Thanks as always to my most esteemed and valued beta riftintime.
Chapter 11
It had been nearly three months since Gwen had started at Torchwood. In that time, she'd been introduced to many bizarre creatures, seen Torchwood London razed to the ground, been aboard an alien space craft that had crash landed in the Beacons, and had realized just how very small and inconsequential her world really was, compared to the vastness of the universe and its myriad inhabitants.
In many ways, it had been more than her ostensibly Welsh sensibilities could handle, and in her life outside of Torchwood she had begun to feel utterly alone. She had been expressly forbidden to share anything about Torchwood or the things she'd seen with anyone, including her long-time boyfriend Rhys Williams. The secrets of Torchwood, mixed with the awe and wonder of everything she had witnessed, along with her own feelings of insignificance, had driven a wedge between her and Rhys and drawn her into the arms of her surly co-worker, Owen. At least he's someone who knows… who understands… she kept telling herself, by way of justifying her behavior.
It had started a couple of weeks after the Canary Wharf incident. Somehow the destruction of the great monument that was Torchwood London, with all its knowledge, power, and technological advancement, had affected her more than the everyday danger they faced as Torchwood operatives. The idea that an alien race was so powerful that it could take down an entire army of people trained to fight alien threats was undeniably terrifying, and had created in her a sense of nihilism.
She was full of her own thoughts as the cogwheel door rolled open and she strolled into the Hub to start another day at Torchwood. She was so distracted by her contemplations that she nearly tripped over her boss, who was on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. His suit jacket was gone, his tie was conspicuously absent, his shirtsleeves were rolled up, and he wore large yellow, rubber gloves, along with pads on his knees. "Ianto, what on Earth?" she exclaimed as she stopped in her progress towards her desk.
Ianto mumbled something unintelligible about the state of the Hub and an endless rubbish heap. Gwen shook her head in bemusement, and stepping carefully around her usually cool and collected leader, she continued her path to her desk. Tosh was already at work, bent – as she usually was – over some minute piece of alien technology. "He's been cleaning for days," Tosh said by way of a greeting. "I've never seen him like this before. It started with his office and has been slowly spreading through the entirety of the main floor."
"What's gotten into him?" Gwen asked as she set down her bag and shrugged out of her coat.
"No idea," Tosh said, pausing in her work and lifting her head up to stare at Ianto, who seemed oblivious of their scrutiny.
"I know he likes things tidy, but this is taking it a bit far, no?" Gwen asked with a raised eyebrow.
Tosh nodded but didn't respond. She knew that Ianto cleaned when he was feeling anxious. She had been watching her boss carefully for many months, trying to convince herself that her interest was purely platonic. She had wanted to talk to him, to ask him what was troubling him, to offer comfort in some way, but she was too polite to inquire into his personal affairs. She fantasized about Ianto seeking her out and confiding in her… that he would take solace in her simple and undemanding nature… that he would take her in his arms… Tosh shook her head firmly to dispel the image. Do not let your imagination run away with you. At least not here. Not at the Hub. Those thoughts are best left for the privacy of your own bedroom, she chastised herself.
Owen chose that moment to stroll casually into the Hub. Gwen immediately turned to her computer and tried to look simultaneously busy and disinterested, cursing inwardly as she felt heat rushing to her cheeks. At least no one else in the Hub knows about me and Owen, she thought gratefully.
Tosh took one look at Gwen, then shifted her eyes to Owen. I bet they think no one knows they're shagging, she thought disdainfully.
Owen endeavored to adopt a more insouciant, yet subtly defiant attitude than he usually maintained as he sauntered into work that morning, denying to himself that it had anything to do with trying to impress Gwen.
Ianto was completely oblivious to his employees, determined to clean the Hub from top to bottom and all over again if it would keep him from thinking about Jack Harkness.
Owen took one look at Ianto, snorted with contempt and stepped purposefully on a recently scrubbed and still wet patch on the floor near Ianto's prostrated figure.
"Owen!" Ianto bellowed, throwing down his scrubbing brush in fury. "Can't you see I've just cleaned that spot?"
