Torchwood: Divergence
Book One: Dychwelyd

Chapter 37

Martha and Turlough trudged back into the Hub, glad that UNIT was doing the messier clean-up work for Rift incidents these days. Though how anyone was going to be able to explain the damage to the lawns around the Castle was beyond them. The twelve-foot, Latin speaking centipede and its two friends that they'd had to deal with had left huge tunnel hummocks, large holes and gaping furrows in the manicured expanses of grass before they'd managed to stop them. Unfortunately, that had required killing the creatures, since they'd declared their intent to take over the city and no amount of verbal persuading had been able to halt their plans. So, a serious dose of soapy water and several clips of explosive rounds later, Torchwood had left their red-capped associates to sort out the mess and headed back to base.

"Oh, God..." Martha moaned, flopping down on the settee. "It's 1:45 and Gwen won't be back with Lois till 2:30. One more alert like that and I'm done for."

"The Rift never sleeps," Turlough pointed out with a slight smirk, heading for the kitchenette to refill his cup of coffee. "Just think... these past three and a half weeks, the rest of us have gone home by 8:00, midnight at the very latest. Leaving Jack and Ianto to cover everything alone until the rest of us show up in the morning. That may not be a big deal under normal circumstances, but until the backlog clears..."

"No wonder Ianto was in such a state," Martha nodded, rubbing her tired eyes. "I'm struggling to handle an extra five and half hour shift. If I had to go out on every alert, twenty-four-seven, I'd be a wreck after the first two days, let alone three weeks."

"And they'll be back at it tomorrow night," the redhead in the kitchenette stated evenly, gratefully sipping his white coffee. "Offers a whole new perspective on what their lives are going to be like in coming years. Immortality always sounds great, until you realise what it can mean if you aren't just letting the world spin around you. I'm sure it has highlights, but they have a whole lot of hazard and horror to face as the heart and soul of Torchwood."

"At least there's back up right now," Martha frowned thoughtfully. "But they really should get out and away more often. Those two need it way more than the rest of us."

"Not likely to happen though," Turlough shrugged, heading for his work station. "Captain Harkness is too focused on the job, and Ianto is too focused on the Captain."

"I'm afraid you're right," the young physician on the couch sighed. "But it won't stop me from making the suggestion. I hope they're at least enjoying the break tonight."

"Oh, I'm sure they are," her companion half smiled.


It was 5:00 am and Jack was simply enjoying the sensation of lying between the 600 thread-count sheets with Ianto's arms around him, and his around the younger man. He'd actually managed to find real sleep for a couple of hours and even dreamed, not something that happened very often. Unfortunately, he'd relived the confrontation with the 456, once again felt the helpless rage and crushing grief as his lover had died in his arms. He'd come awake around 2:30, frightened that he'd find himself alone in a bunk on some space faring cargo ship, and had been mind-numbingly relieved to feel familiar hands touch his face and chest, hear a longed-for voice call his name. Ianto had kissed him, held him close, and murmured words of comfort and reassurance until he'd been able to relax again.

Harkness had done his own kissing and touching after that. They'd had quite the actively amorous evening upon exiting the tub and draining the water, starting with the long promised, knee buckling Birthday snog on the balcony. But he'd desperately needed to immerse himself in his partner's presence once more after the dream, and there was no time the connection he felt to the young Welshman was so strong as when they made love. Ianto had been more than willing to comply, and they'd burned away well over an hour of the darkness in pure pleasure.

The younger man had drifted into a light sleep afterward, obviously still exhausted from the frantic pace of the past few weeks and recent traumas. His companion had been content to just snuggle close and listen to him breathe. Now, however, Jack was starting to feel a little frisky again... and breakfast wasn't until 8:00.

The Captain shifted, sliding one hand down his lover's back to gently rub the base of the young Guardian's spine. Ianto responded by tipping his head up enough to place a small kiss on the American's chin and roll over onto his back to stretch expansively before going bonelessly limp with a happy sigh.

"Good morning," Ianto smiled, chuckling quietly when the older man started nibbling at the side of his throat.

"It's about to be," Harkness promised, covering the Changeling's smile with a passionate kiss and reaching for the night table.

This was the closest either of them had come to a vacation in years, and it probably wouldn't be happening again anytime soon. And since vacations were meant to be free time to relax and play in whatever way was most enjoyable, they intended to fully exploit every minute.


