I do not own Torchwood, or any of the characters in this piece except for Skye Iwasaki who is my own creation.
Chapter Four
By the end of the shift, the team was once again working as normal even with the new addition. Skye had rolled the sleeves of her borrowed shirt down to hide as much of her mark and the metal bands that had been clamped just above her wrists as possible, two large stacks of paperwork piled up on what appeared now to be her side of the desk, with one document in front of her that she was copying out into English on a seperate pad of paper. This was Jack's idea of making it look like her arrival had been planned – asigning every single piece of alien language to her to translate, since she could easily do that. He had been less keen, however, to let her near the computers, not that she'd argued with him on that.
As the clock approached 7pm, Jack made his way out onto the balcony then down to Skye's desk, setting one hand gently on the girl's shoulder as he looked over all the work she'd done. A smile appeared on his lips as he gave her a little squeeze.
"You've done well today."
"Does that mean...?"
"Not yet. But..."
Jack reached into his pocket, handing her one of Torchwood's company credit cards with another of his smiles as he enjoyed the slight confusion on the young woman's face.
"Your clothes are soaked and you haven't any more. Take the morning tomorrow and get yourself everything you need while we're not busy – there's plenty of space in your wardrobe upstairs"
"Actually..."
"Yes?"
"I'm going to stay with one of the team...it'll be better in the long run, you can't doubt that, and then I'm not under your feet."
Jack pursed his lips, considering the options for a few moments, mainly so he could deduce exactly who she was planning on staying with. Both Suzie and Toshiko were out of the question, Skye wouldn't be stupid enough to choose Owen which only left Ianto. Why would she stay with him? True, he'd be the safest option. Ianto was, at least, controlable – he could be trusted to keep a close eye on her if nothing more and if she was tracked down to his flat, she was near enough the Hub to retrieve. Plus, Ianto had been one of her guards at Torchwood One – the boy would know exactly what he was dealing with should there be problems again.
"Ianto?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"So I'm out of your hair."
Skye rose to her feet, giving him an innocent enough smile until he gave a nod of consent to her, before slipping a protective arm around her.
"Just...behave yourself, okay? And don't leave anywhere without a member of my staff – that's an order, Skye."
"Yes. Alright."
Skye stepped back from him, picking up the holdall she'd brought into the Hub with her before she headed for the exit. When she reached the fake information office, she was greeted by a suitably pleased looking Ianto who took extra special care wrapping her now dry trenchcoat around her shoulders before he led her out to the bay.
They walked in silence across the plaza, Ianto purposefully waiting until they were out of earshot of both the 'magic door' and the bugged CCTV that had been set up.
"I normally drive here but...it's not far to walk to work in the morning...and you..."
"...like the air..."
They shared a mutual smile as Ianto gave a nod, before gently taking her hand to guide her through along the bay to his building and away from the confines of the Torchwood Hub.