Owen could barely contain his grin of amusement at eliciting the precise reaction he'd intended. "Sorry, boss," he said with false innocence. "Didn't see you there."
"Now I'm going to have to begin all over again." Ianto scowled, picking up the brush and returning to his task.
Chuckling silently, Owen slouched towards the autopsy bay, dropping his coat unceremoniously into a nearby chair and nodding at the two women as he passed. Gwen looks especially minxy this morning, he thought, as he recalled the sensation of her bare skin on his with a lewd grin. "Morning ladies," he muttered, winking at Gwen who immediately colored, then tried to look disinterested.
Tosh rolled her eyes, and then with one last glance at Ianto, turned back to her work.
Several minutes later the cogwheel door rolled open again, and Jack Harkness sauntered in. Ianto, who was so focused on his cleaning, didn't quite register that his other three employees had already appeared, and that this latest arrival could only be Jack. He didn't even glace up as the door cranked noisily closed.
Jack stopped barely a meter away from the other man. "Ianto Jones. Just the way I like you best. On your hands and knees at my feet," he announced cheekily.
Ianto, completely startled and unprepared for his presence, froze mid scrub, his eyes fixed on the wet floor, vainly hoping that if he stared hard enough, it would open up and swallow him whole. He wondered if it was possible to simultaneously turn beet read and to have all of the color drain from one's face. He hoped the two reactions would cancel each other out, rendering his skin tone an innocent neutral.
It had been several days since he'd thrown himself at Jack and snogged him senseless, and he'd neither seen nor spoken to the other man since. He allowed a moment to pass while he mentally collected himself. "What are you doing here, Harkness? I didn't call for you."
"Just in the neighborhood," Jack said jauntily. "Thought I'd drop by and see how the old team was holding up."
"We're just fine, thank you very much. Your services are not needed today," Ianto replied coldly.
"Did you lose a bet?" Jack asked, ignoring Ianto's dismissal.
"Excuse me?" Ianto queried, still unwilling to look Jack in the eyes.
"I asked if you lost a bet. Is that why you're scrubbing the floor?" Jack clarified with a note of amusement in his voice.
"I like things tidy," Ianto responded, beginning to scrub again, firmly hoping that Jack would lose interest and go away.
It was in Jack's mind to make a snide comment about Ianto's tidiness and inquire whether or not the trait extended into the bedroom. It was also in his mind to comment about the view of Ianto's rear as he bent over his task, but he decided against it. He knew that he was already on treacherous ground, and if he pushed it, Ianto would order him out. He had no real reason for stopping by the Hub, and though he tried to convince himself that he was there solely out of boredom, the truth was, he wanted to see Ianto again, much to his irritation.
He wisely decided to leave Ianto to his cleaning and turn his attention to the others. "Ladies, looking luscious as always," he said, walking towards Gwen and Tosh. "What say the three of us find a nice abandoned room in the archives and…"
"Jack," Ianto warned from his place on the floor.
"Let me know if you change your mind," he whispered conspiratorially to the two of them, who giggled appreciatively. "What are you up to, Tosh?" he asked, peering over her shoulder at the computer monitor. "What has that genius brain of yours contrived today?"
"Nothing earth-shattering," Tosh replied, pleased by the compliment. "I've been trying to update Suzie's file, but she put some kind of firewall around it. However..." She punched a few keys flamboyantly. "I think I've finally cracked it."
"I'm sure you have, Tosh," Jack said with a grin and patted her shoulder affectionately.
"And…" she said, biting her lower lip in anticipation as she watched the computer whirling. "I'm in!" she announced with a satisfied grin.
A siren sounded, the lights in the Hub began to flash, a metal gate slid down in front of the cogwheel door, and a cool, female voice announced, "Torchwood Lockdown. Torchwood Lockdown."
"What the hell?" Gwen yelled.
"Oh dear," Tosh muttered.
"Bloody hell!" Owen shouted from the autopsy bay.
"Uh…was that supposed to happen?" Jack asked.
"Tosh?" Ianto inquired calmly from across the room.
Tosh's fingers danced furiously over the keyboard. "I don't know what happened," she said frantically, realizing that she'd lost control. "I've been shut out of the system."