Turlough, Martha and Gwen came back into the Hub via the lower tunnel to the parking area and headed straight for the couch, nursing bruises and scrapes from their hour long bout with a six strong swarm of adult Twerxt Beetles. They'd prevailed in the end, even managing to destroy the nest the creatures had been trying to create, along with the three larvae and twelve eggs inside it. But after the very busy night they'd all had, the fight had left them utterly exhausted. Thank God UNIT had come to clear the mess from the old warehouse and they hadn't needed to do it themselves.

They were a rather pitiful looking group sprawled on the couch, when they heard the cog-wheel door rotate open. None of them bothered to look up or open their eyes, too focused on getting what down time they could before the next alert.

"Looks like somebody had a hard night," Jack commented as the main door rolled closed.

"And it wasn't us for a change," Ianto added, the rattle of a paper bad and aroma of curried rice accompanying his words. "Think they're too tired for lunch?"

"No!"

Three voices denied the latter as the group on the couch struggled upright. Their Archivist smiled and handed over the bag, turning to collect the overnight satchel from beside his partner's feet and head for the office.

"I barely recognised you just now," Gwen called pointedly. "Are you sure you brought back the right man, Jack?"

"Oh, yeah," Harkness grinned, his eyes shining as he watched the young Welshman's retreating form. "I'd know the back side of those blue jeans anywhere."

Cooper laughed, then thanked Martha for the takeaway container and spoon she handed her.

"So, the B and B was nice, yeah?" she smiled up at the American still standing nearby.

"Amazing," the coat clad brunette admitted, the soft expression he wore as he looked toward the office again one that his long-time teammate couldn't recall seeing in years. "I owe you and Rhys big time for last night, and I'm not talking about the cost of the room. Next time you want a day for the two of you to do something, it's yours, no arguments or excuses."

"Wow," Martha breathed, staring wide-eyed at their leader. "Sounds like that place works magic. Maybe I need to take my bloke there sometime."

"It just reinforced why I love Bed and Breakfasts," Ianto put in as he emerged from the office shooting the cuffs of his recently acquired dark, smoke blue suit. "And Mrs. Taylor doesn't miss a trick."

"It didn't hurt that the tourist season is waning, and there was only one other guest," Jack grinned, playfully snaking an arm around his partner's waist and snuffling his neck when the younger man got close enough. "Rosemary and sage... yum."

Ianto blushed and smiled but made no move to avoid the immortal Captain.

"She did the full honeymoon deck out!" Gwen cried delightedly. "Candles, roses, herbs, hot bath, yeah? Oh, she's a peach!"

"And wasn't at all shy about telling us we were well isolated from the rest of the place and free to 'get happy' however we liked," Harkness chuckled. "She's a scary good cook too. Best lamb I've had in ages, and killer stuffed French toast."

"What about you, Turlough?" Martha prodded impishly. "Got someone you want to take on a romantic getaway?"

The redhead's expression never changed as he swallowed his bite of curry and opened his mouth to reply... just as the Rift alarm went off.

"Got it," Ianto volunteered, hurrying over to the nearest workstation, his hands gliding across the keyboard with practiced ease. "Small spike... no, two almost on top of each other... at the northern edge of Leckwith near one of the empty Estates under renovation. No CCTV, but the system's registering three life forms and some sort of tech. Hmm... looks like a trio of Hoix, and the remains of something cybernetic one had been chewing on, motion of the energy signatures suggests they're now squabbling over it."

"Grab a couple of H&K MP5's, I'll borrow some of Myfanwy's bait sauce to keep them busy," Jack advised his partner, catching the headset the younger man tossed him as he made for the Armoury, and striding toward the office for his sidearm. "Oh, bring an EMP gun too, just in case the mechanical item they're trying to eat isn't dead yet. You all enjoy lunch; we'll be back when the gluttonous Three Amigos are taken care of."

"There's a container there for Lois as well, she was on the phone when we came in but should be down shortly," Ianto called as he reappeared with a carryall, used his swipe card to pull ammo from the small arms locker, then ducked into the office for his overcoat and augmented Desert Eagle. "Thanks for covering last night; it was a really nice break."

Then he and Jack were headed out the main door, right back on the job again. And the rest of the Torchwood team were incredibly grateful.

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AN: So, Ianto and Jack had a lovely evening... and the Team developed a healthy new respect for their resident immortals. Win-win.

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM