I want to let everyone know there will be an accompanying story for this in Interludes called "Oh The Things You Can Do With a Stopwatch" and it shall be smutty smut but I am still working on it so give me a couple days. :) There will be one more chapter after this one and then we shall forge on ahead. Still don't own, can't rent but I live in hope that one day it (or at least Jack and Ianto) will be mine.
"I should be doing that."
Ianto glanced up from the form he was filling out. "Why? I do the majority of the rest of your paperwork so why should this be any different?" He signed Jack's name at the bottom and took a final glance at the body of Suzie Costello that was once more dead and in its place in the morgue. "Are you all right?"
"I don't know," Jack said, leaning against the row of doors next to Suzie's drawer, sighing as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "One day we're going to run out of room."
"Well, there are two things I hate to bring to your attention at this time but I guess I should." Ianto rolled the drawer closed and locked it before moving to lean next to Jack. "One, gloves come in pairs. Maybe the other one is the balance to this one of maybe it's worse. Either way, I suggest that if we find it, we destroy it. And two, and even more of an issue than the possibility of finding said second glove, Gwen needs to be dealt with. If you allow her to get away with this you may as well get out the Retcon for Tosh, Owen and me. She nearly got herself killed because she didn't listen and she did get Suzie's father killed. I don't know why you suddenly gave her the use of the glove but this time, while I hate to say it, you have fault in this." He glanced at Jack, noticing the stubborn set of his jaw. "This is me speaking as your SIC, Jack. You warn her, you threaten her, you suspend her and then she comes back and does something else and the pattern repeats. My suggestion is strict probation and she is to be confined to the Hub. She is to be monitored, and at the first sign of stepping out of line she's fired. I know you keep telling me things are different and you don't have feelings for her and I believe that you want to believe that you don't but there is something there that allows her to constantly behave as if she is on a higher level than the rest of us. If it's the whole hero worship thing then you really need to get a grip on yourself and get over it. A hero does not endanger others for the expense of one and this time, that is exactly what you did." Ianto straightened and took several steps away before turning back. "For tonight, send everyone home. Tomorrow, we deal with everything. Now, you get your coat and do whatever you need to including locking down the Hub once everyone is gone and then you meet me at the SUV. You have ten minutes." He pulled the stopwatch out of his pocket and clicked the button. "That's ten minutes and counting, sir." He turned and headed out of the morgue, his voice drifting back over his shoulder. "Oh, and you may want to think of a list. I have my own of course but you may be able to come up with a few more things we can do with a stopwatch."
Jack's face lit up, the furrows on his brow fading as he watched Ianto leave. "Oh yes, Mister Jones, I have a few." Realizing he was wasting time, Jack ran out of the morgue to send the others home, put the Hub into night mode, grab and his coat and be at the SUV ready and waiting when Ianto arrived. After all, he only had ten minutes.
-TW-
All talk of Torchwood, Suzie, Gwen, gloves and more or less anything that didn't involve lists, positions, directions and few stern commands was forgotten for the night and the Rift had been blissfully silent, allowing Ianto and Jack the chance to work through a few things from each of their lists. Both pleasantly sore, Ianto still wearing the marks Jack had left behind while Jack had already healed from Ianto's, they were in Ianto's kitchen having coffee before leaving for the Hub and while neither really wanted to the time had come to continue the discussion from the night before.
"I thought she would try, Suzie would come back, she would realize that it was useless and learn that she really doesn't know everything."
Ianto snorted and rolled his eyes. "And this time would have been different how that she would have realized that? Honestly, in everything she has done, just when has she learned?" He leaned back against the counter and sighed. "Jack, please hear me out before you react." He waited until Jack nodded and looked directly at him. "I understand that she wasn't Lisa anymore and you did what was right. I understand what a threat she was. I know you didn't punish me for what happened so perhaps I shouldn't compare the situations. You disobeyed every protocol and brought a completely untrained rookie into an unknown situation and although she was told to stay back and observe when she let the alien escape through carelessness you did nothing more than get angry at her for apologizing. You told her not to apologize. That alien was responsible for how many deaths? And you did nothing, not even a reprimand. You allowed her to come in late, leave early, and take time off. When she is called in, or we try to call her in, and she doesn't answer then later blames it on Rhys you shrug it off. Something has to change, Jack."
"I know. The first thing is I am naming you as my official SIC. I know you can do the job; if I'm honest you've been doing that job and a good part of mine since you started. We will then deal with all personnel issues. After that, you and I are going to have to talk about some things you will need to be in charge of if the Doctor shows up and I have to leave." Jack saw the mask slide into place and Ianto stepped away from him. "No, stop right there. I'm hoping he can give me the answers I need without leaving but he's unpredictable. He may park the TARDIS and stay for a few days or he may refuel and leave. I have to know, Ianto. I need to find out if he can fix me. I want nothing more than to live out our lives together. He's the only one who can tell me." Jack laid his hand on Ianto's arm. "I don't want to leave you and even if I do I will come back. I promise you I will come back."
Ianto moved into Jack's embrace, trying not to think about life without him for even the shortest of time.