"Torchwood Lockdown," the automated voice continued to announce.
"Can you at least get that bloody old bat to shut the hell up?" Owen bellowed.
"I have no control!" Tosh replied feverishly, banging her fist on they keyboard in frustration.
Everyone started shouting at once, trying to make themselves heard over the din of the sirens and the repeating lockdown message. Jack casually drew his Webley, aimed at the speaker and fired. The speaker exploded, and he turned and aimed at the siren, firing again. The glass shattered, leaving the Hub silent and in darkness. "Was that really necessary?" Ianto asked with irritation.
"Yes," Jack replied coolly.
An all too familiar voice began speaking from Tosh's computer monitor. "Hello Torchwood. You thought you could just get rid of me, did you?" Suzie's face appeared on the screen, looking as insane as she had in her last days at the Hub. "I'm not that forgettable, am I?" She laughed maniacally.
Ianto had gotten to his feet and made his way carefully over to Tosh. Owen had felt his way up the staircase and was also at Tosh's elbow. Gwen and Jack peered over her shoulders. "Torchwood lockdown. Twenty-four hours. Should give me enough time to complete my work." The maniacal laughter rang out again. "Have fun kids," she continued. "And don't wait up."
"What the…" Gwen asked, as the monitor went black.
"That was one crazy bird," Owen commented.
"Is that a medical diagnosis, Doctor?" Jack asked.
"She must have had something planned," Ianto murmured.
"And didn't expect to be dead," Tosh added.
"She probably assumed you would have Tosh update her file immediately after you fired her," Jack reasoned.
"I…" Ianto began, not knowing what to say. "I never got around to it," he added weakly.
"Didn't count on your keeping it a secret from the rest of the team," Jack said pointedly.
Ianto threw him a disparaging look, which he ignored.
"Probably why she was so pissed off when she came after you. Her plans fell apart," Gwen said, oblivious to the tension between the two men.
"Wonder what she had planned," Tosh said.
"Well, we'll never know now," Jack commented.
"Tosh, is there any way out of this?" Ianto asked.
But it was Jack who replied. "Nope. We've gone into lockdown. It's one hundred percent. The doors are sealed. We're locked in for twenty-four hours."
Jack flipped open his wrist strap and pressed a button. Light from the device illuminated the immediate surroundings. "That's better," Gwen said gratefully.
"Everything's gone," Tosh stated, after several moments of fiddling with various electronic devices. "Computers, mobile coverage, the lifts... everything. We're sealed in."
"Brilliant," Owen said with disgust. "I'm trapped in here with you sorry wankers for the next twenty-four hours.
"What should we do?" Tosh asked Ianto.
"How about an orgy?" Jack suggested audaciously.
"That could work," Owen said, raising his eyebrows and looking interested.
"Shut up, the pair of you," Ianto ordered, in no temper for their antics. "Tosh, see if you can find a way around it. Gwen, try the doors. Owen, find some torches. Jack, you must know about the other exits out of here? Some hidden ones?"
"There are a couple," Jack conceded thoughtfully. "But I'm sure they're sealed off as well."
"Show me," Ianto ordered.
"Well, well, well." Jack grinned lazily. "If you wanted some time alone with me, Jones, all you had to do was ask."
"I'm not in the mood, Harkness. Show me those other exits. And the rest of you, get to work," Ianto ordered. "We need to find a way out of here. What if there's a Rift alert?"
There was a solemn silence as the rest of the team realized that their being trapped in the Hub could have more serious consequences than mere inconvenience.
"Right," Tosh said, starting to type determinedly.
"Right," Gwen and Owen said, moving off in different directions.
"Follow me, Jones," Jack said, leading Ianto down the stairwell. The light from his wrist strap illuminated their path, throwing eerie shadows as they descended into the bowels of the Hub.
Ianto was concerned about safety of the city, should something happen while they were locked inside the Hub. But if he was honest with himself, he was more motivated by the immediate situation. The very last thing he wanted was to be stuck in the vicinity of Jack Harkness for twenty-four hours.
