Teaching Jack Valentines
Chapter 2 Pre CofE
Mostly fluff XD
Rating T for now but hey, it could get interesting. .
-this is my first Torchwood fic, so If I fail miserably, please let me know. For the good of the fanfiction-reading community.
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You could have cut the tension at the dinner table with a blunt object. Rhys sat in stony silence, chewing his food violently before shovelling more in. Jack ate slowly, watching Rhys with amusement, and shooting glances at Gwen who hadn't touched her lasagne. After 10 minutes of unbearable silence, Gwen set her knife and fork down next to her untouched food.
"Seriously Rhys? Why are you being so bloody sullen?" Rhys paused, a loaded fork stopping mid-way to his mouth. He looked surprised.
"What? I'm just enjoying my food." Gwen rolled her eyes.
"No Rhys, you aren't, you're sulking like a child. I know you aren't happy that Jack's here but you could at least make an effort."
"Make an effort? Why should I when the smug bastard is sat in my flat, eating my food, when I could be enjoying a lovely evening with my wife!" He dropped his fork loudly onto his plate and stood up, scraping his chair back. Jack leant back in his chair, and chuckled quietly. Gwen shot him a 'stop that right now' look.
"I can't believe you, Rhys Williams! Jack's only going to be here until Ianto's finished getting everything ready for him! It's not like he's moving in!" Gwen was shouting now, and had stood up to face her husband. Sensing that it was time for him to leave, Jack pushed his chair back and stood up. Gwen gestured at him without taking her eyes off Rhys.
"You stay right there Jack, I can handle Rhys being an idiot-" Rhys protested but Gwen cut him off and kept talking "-but I am not letting you ruin Ianto's surprise. You know how hard he has worked for this and he wants everything to be perfect for you. So sit down and finish your meal." Jack looked at her, surprised, and sat back down in his chair.
"Yes ma'am." He picked up his fork and looked from Rhys to Gwen and then back again. Gwen looked pointedly at Rhys. Rhys sat down, looking cowed. Satisfied, Gwen sat down with a 'hm!' picked up her fork, and began to eat. The two men sat on either side of her, looking warily at the woman who just moments ago had shouted them into submission. Rhys smiled weakly,
"So, Gwen, how was your day, love?" Gwen swallowed, looking pleased that Rhys was being civil.
"It was great thank you Rhys, nothing massive came out of the Rift today, eh Jack?" she smiled at him.
"Nope, nothing particularly dangerous today, although there was that weird gun those teenagers found in the supermarket-" he laughed.
"Oh yeah! The, what was it, something object transport manipulator!" she giggled and turned to Rhys and explained, waving her fork around in emphasis. "Basically, a ray gun that makes stuff easy to transport, like, point it at a box of shopping and it'll float up in the air and follow you around," Rhys looked from Gwen to Jack.
"Are you having me on? I mean, I know some weird stuff comes through that Rift but you can't just make things float in the air, it's against the laws of physics!" Jack rolled his eyes. Gwen coughed, filling the awkward silence, it wasn't worth the argument. She patted Rhys' arm,
"Of course love. Have you finished your lasagne? I'll get the pudding." She stood up and collected the plates, dumping them in the sink, Rhys could do them tomorrow. She opened the freezer and pulled out her attempt at a trifle, placing it ceremoniously in the centre of the table,
"Tadaaaa!" she presented it, before bursting into a fit of giggles at the state of the trifle. Stifling a laugh, Jack looked up at Gwen,
"I'm sure it tastes lovely, even if it does seem to be . . . mostly cake with some fruit dropped on top . . . but who am I to pass judgement, I rely on Ianto ordering pizzas to keep me going."
Rhys smiled at Gwen, pulling her down for a kiss. "I love you, you silly woman, even if your cooking is an abomination to the human race." Gwen smiled into the kiss and put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Feeling forgotten, Jack cleared his throat,
"Guys, I'm still here." Rhys looked at him, annoyed.
"Just sod off for a second will you? It's Valentine's day and I will kiss my wife whenever I bloody well please."
Jack smirked, "Well I'm certainly not going to stop you, and I was merely reminding you that I'm still here."
Gwen turned to face Jack, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, "God I hope Ianto finishes soon, you two bickering is enough to send anyone crazy."
--
Ianto was almost ready. The moment Gwen had left for home; he had rushed to the archives to collect his box of stuff and brought it back to the main area of the hub. Then, ever so carefully, he had cleared a space in the centre, moving various wires and gadgets out of the way, tripping over them in his rush to get everything ready. When everything was in the right place, he logged onto Tosh's computer and loaded up the music software that he had found a few weeks before. The quiet soothing sounds poured out of the speakers, a mixture of Earth music and alien sounds. The hypnotic melodies wove in and out of each other, sending pulses of excitement through Ianto. This was going to work and it was going to be perfect. As a finishing touch, Ianto pulled the large sofa into the space that he'd cleared, having lugged it up from Jack's rooms the day before. He stood back to admire his work, sighing happily to himself and wiping his sweaty hands on his suit trousers. Now to get changed. God, he hoped Jack would like this; after all, it wasn't as if he had anything to compare it to, at least not on Earth. He hoped. What if he'd got it all wrong and Jack had 'done Valentine's day' but just didn't want to do anymore; maybe the memory of an old love stopped him. Ianto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be fine. He'd collected all the things that Jack liked; the stopwatch, various bits of food, photographs of them, and even this music. It was all designed just for Jack.
