239 in your textbooks, please?"
The class moaned a little but did as they were told.
Owen quickly ran over to where Ianto was sat.
….
"I think he likes you." Owen whispered so that no one else could hear.
"What?"
"Jack, the new kid, I think he likes you."
"Don't be daft."
"Then why was he looking at you?"
"Coz I'm too good at mental math."
"That wasn't a look of shock, Ianto, that was something else."
"Shut up, Owen, you've got no idea."
"You like him too, I could tell when Miss Kelly broadcasted that Jack was looking at you, you went red and I saw your eyes flicker in his direction."
"You think I should get with Jack, then why don't you get with Tosh and stop flirting with Rosemary."
"I've just tried talking to her about it but she said that there wasn't an us…"
"That's coz she thinks you're interested in Rosemary."
"Are you serious? Rosemary fancies Marcus."
"Then stop trying to get me with Jack and go over there and tell her how you feel."
"Fine, so long as you tell him how you feel." Owen whispered, sliding off the table and walking back to Tosh.
…
Jack sat down and smiled. He knew it wouldn't be long before that nice young girl Gwen found someone, Jack wondered if she'd get with that Williams lad.
"Ianto, pssht, Ianto." Jack whispered.
Ianto couldn't hear him properly so while Miss Kelly had her back to the class, Jack picked up his bag and ran to the back of the room to Ianto's desk.
"Hey, you." He whispered.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Ianto whispered back, resisting the urge to look at Jack just in case he kissed him.
"Why won't you look at me?" Jack asked softly.
"Coz I'm trying to do my work, and by the way if you wanna stay sat next to me, I suggest you get your book out and pretend you're working, that way Miss Kelly won't suspect anything." Ianto whispered.
"Are you saying that I don't have to work? Although it doesn't matter either way." Jack smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"She knows that… maybe I shouldn't say."
"Say what?"
"Can I tell you something first?"
"What?"
"I love you." Jack whispered softly in Ianto's ear.
"You can't just say something like that." Ianto whispered back, looking at Jack gently.
"But I do." Jack replied, placing a gentle hand on Ianto's leg.
"Anyway, what does Miss Kelly know?" Ianto asked, looking back at the board.
Jack dropped his hand from Ianto's leg and pulled out his book to do some work. Ianto glanced at him for a second and saw the hurt on his face.
….
Twenty minutes later the bell run for end of class, that meant only one lesson left and on a Monday that was art.
"I'm rubbish at art." Jack muttered sadly.
"Come with me, Jack."
"Ianto, we can't, we have to go to our lesson."
"Mr Rogers knows I skip it, in fact I think he expects it now which kinda takes the fun out of it."
"Maybe that's why he expects it coz he doesn't want you to enjoy skipping it." Jack replied, still sad.
"Come on."
"You're showing me another hideout?"
"Well, it's everyone's hideout really, I just come up here during art, helps me express myself better." Ianto replied, settling himself inside the tree house.
"Funny, I knew this kid who loved doing art in his tree house, we chatted a bit, nothing major but we had to move away."
"Why?"
"My dad got transferred to New York, had a major business so me and my mum moved with him. Wish I could have seen him again though, he was alright, really."
"Where'd he live?"
"Hemingway Road."
"Seriously? I lived on that road when til I was about 7. What was his name?"
"Don't know, but I've got this photo from when he was 5. We had it taken together but when I left for New York, we ripped it in half so that the next time we met up we could remember that we'd been friends once." Jack pulled his scrapbook out of his bag and showed Ianto the photo.
"Oh my God."
"What?"
Ianto pulled out his art folder and showed Jack a photo; it was the other half of Jack's photo.
"But that means…" Jack began.
"We've met before. That explains why I felt a connection.
"Why we felt a connection."
"You felt it too?"
"Yeah, soon as I saw you it felt…"
"Strangely natural and when we kissed it didn't seem awkward like it should when you kiss someone of the same sex… just natural."
"Yeah, exactly, isn't it cool?"
"I guess so." Ianto replied unsurely.
"Oh, yeah." Jack replied, a little gutted.
"Jack, I didn't mean it like that."
"Don't worry, it's fine, I just…"
Ianto cut Jack off with a soft kiss and gently pushed him backwards towards the tree house floor.
Jack ran his hand down Ianto's back causing the same content shivers as before.
"Ianto." Jack mumbled into the kiss.
"What's up?" Ianto asked, reluctantly breaking the kiss.
"I told you that I wouldn't rush you."
"You're not, Jack, I want this."
"But Ianto, this is a new experience for both of us and we shouldn't rush it." Jack replied, running his hand through Ianto' hair
"Jack, don't worry."
"Ok then, but not here, right."
"Ok." Ianto replied, kissing Jack softly.
"Is that the bell?"
"Yeah, home time, finally." Ianto kissed him again before getting off Jack and grabbing his bag.
You could be a hero - heroes do what's right
you could be a hero - you might save a life
you could be a hero - you could join the fight
for what's right, for what's right, for what's right