A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and PM's I had received, which means I am keeping you interested...lol Thanks to my beta Gina who had been ill...happy you are feeling better. This chapter is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine...
DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know... Enjoy!
Chapter Five: Now Hiring...
Ianto woke up and discovered that he was in bed alone.
He looked over at the clock on the nightstand.
It was 0500 hours.
He reached for his sweatpants and climbed out of bed.
He went downstairs and found Jack sitting in the dark, staring at the computer screen.
"Are you alright?" Ianto asked softly, walking towards him.
Jack nodded.
"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come down and check on things," he explained. "The Rift seems to be behaving," He added. "This is great news for us." Jack glanced towards the TARDIS. The wistful look on his face, that didn't go unnoticed by Ianto.
"Do you regret not accepting the Doctor's offer of spending the night?" Ianto asked, looking in the direction of the ancient Blue Box that was part of Jack's life and in some ways, still is.
"A little," Jack admitted. "But it's obvious he wants to be alone with Martha."
"Yeah," Ianto agreed, his heart feeling light.
Jack reached up and pulled Ianto's head down until their lips met.
"I love you." he whispered to the younger man.
"I know," Ianto replied. "But it's nice to hear." he kissed Jack on the tip of his nose. "Why don't I go and start the coffee?" he suggested. "I have a feeling we are going to need plenty of it."
DWDWDW
"Morning," Martha greeted cheerfully as she walked into the console room. The Doctor's brown eyes twinkled as she reached up to ruffle his hair. "Did you sleep well?"
"I did," he admitted. "Considering…" he smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"Considering what…?"
"You left a puddle of drool on my pyjamas' top…"
"Sorry…"
"It's my favorite…"
"Oi, okay I'll put it in the wash…happy?"
"Handwash." He corrected.
"If it makes you happy," she grinned.
"It does." he replied, wishing he could wake up every morning with Martha drooling on him.
"I suppose next, you're going to tell me you have a special washing powder for it," she said jokingly. He scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face as he looked around the room to avoid her. "Are you kidding?" she asked in disbelief.
The TARDIS hummed lightly agreeing with Martha.
"Well…." He said, tugging on his ear.
Martha giggled softly to herself as she walked to the kitchen and returned with their breakfast.
"Thank you," he said, taking his mug of tea and toast spread with marmalade.
"You're welcome," Martha said, looking at the strange symbols on the monitor. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Searching for unusual signals, the L'caarthynites on the ground is the frontline defense, preparing the way for the rest to come and destroy the planet," He replied, before taking a huge bite of toast. "Mmmm, you make good toast Martha Jones." he complimented.
"It was nothing really," She smiled faintly, looking at the monitor. "But we're not going to let that happen are we?"
"No Martha, we're not." He agreed. "I've come to love this little planet and its inhabitants." He glanced sideways at her. "And I'll be damn if I would let anything happen to it or them."
DWDWDW
"Hey sleepy heads," Jack greeted. "For a minute there I thought that I might have to use my key to the TARDIS to come in and wake the both of you."
"The Doctor was watching the TARDIS monitor, searching for unknown signals." Martha explained. "Ianto, any coffee left?"
He nodded. "I had made plenty." he replied.
"Does anyone else want a cup?" she asked, before heading towards the kitchen.
"I'll have a cup, Doctor Jones," Owen spoke up, winking at her from his seat. "Do you remember how I take it?"
"Sugar, with lots of cream," Martha replied dryly.
"See, I knew you care for me," he remarked, a wide grin on his face.
"Of course I care for you," Martha agreed. "But not in the way that you think."
The Doctor crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the back of Owen's head.
Jack sidled up next to him.
"Best mates huh?" he joked knowingly, sniffing the air and realizing the Doctor was covered in Martha's scent. "Yeah. Right."
"Sod off, Jack."
Owen swiveled in his chair and found himself looking into the dark eyes of a very perturbed alien. "Uh…good morning Doctor?" he said in a small voice, unsure why he was the object of the Time Lord's ire.
"Doctor Harper." The Doctor said a little more harshly than he intended to.
Martha waltzed back into the room. "Here you go Owen, sugar with lots of cream." She said handing him the hot steamy java.
"Thanks Martha." He made a mental note to ask Martha later what have he done to get on the Doctor's shit list.
"Welcome," she said, walking to stand next to the Doctor. "What have I missed?"
As if on cue, a recent photograph of Crogert Nelson flashed on the computer monitor, behind Pippa Allen, BBC World News rising star.
"The world of news reporting is mourning the lost of one of our own," she announced, sadly. "World renowned investigator reporter, Crogert Nelson, was the victim of a horrific murder," She quickly took a deep breath to control her emotions. "His body was found near his car in the parking lot of the prestigious Thackenberry Academy…his throat was literally ripped…"
They all looked at each other.
DWDWDW
Headmaster Anson Puddy sat at his large antique walnut desk, with his head in his hands as his secretary informed him that more parents are threatening to pull their children out of Thackenberry.
He saw his cushy job and pension slipped out of his reach.
When he gotten the call from Mr. Humphries, the school's janitor, that morning that there was a lifeless body lying in the parking lot next to an empty car, his first thoughts were of himself. In fact, he had asked Mr. Humphries if he knew anyone who could remove the body for a handsome price - believing that he was the sort that knew about the local crime element.
Mr. Humphries, feeling a little miff, informed the pompous arse just because he didn't graduate from university doesn't mean he was a lowlife. After apologizing profusely for his mistake, Mr. Humphries took great pleasure in telling the headmaster he had five minutes to get his fat arse dressed and to the Academy to greet the police.
Ten minutes later, Mr. Puddy's heart leapt to his throat and stayed there as curious on lookers, students, who had their mobiles out, hoping to take a photo of the dead body to put on the internet and angry parents who was yelling at the police surrounded the gate of the Academy. He rested his head against the steering wheel and began to pray.
"Thank you Mrs. Edith," he said with all the strength he could muster.
Mrs. Edith stood there, looking at the sad man she had come to adore in the twelve years he had been at Thackenberry. She wished there was something she could do to cheer up the poor man.
Mr. Puddy felt her large gray eyes on him and looked up. "Yes, Mrs. Edith?" he inquired.
"Sir, I just want you to know that I am behind you one hundred percent." She answered with a faint smile on her lips.
"Thank you Mrs. Edith, it's nice to know that someone is in my corner." He chuckled, mirthlessly. "And the staff, how many are threatening to leave?"
Mrs. Edith suddenly found her shoes very interesting. She didn't have the heart to tell him that some had already turned in their resignation – effective immediately.
"Mrs. Edith, please?"
"Well sir, Mr. and Mrs. Brighton has turned in their resignation…they had left a forwarding address to send their last cheque."
"So we are in need of a new history and science teacher," he sighed, wondering if he could lure any respectable teachers to join their staff. "Alright, send me the list of candidates and we will start interviewing immediately."
"Yes sir."
"And ask Mr. Humphries has he discovered the source of that horrible stench that has been plaguing us for the past couple of weeks." He added.
"Yes, Mr. Puddy."
DWDWDW
"You're in," Jack replied, giving the Doctor and Martha their new identities. "Doctor, you're John Smith, Thackenberry's new history teacher and Martha, you're Samantha Jones, the brilliant, ultra sexy science teacher."
tbc...
A/N: the adventures begins... Thanks for reading!