Doomsday: Post Apocalypse
a Torchwood story
by RoadrunnerGER
Dislaimer: Oh, really! They're the BBC's.
Summary: Ianto comes to Cardiff for a week to help with the archives, but is it as simple as that? Jack/OC, Jack?Ianto
Suspense/hurt/comfort – T – Ianto Jones & Jack Harkness
Chapter 24 -
On his way back from Rhoose airport, Jack had time to think. Of course, he knew that the younger men were talking about him. He would have been disappointed if they were not talking. What he did not know was what exactly they were discussing. They could not compare and Jack did not really believe that they would. As Ydris had been steadfast about not sharing what Ianto had entrusted to him, Jack also did not think that he would relay any details about their love-making.
What is it then?
Heaving a sigh, Jack drove the lorry on toward Harwood's.
Maybe Ydris explained to Ianto that we're just friends? Well, when I say just, I mean in comparison to being exclusive, which we're not. Without wanting to diminish what we have, of course, as it's special. They all are special one way or the other.
The weather was changing. Heavy clouds hung over the capital city of Wales. Soon it would rain and Jack hoped that it would not be too bad when they had to drive to London the next day.
How serious am I willing to be with Ianto? Do I want more than a shag?
For a moment, he had to concentrate on traffic. Once he had turned left, he let his thoughts wander again.
Yes, more than just shagging. But how much more? Commitment?
A lump formed in his throat.
At the same time, he felt butterflies in his stomach. The idea of having a deeper relationship with Ianto excited him.
More than imagining a shag, Jack realized. Oh, how I would love to be touched by him. Feel those elegant hands on my skin. Sense his lips brush against my own.
A chill ran down his back.
I need to give him some space, though. Rushing things would ruin any chance I might have. Time's not ripe yet.
To his own surprise, he did not mind having to wait and that alone was telling. When Jack had returned the lorry and took a taxi back to the bay, he felt eased, yet determined, and was looking forward to meeting the young Welshman again.
xXx
For once, Ianto was glad that the others had helped themselves to the coffee he had prepared. That way, he could vanish in the vaults unnoticed. First, he busied himself with sorting some more artefacts, but when he could not focus on the task anymore, he paused with a cup of coffee of his own.
Leaning back in his office chair, he let his mind wander and came back to his conversation with Ydris. The other Welshman seemed pretty concerned about his relationship with Jack, which was somewhat strange for Ianto.
He sounded genuine when he said that he cares about Jack. Still, why would he care about us getting together or not?
There was a thought.
Getting together.
It seemed just as strange.
Did I really just think about getting together with Jack? Seriously? Heck, just a few days ago I was engaged to Lisa!
His insides constricted at recalling his fiancé.
And yet I can't deny that there is something between Jack and me. There is a connection. It's not just those ruddy pheromones. God, I could've slapped him for that! If that stuff's really that effective he should be careful about using it.
Ianto did not think that Jack could have made him do anything against his will, but on the other hand, he knew for sure that it would have been next to impossible to say no to him.
Let's just say I'd like to explore things and try and figure out what could come out of a relationship with Jack, Ianto mused. What would that entail? Going to Cardiff would be only one thing on the list. I'm sure I could find a job here. Do I want that? Do I want to stay in London? In the flat that I shared with Lisa?
There was another thought that made him uncomfortable.
Finding another place to live would help with moving on, he thought. Does it matter if it's in London or Cardiff? Probably not. Cardiff is around the corner from Newport, but it still doesn't mean I'd run into family. Though, catching up on that front would be good, too.
What would I do for a living? Find another coffee shop? Work at an office?
Stay with Torchwood?
For a moment, he let that thought linger, trying to see how he felt with it. To his own surprise, he was not appalled. After his ordeal at Canary Wharf, he had expected to have reservations against working for the Institute. It was true, though, that Torchwood Three was different and with the right leadership it could thrive and really make a difference.