--
Back at the flat, Jack, Gwen and Rhys were sat lazily on the sofas. Rhys was slipping in and out of what appeared to be an alcohol-induced sleep. Gwen sat snuggled up to him, his arm around her shoulders, occasionally stroking her hair. Gwen was having a quiet conversation with Jack, trying not to disturb Rhys. After all, Jack had said, she wanted him to be full of energy for later on. She giggled quietly. Jack checked the time on his watch, 8.06. He'd been at Gwen's for almost 2 hours. Surely that was enough time to sort out whatever it was he had to sort out. He slowly stood up from the armchair. Gwen looked at him- warning him not to dare to spoil Ianto's surprise. Jack pulled a face, he wanted to know what was going on, he didn't like not being the one in control of everything. Sighing, he mouthed "Beer?" at Gwen. She nodded and pointed to the fridge. Jack pulled open the fridge and took out a can. Hearing the pop of the opening can, Rhys sat up and turned his head to look at Jack.
"Chuck us a beer" he held out a hand and waved it around. Wondering whether Rhys was likely to catch the can of beer, Jack decided against throwing it and instead walked to the sofa and pressed it into Rhys' hand.
"Cheers mate." Rhys grunted.
Jack slumped back into the armchair and took a long drink of his beer, enjoying the refreshing coolness and the slight dulling of his senses. Within minutes, the beer was finished and Jack was contemplating getting another one. Gwen shook her head. She was right, he didn't want to be drunk when he saw Ianto, he wanted to be wide awake so that he could show the Welshman exactly how much he meant to him. And he meant so much. Jack thought back to the years before he met Ianto. The years when his sole purpose on the Earth was to find his Doctor. It had all changed now. Since the Doctor had come and taken him away, told him that he was wrong. That he couldn't be fixed. Jack sighed. He never ceased to be amazed by Ianto, by the pure love that he showed him, the love and the dedication. The love that had continued, even after Jack had ordered Lisa's killing. The love that always made him feel guilty that he would never, could never match. He clutched his head and shut his eyes. It hurt him to think like this, to truly contemplate how much Ianto affected him.
He took deep breaths and was about to ask Gwen if he could have another beer when the alarm on his wrist strap screeched. He jumped up, pulled back the sleep of his coat and flipped open the wrist strap. A red light flashed- a rift alert. He turned to Gwen who had scrambled out of Rhys' lap to grab her phone which had also rung with the message –Torchwood. She was halfway across the room to get her coat when Jack put out a hand to stop her.
"I'll get it."
Gwen frowned, "But Jack, it's the Rift-"
"I don't care, remember Gwen, hang onto every last shred of your life that you can. I need you to stay here, with Rhys. Please Gwen." Gwen nodded. A quick smile flashed across Jack's face before he pressed a button on the wrist strap to silence it, and ran out of the door. Behind him, he could here Rhys asking,
"What the hell was that, Gwen?" and Gwen's response,
"It was nothing love, it was nothing."
--
Ianto was ready. Everything was in exactly the right place. The atmosphere was perfect and he had drinks on hand. Hacking into Tosh's alarm system had been easy- something which he had not expected- and it had been the work of moments to send out the signal. All he could do now was hope that Jack would do what Jack always did, and tell Gwen to stay at home, to save her relationship.
God he hoped he knew Jack as well as he thought he did.
Ianto sat on the sofa, breathing deeply.
--
Jack flew through the town, running as fast as he could. The wind whistled past him, biting at his nose, ears and cheeks. He hoped Ianto was coping with the rift activity, he hoped Ianto wasn't hurt. The breath caught in his throat and he skidded to a halt, gasping for air. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and a fresh wave of panic washed over him. He started to run again, sprinting across the bay, past the cafés and the water tower, down the slope to the tourist information centre. He flung the door open and skidded to a halt behind the desk, stabbing at the button that operated the door. The door slid open, painstakingly slow and through it, Jack could hear snatches of hypnotic music drifting towards him. His eyes widened and he charged through the door and down the corridor, down the steps and along the corridor below.
--
Ianto heard Jack coming. He straightened his tie and stood in the space before the door, his cheeks flushed with a combination of embarrassment and excitement, a wide grin on his face.
--
Jack stood behind the cog door, watching it slowly roll to one side, he shook his arms by his sides nervously, as if he were trying to make the door roll aside faster. The alarms sounded and he heard the metal gates swing open. He got ready for fight or flight.
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The door rolled open and there was Jack. His Jack.
--
Jack saw Ianto standing before him, dressed immaculately, cheeks flushed, face split into a smile. Jack grinned, shaking his head. He chuckled,
"You bastard."
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What do you think? Do tell (:
Chapter 3 coming sooooon!