Title: Step, Step, Swagger: Part IV
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Genre: Humour, Romance, Drama, mild!Angst
Rating: FRT (PG-13)
Summary: Ianto just wants to fit in. This is how Ianto Jones tries to survive his transfer from the destroyed Torchwood One to Torchwood Three. From the coffee-making, to the gruelling process of putting up with Jack's 'harassment' and Owen's... Owen-ness; this is how it all begins. Slight AU because Lisa doesn't exist.
Warnings: Still pre-Gwen, some violence, forced drug use.
A/N: Spots for dip_eiffel_tea and ricetard . Title from Change by HyunA (4MINUTE), has nothing to do with the fic. This is a very slice-of-life, through-the-years type of story but there's still a solid plot... I think.
I ; II ; III ; IV
/
Ianto grabs his duffel bag and empties it on the floor, shoving a few sets of clean clothes in it, along with his toiletries. He can't go back to work tomorrow; if Edward knows where he lives, he will know where he works and he could never put the rest of the team in that much danger. Grabbing his keys and running to his car, Ianto pulls out his spare phone. He rarely uses it but he doubts that Edward would know of this phone.
"Cardiff Hospital, how may we be of assistance?"
"Hi, this is Ianto Jones. I need to speak with Doctor Justin Hall. Urgently,"
"I'll put you through to his line,"
The jazz music that starts while he's put on hold barely calms his nerves and he starts the engine of his car, exiting the carpark and trying to keep under the speed limit.
"Heya, Yan,"
"Justin! Oh, thank God,"
"What's wrong?"
"Edward, he's in Cardiff,"
Justin splutters, "What! No... How- He didn't even know we were from Wales when we were in Australia!"
"Justin, he left a note in my apartment and the handwriting matches the notes he left me back there,"
"Oh, God. Stay at my place, he won't know about there. The hospital's a little busy now and I'll probably have to stay until tomorrow arvo but call my cell if you need anything and I'll be down there in a flash,"
"Thanks, Justin, you're a star,"
"I know," Ianto can hear the grin in his friend's voice, "Lock all the windows and doors when you get there, yeah? And don't go to work tomorrow, they can live a day without you,"
"Already planned,"
"Get rid of your main phone,"
"I left it at my place,"
"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure, bye,"
Ianto's knuckles go white with the grip he has on his steering wheel and he exhales loudly. God, he has never been more terrified in his life. Not during his grueling days of sticking out like a sore thumb at school, not when he had almost drowned, not even when the attacks destroyed Torchwood One. He grits his teeth and shakes his head, stop thinking about it, stop, stop, stop. He parks his car a block away from Justin's house, in case someone is tracking his car. Grabbing his bag, he speed-walks to the house, relaxing slightly at the feel of the familiar neighborhood. Ianto had lived with Justin for months in the homely suburb and he doesn't even need to look to find his way to his house.
He opens the front door and is slightly overwhelmed. He had forgotten how big the place was. Setting his duffel bag down by the front door, he throws his keys in the bowl on the coffee table. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a figure on the living room couch and his breath hitches in his throat.
Ianto pulls out the gun that Jack had given him, just in case, from the holster on his belt. Flattening himself against the wall, he points his gun at the figure, only to find that it is a ridiculously large plush toy. Laughing breathlessly and putting his gun away, Ianto plops down on the chair. He runs a hand through his hair and wishes he had grown it longer so he could pull at it. Ianto lets his head roll back and he exhales a long, shaky breath.
After a hot shower and a quick meal of sōmen, Ianto puts on a pair of track pants and pulls out the first shirt he sees, a dress shirt unfortunately, and leaves the buttons undone to let some air in through his singlet. He isn't bothered to make his way down the hall to the guest room so he trudges into Justin's bed and cocoons himself in the thick comforter. The silence is deafening and Ianto suddenly feels alone. Grabbing his phone from the pocket in his pants, he calls Javier's phone and prays that the American man hasn't gone back to New York yet.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Javi, I just need to talk,"
"What's wrong, kid?"
Ianto spends hours babbling about anything and everything. When he finally gets around to the topic of his stalker, Javier panics.
"Do you need me to come over? Did you lock the door? Is Justin still at the hospital?"
Ianto laughs quietly, "Calm down, Mother. I'll be fine. I promise,"
"I'm holding that to you, kid,"
Ianto yawns loudly, "Mmm, I think I should catch some sleep. I'll talk to you later, yeah?"