Only then, Ianto realized that he pictured a leading role for himself in that scenario. Scared by that idea, he got up and left the archives without a clear destination. He did not want to go to the central Hub either as he did not feel like dealing with his co-workers. There had to be something else he could do.
After a moment of thinking, he found an issue that needed dealing with. Determined, he went to the cells. The tigers were gone, but they had left their traces. Arming himself with a bucket and a cleaning mop, Ianto strode to the vacant cell. On his way in, his gaze fell on the other cells in the row and he sighed. This would be a long day.
xXx
When Jack returned to his office, he felt disappointed by not finding a thermos flask on his desk. Asking Toshiko about Ianto's whereabouts, he was told that the Welshman wanted to go to the archives, so Jack went to see if the archivist got a grip on his symbolism now. The archives were vacant, though, and Jack continued his search.
He found Ianto in the cells, on his hands and knees, scrubbing the floor.
"Really, you lecture me about professional behaviour and then you tempt me like that?" he teased, taking in the view of that beautiful backside clad in pinstriped wool.
He could almost hear the eyeroll as Ianto replied, "The tigers made quite a mess in the short time they lived here. Just because Weevils are content to live in the sewers doesn't mean our other guests are as comfortable with feculence. Someone needed to clean the cells. The others were busy, and frankly I doubt they would do a satisfactory job of it, so I decided to do that myself. Now, are you going to stand there and ogle, or are you going to help me?"
"I think I'll ogle," Jack smirked.
When Ianto stopped in his scrubbing and tensed up, Jack quickly back-pedalled, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding. What can I do?"
"Get the mop and the bucket and swab down the walls and floor of the next cell," Ianto said. "Leave it wet. I want it to soak in the disinfectant solution for a while before I scrub."
"Ok," Jack agreed, "but you know, if I do the one across the aisle I can multi-task."
I know I am gonna regret it, Ianto thought, but I just have to know where he's going with this.
"How, Jack, will swabbing down the cell across the aisle allow you to multi-task when doing the one next door won't?"
"Well, if I do the one across the aisle, I can ogle and help at the same time," Jack explained innocently.
Ianto stifled a snort of laughter with a long-suffering groan.
"Suit yourself," he moaned, unwilling to let Jack know he was enjoying the teasing, "as long as you actually do the work."
Grinning madly, Jack grabbed mop and bucket and carried it over to the cell to set to work. As predicted, his gaze kept drifting back to the young Welshman. Between swift strokes with the mop, he watched the object of his desire and started daydreaming, getting so lost that he was only startled back to awareness when Ianto removed the mop from his grip and lightly bounced the stick against the captain's forehead.
"Stop staring holes into the air," Ianto told him gravely. "It makes you look stupid."
"Huh?"
"That... doesn't help with reverting the impression."
Jack looked crestfallen.
"You don't have a good opinion of me, do you?" he asked, offering a glimpse at an insecurity that did not want to fit with his usual image.
"Only when you regress to an adolescent boy," Ianto scolded. "Can you finish this without undressing me with your eyes?"
"Yeah."
"Good boy," Ianto praised. "Show me how thorough you can be."
"Very!" Jack beamed, clearly imagining impure activities. Seeing Ianto's stern gaze, his features crumbled and he forced himself to quickly straighten up, standing at attention and shouting with mock salute, "Aye, sir! At your service, sir!"
Ianto could not help but laugh.
"You're impossible."
"I've been called worse," Jack shrugged and began to scrub intently. This time, he did not allow himself to be distracted and washed the whole cell.
"Finished!" he called out with joy, looking for Ianto to share his triumph.
"Good," the Welshman nodded. "While it soaks, I've got other work to do. Thank you for your help, sir."
"No problem. What else are you working on?"
"I still need to prepare the papers for One tomorrow," Ianto explained. "Tosh will have a look at them before I'll print them all, just to be on the safe side."
