Slipping Through
Chapter: Thirty – Changing Face part 5
Written by Totally4Ryo
Written March 2011
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 2204
Fandom: Torchwood/FAKE
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Dee/Ryo, Gwen/Rhys, Owen, Toshiko
Spoilers: FAKE – all through to volume 7, and Like, Like Love, Torchwood – through Series 2, Doctor Who – through S03, to be safe.
Warnings: M/M .
Beta by my gorgeous partner in crime for Slipping Through, Gracie_Musica.
Notes: This is the last of this chapter. Beg to Gracie for the next chapter. I'm still trying to get her to write it, or to let me write it to get the story going again.
Changing Face Part 5
When Jack and Ianto arrived at the Hub early the next day to Toshiko already there and at work.
The Japanese woman glanced up briefly. "Good morning Dee, Ryo... Oh! Sorry, Jack and Ianto. I know better." She looked horrified. "That was a stupid mistake."
Ianto went over to her and gave her a soft smile. "Don't worry about it. Coffee?" he asked.
She nodded gratefully. "Please." She watched as Ianto made his way over to the coffee machine. Jack leaned against her workstation, and crossed his arms. Looking very amused, he smirked. Tosh looked up at him. "I'm not sure if that's a good look on Ryo or not," she said.
Jack schooled his features to look serious. "You were more than likely distracted when we came in, so don't worry about it," he said to her with a wink. "What does worry me is, I know that's Ianto there, but it's still unsettling watching Dee making our coffee. So please tell me your distraction this time means good news for us."
Toshiko started to smile and opened her mouth when the alarms went off as the cog door rolled back. They looked over to find Gwen enter.
"Mornin'," Gwen called out as she went over to her workstation.
"We'll talk later," Toshiko said to Jack. When Jack stared down at her in question, she shook her head. "The others might prefer having this talk without Owen or Gwen around," she replied low.
Jack raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head and went over to greet Gwen.
OoOoOoO
Early afternoon, while Owen and Gwen were out investigating a device found by some kids in a playground, Toshiko went into Jack's office, requesting to speak to him, Ianto, Ryo and Dee in the boardroom.
Jack, Dee and Ryo sat at the table while Ianto finished making them coffee, and Toshiko gathered her notes. Jack decided it would be best that their talk be informal. So instead of his traditional seat at the head of the table, Jack sat in what was usually Ianto's seat, leaving the one next to him open for his lover. Across from him, sat Ryo and Dee, while Tosh was at a table end.
Once they all had coffee before them, and Ianto took his seat next to Jack, the four stared expectantly at Toshiko.
"Tell us you have good news, Tosh," Jack said.
"I hope so," she replied. "This is unsettling, but it could be worse, I guess."
Dee made a face. "How can it be any worse?" he asked, while Ryo muttered something about being careful what you wish for. Dee snorted, gazing at his husband, who still looked like Captain Jack Harkness. "I already figured that out when we first found ourselves here." He gave Ianto an apologetic smile. "You're a sexy and attractive man, Jones, Ianto Jones, but I still prefer to see me when I look in the mirror. I want to look at my husband and see him. And then I want to look over at my two closest friends and see them instead of seeing me and Ryo looking back ."
Three heads bobbed in agreement with Dee. Ryo took Dee's hand in his and squeezed it.
"At least we know Jack's immortality is just slow-acting, but not gone," Ianto stated as he ran a finger along Jack's arm. The older man had his shirt sleeves rolled up all day, ever since Owen's exam earlier that morning. The doctor had discovered the same thing Jack and Ianto had when they woke up – Jack's arm was finally completely healed.
Tosh cleared her throat and started to twirl her hair.
Dee noticed the woman's unease first and smirked. "Oh, this has to be good."
"Shut up, Dee," Toshiko said. She tossed her biro onto the table and looked down at her screen. "I think I understand how the body swapping process was made possible."
"Yeah, Gwen pushed a button," Ianto commented.
"That started it, yes," Toshiko agreed. "I was watching the footage in your office, and spoke to Gwen. The button she pushed merely set the dupe into the mode for the body swap to happen. When Dee grabbed it from Gwen, it primed it."
Ianto's eyes opened wide and he pointed to Jack. "And then you took it from Dee."
Jack held his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Only to put it on the desk and stop having people handling it more. That's all."
"And completed the sequence," Toshiko said with a knowing smirk.
"What?" Jack asked, looking over to the technician. Ianto raised an eyebrow, trading a look with Ryo, while Dee sat forward. Icy blue eyes turned stormy as they rested on Toshiko.
"Completed the sequence?" Dee repeated, giving her his deep penetrating gaze that made her squirm.
Ryo rested his hand on Dee's arm, also staring at the Japanese woman, waiting for her to finish speaking. Ryo was aware that it was Jack's stare Toshiko saw and gave more into the glare, making her squirm even more.
"Toshiko, out with it," Jack snapped. "What did you know?"
"That it only took two DNA samples of all samples the dupe has in its memory to complete the transference process," Toshiko stated. She glanced down a moment, squirming more for a moment. She looked up again, and gazed at each man sitting at the table with her, meeting each stare. "It required only two samples, but the process involved all samples it had in its collection database."
Dee stared at the object of their discussion, sitting on the table. "This has a database?" he asked.
Ryo rolled his eyes. "Don't be daft, Dee. Of course it does," he said, making the other chuckle.
"Most alien tech, especially after the 26th century will have a database, among other things," Jack explained, sounding amused.
Toshiko pushed a button on her PDA and an image of the dupe appeared on the screen. She pushed another button and it looked like a 3D mesh of the dupe, along with inner workings. She indicated an area. "The database, Dee. Anymore questions?" she asked.
