A little drabble … This was orginally part of a longer story but I think it stands alone.

A Small Accident

"You have got to sort this out," complained Ianto, fighting through the pile of items balanced precariously in the cabinet. He knew the Folydian Circlet was in there, he'd seen it when Jack had shown him around down here, it was just buried behind mounds of other artefacts that Jack had added to his personal horde.

"Why? It's not doing anyone any harm." Jack was lying half propped up on his bed in the manner of a Roman emperor eating a banana very suggestively.

It was the middle of the afternoon and Jack had come down to his quarters to change after having his shirt and trousers shredded by a Weevil. He had been delighted when Ianto had appeared – unfortunately too late to join him in the shower – only to find that it was not Jack he was seeking, it was the Circlet. However, lying on his bed watching Ianto poke about in the cabinet was entertaining.

"Then let me sort all this and add it to the archives."

"Not yet, I want to look at them properly before they disappear never to be seen again."

"Are you implying something?" Ianto twisted round to fix Jack with a gimlet stare. He wouldn't let anyone criticise his archives.

"No, no, Ianto. The archives are in great shape, better than they have been in years. It's just …"

"What?" asked the Welshman ominously.

"It's just … that items are filed so well that …" Jack was finding it hard to continue the sentence with Ianto staring at him like that. "That I don't like to disturb them."

Ianto narrowed his eyes and turned back to the cabinet. "Aha," he cried, spotting the Circlet. He got a hand to it and wriggled it out from under a pile of boxes. "This is what I wanted." He made for the ladder up into the Hub. "I'll leave you to your banana."

"Very good for you, bananas. Lots of potassium."

Ianto was just climbing off the ladder into Jack's office when there was an almighty crash beneath him followed by a series of smaller ones. He hastily put the circlet to one side, lay on the floor and popped his head through the hatch. He saw Jack still lying on the bed with a frozen look of horror on his face and a thin layer of brick dust settling on him and his banana. Following his boss's gaze, Ianto saw the cabinet where he had so recently been rummaging had fallen from the wall taking it with it four others. Only one of the six original cabinets was still hanging on the wall but only by one screw. As he watched, the screw eased out of the wall and this cabinet too fell to the floor. The contents of all six cabinets were scattered over the floor, the bed and the small desk. (It was a very small room.) Ianto glanced back at Jack who was now looking at him, his expression furious.

"Ianto!" shouted Jack and shot off the bed and onto the ladder.

The Welshman got to his feet, grabbed the Circlet and beat a hasty retreat. He was standing by Toshiko's desk, not hiding behind her, no, it just so happened that the woman was between him and his rampaging boss. He edged towards the steps as Jack walked slowly and purposefully towards him, murder in his eyes and dust in his hair and on his clothes.

"Jack, it wasn't my fault." Ianto had climbed down two steps and Jack kept on coming. "It wasn't, they were overloaded. You should have cleared them out." Jack was by Toshiko's side and Ianto on the lower level of the Hub.

"You wrecked my room," said Jack slowly and ominously as he continued to advance.

Ianto saw Jack was not going to relent so turned and ran.

He made for the safety of the archives where he knew every tunnel, nook and cranny. He could hide down there until Jack got tired of chasing him. Behind him, he could hear Jack's footsteps gaining on him. He ran through the main archive and into tunnel B4 which had a large niche half way along which was badly lit. In a moment he was in it and pressed himself against the wall in the deepest shadow. His heart was beating wildly but, he realised suddenly, not from fear. Jack would not harm him. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he thought it would be quite pleasant to be caught. His mobile rang at just that moment and Ianto let it ring, content for Jack to follow the sound.

Above them, the other three members of the Torchwood team looked at one another. "Any idea what that was about?" asked Gwen. She was stood at the door to the office watching the dust coming out of the hatch to Jack's quarters. It resembled a mushroom cloud following the detonation of a nuclear bomb.

"Nope and I don't want to know." Owen disappeared back into the Medical Bay.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," said Toshiko, smiling over at Gwen. "They usually are when they get back from a trip to the archives."

"You're right." Gwen took a last look at the now settling dust and went back to her desk.

Half an hour later, Jack and Ianto emerged from the archway into the main level of the Hub and walked up to the work area. They were smiling like cats that had got the cream. Toshiko smiled a secret smile when she noticed Ianto's waistcoat was buttoned up incorrectly. She caught his eye, lowered them to his chest then raised them again. He got the message and quickly re-buttoned the garment correctly.

"Ianto, you have some cleaning to do," said Jack, pointing to the hatch around which was a layer of dust, "down there."

"Yes, sir." Ianto smiled as he went off to get his small broom and a Dustbuster, the big vacuum cleaner wouldn't get through the hatch. It was worth an hour cleaning up the mess he'd made to get a good look at the artefacts Jack had stashed away and move them to the archives.

"And don't think you can take any of the artefacts. I know exactly what's in there." Jack smirked at Ianto's crestfallen expression and took his seat behind his desk. "I'll be down to check on progress soon so get cracking." He hoped the inspection visit would end as satisfyingly as the recent trip to the archives.

As I said at the start, just a little drabble. Hope you enjoyed it.