"I'm sure they'll be spot on," Jack assured him.
Ianto appeared to be sceptical, but before the captain could proceed charming, an alert called him way.
xXx
Constable Andy Davidson had enough. He was so fed up with weird images that tried to manifest themselves in his mind. Nothing of what flashed before his inner eye made any sense and all he wanted was to forget about it when he strolled into his favourite pub and got himself a beer. Of course, one beer did not suffice and a second followed suit. Sitting in a corner, he stayed by himself with his brooding.
Handsome Captain Harkness came to his mind. When he met him at the animal shelter, he thought, just for a second, that he knew why Harkness showed up there, but just like that the idea was gone again. Like a déjà vu. And just like that, the vague connection with spooky-dos that he felt did not stop bugging him.
With a sigh, Andy lifted his glass to take another drink. As he busied himself drinking, he first did not notice the newcomer in the pub, but when he heard loud voices, he looked around to see what was going on.
What the hell…?
Andy was not the only one staring at the… person that argued with the barkeeper. Whatever it was wore an elegant suit and a white shirt with ruffles instead of cuffs and collar. No matter how weird its attire, it was nothing compared to its physique. Its skin was flaming red and it had striking features. Instead of hair it had fins, the one in the middle of its head standing up like a Mohawk.
Vigorously shaking his head, Andy tried to return to the present. Only then, he noticed that the argument was about to get rough and he got up to intervene.
"Hey!" he called out. "Easy, mates. Maybe you should cal…"
"We're not mates!" the unknown entity declared heatedly, turning to the constable. "This is none of your business, so get…" It paused, staring straight at Andy now, before it shouted angrily, "Oh! You!"
"Huh?"
Nobody could understand the stream of words that followed, which made the person even more mysterious. Transfixed, Andy still stared at the creature when it moved toward him and punched him in the gut. Andy stumbled backwards and slumped against the wall. Strong hands with webbed fingers took the collar of his jacket and yanked him to his feet. Still shouting in an unknown language, the thing dragged the stunned and confused constable along, out of the back door and into an alley.
"Your fault!" it screamed, slamming Andy into a brick wall. "The colony sucks! Why did ya have to do that? Tell me!"
Andy had no idea what the alien wanted from him, but he was pretty certain that this would not end well when it kicked at him, driving the air out of his lungs.
xXx
"He went into a pub," Toshiko declared.
"Where?" Owen grunted.
"Turn right at the next crossing," she said. "God, I hope it won't pick a fight."
"Yeah…" Jack was asleep at the wheel, finding it difficult to focus on the task at hand. Even knowing that he needed to be prepared for a rogue blowfish, he could not concentrate. His thoughts trailed back to Ianto. For once, it had nothing to do with his lustful daydreams, though. The young archivist had reminded him of the memorial service they were going to attend and that made him quite pensive. Images of his fights after the Cyberinvasion crossed his mind. So many people had died. So many lives had been turned upside down.
Ianto's one of them. How is he coping? Is he coping? Jack blinked. He's so professional and suave that I can't really tell. I think he's talked with Tosh. There seems to blossom a friendship between them. I like that.They could be good for each other, and maybe the prospect of a little competition will finally make Owen take notice of Tosh.They deserve to have a life outside Torchwood. We're so caught up in work that we hardly have peeks at what's normal for other people. Have friends, a partner, a relationship…
If nothing else, Canary Wharf reminds us that life's fragile. A single mistake can have monstrous consequences. We need to…
"Jack!"
Toshiko's shout finally startled him out of his musings.
"Jack, c'mon!" Owen prodded. "It's over there."
"Yeah, it's still in the pub," Toshiko confirmed. "Let's get it before it causes trouble."
"Right," Jack muttered, refocusing. He was the first who alighted from the car and strode over to the pub's entrance.