Ianto moved some papers across the table toward Dee. "Design specs," he said. "We usually have them for all tech. At least as complete as we're able to for most of the tech, but as we learn more, the specs are updated ."
Dee glanced down at the papers, seeing printouts. "So? Are these also supposed to tell us how these things operate?"
"Whatever we know, yes," Toshiko said. "For it to be the most complete, it would be very helpful to have all facts and data."
All men seemed to sit straighter in their chairs, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
"I can understand," she continued. "But I would think that at least Jack, you, Jack, would know the importance of giving all the facts. I don't see you as the type to get embarrassed."
"I was protecting us," Jack snapped, automatically reaching out to take Ianto's hand. He looked over to Dee and Ryo with an apologetic look.
Ryo sighed heavily. "No, you're right, Toshiko. A little embarrassment is nothing comparing compared to being stuck in a body not your own."
Ianto squeezed Jack's hand in return. "We're lucky it wasn't worse." He looked over to Toshiko. "I should have known better too, but it was just so easy to leave out some facts."
Toshiko gave them all a wicked grin. "Well, I did figure out how to undo what was done."
"Really?" Jack asked. "When do you think we can get this done?"
"Depends on the four of you," Toshiko replied. "Too much time has passed since it activated, so you'll have to recreate the conditions."
She sat back and watched the four men at the table. First the individual reactions from each man, and then each reached out to the partner that was his primary significant other. Lastly, the four traded looks.
It was Dee who broke the silence. He sat back in his seat and sighed. "Well, at least it'll be easy."
"Definitely fun," Jack added in agreement.
"Not here," Ianto said, at the same time that Ryo said, "In private please."
"You'll need at least the dupe with you to activate your DNA," Toshiko said. "And then shortly after you're all done with having fun, at least two of you need to touch it."
"One of us will have to prime it first, yeah?" Ianto asked.
Jack grinned. "There will be plenty of priming going on," he leered.
Ianto and Ryo started to blush, while Dee laughed, his attention on Toshiko. "Aw, now she blushes," Dee laughed.
"Shut it, Dee." Toshiko gazed over at them. "Okay, so you can take it away from the Hub, but you might want to have easy access to contacting me if something goes wrong."
"I'm sure we're able to work out anything that could possibly go wrong on our own," Dee quipped with a wink.
"As if we would," Jack scoffed.
"Shut up, the two of you," Ianto growled.
Ryo stared at Dee in shock. "I would think considering the situation, that you would be having less fun with this. I'm with Ianto. Shut it, or once we're all back in our own bodies, you can take over the couch."
Dee waved a hand in Toshiko's direction. "Ryo, it's Tosh. I have no idea why we tried to keep this from her when she has managed to see everything else going on around here concerning the four of us."
"Usually while we're in pairs," Ryo remarked. "This... well, this was supposed to be private."
"I won't say a word. I figured that much, which is why I waited until Gwen and Owen weren't around."
The four men shared a look, and slowly, one by one, smiles came to their faces.
"That's our Toshiko," Dee laughed. He squeezed Ryo's hand. "I'm good with it, if everyone else is."
"I am," Jack said. He smiled over at Ianto. "What do you say? It's not like she'll see anything she didn't before."
Ianto let out a sigh. "Only because it is Tosh," he agreed.
"What Ianto said," Ryo said.
"Right. Well then, we can do this once we can get the four of you away from the Hub," Toshiko said, beaming.
OoOoOoO
Ryo entered Ianto's kitchen to find someone who looked like Ianto busy by the counter. The other man was wearing a black dressing gown. Ryo came up behind him and slipped his arms around the other man's waist.
"I am really Ianto," Ianto said, amusement in his voice.
Ryo chuckled. "I know. I vaguely remember it working before falling off into this blissful sleep."
"I had to make sure." Ianto turned around, grinning.
"Besides, it smells like your coffee and Dee is still dead asleep and drooling on Jack's chest."
Ianto laughed. "Oh, he is not. Close, but not quite drooling."
"How long have you been awake?" Ryo asked.
Ianto shook his head, but the movement was stopped by Ryo's hands. Ryo's lips moved against Ianto's, and they kissed. "Good morning," Ryo said with an amused grin.
"Mmm, yeah. Good morning," Ianto replied.
It still felt strange for Ryo to be holding a man who was not Dee in his arms, and yet it felt right. The most important thing was he had Dee's permission. His husband had no reservations.
It seemed ironic to Ryo that just as Jack and Ianto had finally figured out that their relationship was a monogamous committed relationship, the relationship would open to include two others.
Both Ianto and Dee had as much a say in the decision as Jack and Ryo. There had been more talking the evening before when they first arrived at Ianto and Jack's flat. Once it was obvious that the predominant relationships were not threatened, they finally got the dupe ready according to Tosh's instructions. Then they proceeded to forget about it for the rest of the night.
"Hey, any room for us there?" they heard from the doorway leading into the kitchen. They pulled apart to find Dee leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed and looking amused. Behind him was Jack, his chin resting on Dee's shoulder, watching.
"I smell Ianto's coffee," Jack said. "And since I know that you are Dee," he continued to the man standing before him, "then that has to really be Ianto's coffee."
"It is indeed," Ryo said with a laugh. He went over to greet Dee, while Jack slipped into the kitchen.
After kissing his husband, Ryo felt himself being pulled away from Dee by Jack. "I get the feeling we're going to be late this morning."
"Good thing the boss is understanding," Jack quipped, handing Ryo and Dee mugs of coffee. "Because I'm thinking breakfast in bed. Tosh will call us if any of us are needed."
"Right then," Ianto said with a wink. "And might I say that it does feel great to be back in my own body. No offense to you, Dee."
"None taken. I think I prefer other ways of being in your body."
Ryo and Jack laughed. Once they all had their morning coffee in hand, they head back toward the bedroom.