"Sure thing,"
"Say hi to Honey-Milk for me!"
Javier snorts, "Good night Ianto,"
/
Ianto skips down the stairs to the kitchen in a considerably better mood. He makes a bowl of dry cereal and glances at the digital clock on the microwave 6:00AM. He could still get to work on time... The front door opens and closes loudly.
"Justin?" Ianto says through a mouthful of cereal, "How was the hospital?"
He hears a grunt and assumes that it's some sort of a tired reply and leans against the kitchen counter.
"There's some noodles left from last night. Oh, and your orange juice is going bad so you might want to throw it... out,"
Ianto drops his cereal bowl in shock, the ceramic shattering into pieces.
"How did you find me?" Ianto whispers, more to himself than the blonde man in front of him.
Edward is smart, Ianto knows that and he can't help but think of the waste of his intelligence the boy has put into following people. Edward walks toward him and Ianto curses himself for leaving his gun by the couch. He subtly grabs the cup behind him and throws it on the ground, Edward's attention wavering for a split second. Ianto dashes past him, careful to avoid the broken pieces of ceramic and darts toward the back door. He tries to open it but the handle is stuck and he can hear Edward's calm footsteps around the house. Hiding himself in the cupboard nearby, he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
/
"Isn't Ianto usually in by now?" Owen grumbles at Jack, lacking his daily dose of Ianto's magic coffee.
"He's probably still recovering from yesterday," Jack's phone rings and he takes it out of his pocket, "Speak of the devil, it's Ianto," Jack presses the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Jack, oh, thank God, Justin didn't pick up," Ianto's panicked voice makes Jack's gut twist.
"What's wrong?"
"He found me, Jack," Jack can hear the younger man trying not to cry.
"Who found you? Where are you? Ianto!"
"I told you I'd find you," another voice says, faint, as if away from the phone.
Jack hears a gunshot, a pained shout and the line goes dead.
"What happened?" Owen's eyes are wide.
"Tosh!" Jack throws his phone to her, "Trace his phone! Suzie, Owen, get the car ready. I think Ianto's been kidnapped,"
Tosh lets out an audible gasp as her fingers fly over keyboard, "What! But how-,"
"Tosh! Just do it!"
"He's... The phone's in a suburb a few miles east of here,"
"Let's go!"
-
"He's sure got a nice house," Owen says as they pull up to the address Tosh had found, trying to lighten the situation. Susie and Tosh offer him weak smiles but Jack is already out of the car, approaching the house with his gun raised.
The door is already open, predictably and the three follow him in similar stances, pointing their guns into rooms that branch out from the hallway. They hear a car stop in front of the house. Jack waves for Suzie to mark the large window in the living room, Tosh, the back door and for Owen to continue searching the house. Jack points his gun towards the front door and waits for it to open.
"Hands up where I can see them!" Jack shouts at the man who unlocks the door.
"Woah! What's going on? Jack!"
Jack lowers his gun but trains Justin under an intimidating glare. Justin's eyes widen with realization and horror, "Oh, my God, he found Ianto,"
"Who found Ianto?" Jack demands but Justin's reply is cut off.
"Found Ianto's phone and a gun by the back door, found the bullet too, and blood. Looks like our kidnapper covered up the wound so it wouldn't leave a trail out of the house. There's a broken bowl and cup in the kitchen,"
Justin leans against the wall and sinks to his feet, breathing loudly.
"And I found a note," Owen shows them a piece of paper. It's typed,"
Jack grabs the note off him and recites it in a quiet breath.
"How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale.
How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spread his claws,
And welcome little fishes in
With gentle smiling jaws,"
Justin looks up, "Alice in Wonderland? Ianto told me he loved it as a kid,"
Suzie and Tosh join the three inside the hallway.
"Where did he live as a kid?"
"Some little town near a massive river... Oh! And his dad had a boat called the 'Golden Nile',"
Suzie blinks, "Is he leading us to him or mocking us?"
Jack shrugs, "It's a good lead as any. Come on, Justin, you're coming with us. Tosh, find Ianto's childhood home. Suzie, in the car. Owen, keep Ianto's phone with you and give Justin the gun you found. And you," Jack points a finger at Justin, "Explain while we get there,"
Tosh looks worried as Owen passes Justin the gun, "But, Jack, he doesn't know about Torchwood,"
Justin laughs, "I used to work in Torchwood One. How do you think I kept such an awesome friendship with Yan?" Justin's face falls slightly at the mention of his kidnapped friend.