A small group of men just left when the team reached the pub, looking anxious. The Torchwood operatives shared knowing glances and proceeded inside. As it turned out, the blowfish did indeed cause trouble. Once they had deciphered the bartender's frantic babbling, they went on to the back door. Jack not without slipping a pill into the man's drink.
What they found in the alley behind the pub alarmed them.
The blowfish was towering over a human male. It held a knife that was so big that it almost passed as a sword. In response, team Torchwood drew their weapons.
"What do you want?" the man on the floor all but whined. "I don't know you!"
"Freeze!" Jack yelled.
Instead of complying, the blowfish quickly bent down and grabbed the man's arm, jerking him to his feet. The young male was struggling as the blowfish tried to get a better hold on him and put his knife across his neck.
"Drop your weapons!" the blowfish shouted back. "Or this man will die."
On the periphery of his vision, Jack could see that the others hesitated.
"Put down your knife or you'll be the one who dies," the captain replied harshly.
The blowfish did not look like he believed his words. He tightened his hold on his captive who still squirmed. When he turned his head, Jack recognized him as the stubborn young male who had braved him at the public pool in Splott.
"Oh, I see," the captain drawled, "the colony's not to your liking."
"Bloody right!" the blowfish spat. "Drop your guns!"
Right then, Jack met the widened eyes of the human in the fish's hold and recognized Constable Davidson.
Oh, shit!
"Jack," Toshiko whispered from beside him. "We gotta help Andy…"
"Kid, I'm counting to five," Jack told the blowfish sternly. "You don't release him, I'll shoot."
"Jack," Toshiko gasped.
"You should listen to the female," the blowfish snarled.
"Yeah, listen to Tosh," Andy croaked past the arm that choked him.
"Shut up," Jack barked. "One."
"Jack," Owen mingled in. "I think, Tosh's right."
"Two," Jack went on unperturbed.
The blowfish shifted his weight from one foot to the other, the only sign of his nervousness.
"Three," Jack counted, adjusting the Webley that lay reliably in his hand.
"Oh, God," Andy whimpered.
"Jack…"
A warning that Jack did not need, as his trained eye spotted the minuscule changes in the blowfish's features a second before he drew back his webbed hand to stab the constable. Instead of counting four, Jack squeezed the trigger and his Webley spat fire.
A wordless scream tore off Andy's lips as the knife hovered over him, ready to pierce his flesh. The blowfish did not move for what seemed like forever. Then its weight pulled the constable down with him.
Still screaming, Andy frantically tried to wriggle out of the dead alien's hold.
"Jack," Owen grunted, "was that really necessary."
"You think I should've let him stab the constable?" the captain challenged, starting toward the fallen. "I hate shooting people, but he didn't leave me any choice."
"It must've still been confused," Toshiko threw in. "It just arrived here, right?"
"Culture shock is a reason, not an excuse," Jack growled, but did not relent. "About a week should be enough to acclimate." Taking the constable's arm, he pulled him to his feet and commanded, "Stop crying and tell me if you're injured."
Stunned, Andy looked around at the captain. First, he seemed confused, but then recognition lit up in his eyes.
"I know you!" he gasped, having an epiphany. "You're Torchwood! Oh, my God! We've hunted aliens together!" Reaching up to brush his hand over his short hair, he howled, "That's how I lost my hair! It was one of your things! And that… that… fish, it said that it knew me and I couldn't remember, but now I do! We were in Splott at the swimming pool! They laid their eggs into the pool and he had a gun! You should've shot him the first time!" he frayed. "These blowfishes are loose cannons! You shouldn't send them to colonies, you should put them behind bars if you can't send them back to where they come from! Earth is not the waste dump for the scum of the universe!"
Jack sighed. It was pretty obvious that the constable overcame the retcon.
"All of them?" he calmly asked. Seeing that his team just stood and watched, he gestured at Owen to get to work, covering up the whole mess.
"Yes, all of them," Andy replied steadfastly.