"Weapons training?" Jack asks.
"Of course,"
Suzie and Tosh still look slightly dubious and they lag behind the others.
Justin turns around and gives them a firm look the usually polite, shy doctor never used, "Well, come on then!"
/
Ianto groans as he blinks himself awake. He's not exactly sure if his eyes aren't working or it's extremely dark but he goes with the latter because he can see a sliver of evening light through the door. He tries to move but a searing pain in his shoulder and the more obvious reason, being tied to a chair, stop him from so much as shuffling. His neck aches and he finally remembers the day's events. He tries not to cry, Ianto Jones does not cry but he had promised that he'd be fine and it makes him sick to think of how worried Justin is. He feels the bandage on his shoulder and is somewhat grateful to Edward for fixing it up but he's very sure the con of being kidnapped outweighs the pro of a hole in his arm.
The lights flicker on ominously and he looks around. He seems to be in a shed of some kind but it's been cleaned. There's a bed in one corner and an open door leading to a bathroom. There's something familiar about this place but his eidetic memory is failing him through the haze of whatever Edward drugged him with. The smell is overpowering, like antiseptic. Ianto sniffles, eyes closing in pain. The room smells like a hospital, Ianto couldn't stand hospitals or doctors for that matter, with the exception of Justin and Owen.
"Awake, are you?"
Ianto lifts his head and looks at the man who appears. Edward has so much potential in his curious eyes and Ianto doesn't answer. Edward holds up a bowl of pasta.
"Want something to eat, pet?"
Ianto has a disgusted grimace on his face, "I'm not hungry,"
"You will be,"
Ianto snarls at him. He had gone days without eating before. Life training, his cadet leader had called it but Ianto had always known he was being picked on. His throat is painfully dry, though, and he has to swallow all his pride to utter another word.
"Water, please,"
"There's a good boy," Edward leers and presses a bottle of water to Ianto's lips.
Resisting the urge to spit in Edward's face, Ianto swallows and breathes in, "Where am I?"
Edward grins, "I really did fix this place up, didn't I? Your eidetic memory can't help you now,"
Edward draws his gun out from his pocket and Ianto turns his head away instinctively.
"There, there," coos Edward, "You listen to me," Edward holds the gun against Ianto's head, "I'm going to untie you and lead you to the bathroom. You're going to strip and take a shower and brush your teeth. Then you'll put your clothes back on and back to the chair it is. Anything funny and I'll put a round in your head. Got it?"
Ianto nods, breathing heavily as his bonds are loosened and he's led over to the small bathroom. Ianto shudders when he undresses, feeling Edward's greedy eyes over his scarred back. Edward doesn't let him close the shower curtain and Ianto picks up the bottle of shampoo. He tries not to shake when he sees the familiar brand of soap and shampoo he uses, focusing on scrubbing every unfamiliar feeling off his body. The water soaks through his gauze bandage and Ianto hisses quietly, rinsing his hair. Ianto steps out of the shower and Edward passes him a towel with which he pats himself dry. Ianto dresses himself and begins brushing his teeth, wondering if the mirror in front of him would shatter. Nope, the guy's got a gun to my head. Bummer. Edward gestures at him to sit down on the closed toilet seat and Ianto obeys. He groans loudly when Edward unwraps the soaked bandage around his shoulder and replaces it with a clean one.
"Hush," Edward says, almost, almost tenderly and Ianto flexes his arm experimentally.
It doesn't hurt as much as it did before but it still stings and Ianto is so, so exhausted; he just wants to sleep.
"You look tired," Edward hums, tying him to the chair again, propping a pillow behind his head, "I'll help you sleep,"
Ianto trembles with fear as he sees Edward pull a syringe and a bottle out of a drawer in a table nearby. God, Ianto hates syringes, hates hospitals, he even tries to avoid any type of medication as much as possible, "Please, please, no,"
Edward shushes him and Ianto's eyes burn with hot tears when he feels the needle pierce his skin. His eyes flutter closed without his volition and Ianto tries blinking but he's so tired, he just wants... to... sleep.
/
A/N: Hehehehehe. Sorry for the late update. I promise I won't make Ianto suffer too badly :3. Corrections are extremely welcome because I constantly miss things. The next chapter or so will be a little more angstier than usual but I plan on making the chapters after that more silly, etc.