"You would lock everyone up who's male and might start a fight at a pub then?" Jack asked.
Andy opened his mouth to answer but snapped it shut again.
"Didn't think so," Jack stated. "Blowfish are sentient beings, forming a society not that much unlike ours. You should treat them accordingly."
"Well, yeah…" Andy muttered. "What happens now?"
"We'll cover it up," Jack shrugged.
"I mean, with me," Andy elaborated. "Whatever you did to me… will you do it again?"
Jack did not bow to the challenge… he evaded it.
"Owen, Suzie," he prodded, "we don't have forever."
"We know," Owen grunted. "Tosh! Was there any sign of the blowfish having company?"
"If there was, I would've told you before we followed him," she chided. Furtively, she looked at Jack and the constable beside him, whose adrenalin rush seemed to ebb away now, making room for anxiety and insecurity. Kneading his hands, he shifted his position every now and then, obviously uncertain about what to do with himself.
"Tosh!" Owen urged. "How about you helping, huh?"
"Yeah, right," she muttered. "Give me the keys. I'll get the car."
"I'll get the car. Help Suzie."
While his team was busy with the blowfish's remains, Jack examined the area with his wrist device. There was no trace of Rift activity anywhere near their position and he found no sign of other aliens either. He had blocked the door to the pub on their way out, so nobody could follow them. Nobody came into the alley from the streets either. For now, they were safe.
"Jack?" Andy tentatively started when nothing happened. "Seriously… what are you going to do to me?"
"Why should I do anything to you?" Jack asked back, his attention still being with the team's cleanup.
"You drugged me to take my memory," the constable stated with a touch of accusation lacing his voice. "Isn't it logical to assume that you'll poison me again?"
"Oh, c'mon!" Jack groaned, just giving the constable a cursory glance. "I didn't poison you. It's just an amnesia pill."
"I call it poisoning!" Andy frayed.
"Don't be so melodramatic," the captain scolded without looking at him.
"I'm not," Andy grumbled. "Now, will you answer my question?"
"I won't do anything to you, Andy," Jack said, finally turning to face him. "The question is, though, what I'm going to do with you."
"Like what?"
"Like… well, first you're gonna sign the Official Secrets Act," Jack declared. "Don't want you to blab about Torchwood."
"I won't," Andy assured him.
"Good."
For a moment, they both watched the others work, loading the blowfish's body into the back of the black SUV.
"Maybe you could be like… well, a liaison," Jack mused aloud.
Andy looked up at the captain whose gaze was still fixed on his team.
"Liaise with who?"
"With the police," Jack chuckled. "Occasionally our cases cross jurisdiction after all."
"Occasionally…" Andy smirked and earned a deep scowl in response. "Fine. I'm looking forward to it."
"It's settled then," Jack nodded. "You'll come with us to the Hub now, sign the documents."
"Now?" Andy moaned. "Can't we do that tomorrow?"
"We'll be busy tomorrow."
"Is another Armageddon scheduled?" Andy prodded.
Once more, Jack's features darkened.
"No… we're just going to be busy. Now come."
Resigning himself to his fate, Andy followed Jack to the car. As they all climbed in, Jack declared, "When we're back at the Hub, you can go home. I can dispose of the blowfish myself and we'll meet early tomorrow morning for the drive to London."
"I promised Ianto to look at the documents he prepared," Toshiko threw in. "I can help you first."
Her comment reminded Jack of the assigned tasks. "Suzie, you should join in," he said, "and go over what you've set up as well."
"Is that really necessary?" she growled.
"Just for proper co-ordination," Jack told her firmly. "Can't take long if everyone was thorough."
"Which I was," she muttered and sank back into her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
Once more, Jack had to wonder about her unwillingness. Whenever Ianto was involved, she became stubborn. He would have to dig deeper on that subject. If Ianto was willing to stay with the team, Jack wanted him to be welcomed rather than greeted with hostility.
tbc…