-TW-
Gwen was the last one to arrive and while Jack was willing to give her leeway after the transfer of the wounds Suzie has suffered her attitude was enough for him to reconsider. She was complaining about the headache, she was complaining about the soreness and she was complaining about how long it had taken them to rescue her. She had Tosh so angry she wouldn't speak, Owen smirking as he waited for the explosion, Ianto ignoring her and doodling on his notepad and Jack sitting with his face set and his arms folded across his chest. Eventually she realized she was the only one speaking and stopped, turning her wide-eyed gaze to Jack. The expression on his face and the obvious body language didn't seem to register because she tried one of her gap-toothed smiles. "I am grateful you saved me, Jack. It makes me feel like I'm important to this team, to you..." she breathed, ignoring or being too wrapped up in her efforts to notice the sudden glare Ianto was shooting her way.
"All of my team is important to me, Gwen." Jack unfolded his arms and stretched, letting one hand fall to rest on Ianto's arm and the other on the table. "However, let's start with where things went right as the list is so much shorter. Tosh?"
"The activation and deactivation codes have been removed and I have Mainframe running several diagnostics on anything Suzie did in the system to make sure that there is nothing else. I never thought she was capable of doing something like that, Jack. I do apologize for not catching it before the protocol was activated."
"Not your fault, Tosh. I think there were mistakes made on all sides when Suzie was alive. Well, most of us. Ianto had told me he thought there was something wrong with her after she got involved with the glove but I overlooked it. I've done that too many times and now I've decided things around here are going to change. Owen, anything come about from the autopsy?"
"Well, she's dead again and since the glove is gone I'm guessing she's going to stay that way. Besides, with the amount of bullets in her if anyone tries reviving her they'll be dead before she's alive. I haven't seen that many bullet holes in someone since that thing of Ianto's in the basement." Owen smirked at Ianto from across the table. "Sorry, just making a medical observation."
Ianto didn't say anything but the muscle in his arm was so tense Jack could feel it trembling. "Apparently you enjoy cleaning the cells Owen, because you've just bought yourself another month of it." Jack turned his head to look at Ianto. "Ianto?"
"Detective Swanson phoned to thank us for the lovely selection of pastries we sent from her favorite bakery to express our gratitude for her assistance. She also is taking care of the transfer of Max to Providence Park."
"Nice idea with the pastries," Jack said with a wink. "Now, my first order of business is the official announcement of naming Ianto Jones as my SIC. He has the longest service to Torchwood between here and One. He has the most extensive knowledge of Torchwood protocols and contacts. He has an excellent working relationship with not only the locals and the PM but with the Queen as well. If something happened where I had to leave tomorrow he would be the only one who had any idea of what to do from making sure you got paid to taking care of the Hub to knowing who to call and when. He is to be treated with respect, his orders are second only to mine." Jack cocked an eye at a red-faced Gwen. "Something to add?"
They could all hear her grinding her teeth but she shook her head.
"Right, second order of business. Ianto's quick thinking gave us an outside link with the Hub in lock down but we need better measures in place. I want one exit with a means of override in place. It needs to be someplace out of the way in case we are trying to avoid an incursion. Also, I want kill switches on all vehicles. It would have been much easier if we could have simply shut down the car before they got so far away. It also might have saved an innocent man's life." Jack leaned back in his chair. "Now, normally I would take the discipline matters into a more private setting but this time I want everyone here." Jack opened a file Ianto slid over to him. "Let us take a look at the list of things that went wrong. First off, I blame myself for giving in to the idea of using the glove. I let myself be annoyed to the point I stopped thinking reasonably. It won't happen again. Tosh, I need you to be more pro active when you think something is off. You apparently told Ianto that you had a feeling there was a problem and that Suzie had done something to the system because of her attitude toward you and the smugness she was displaying but you didn't want to interact with her so you stepped back. No more. You are far too valuable to hide in the background." He looked at her until she nodded. "Owen. You, again, took advantage of a situation to interject as much rudeness and belittling to your teammates as you could. You allowed yourself to be distracted by your involvement with Gwen to the point that you didn't realize the connection between the two of them until it was almost too late. Don't let it happen again." He stared Owen down until the medic huffed and dropped his gaze. "Ianto. The next time you think I'm doing something incredibly stupid shoot me. Preferably with something non-lethal, but get my attention and tell me why you think whatever it is could be a very bad idea. You knew from the beginning with the glove it was a problem but when it all came down you allowed yourself to fade just enough that I gave in. I know it sounds like I'm blaming you for my mistakes but I need your viewpoint and opinion to balance mine. Got it?" Ianto nodded and even managed to let some of the tension in his face soften.
"Jack, I would prefer to speak to you alone."
"Not happening, Gwen." Jack turned the paper he had been using to remind himself of the topics for discussion and shook his head. "Right. Let's list the problems shall we? I told you to leave the idea of the glove alone and you refused. I found you trying to figure out a way into the secure archives. Once Suzie was revived, you not only listened to her lies and believed her without checking a single fact you took her from a locked interrogation room and left the Hub. You took her to see her father, again without knowing the facts, and gave her the opportunity to kill him. You almost got killed yourself because you refused to listen. Who knows how many more people may have died at her hands because of your inability to listen. You disobeyed direct orders. You broke numerous protocols. You ignored rules, regulations and safeguards. You endangered your team and the people of the United Kingdom by - although unknowingly - causing a lock down of the Hub. As has become the norm, you argued with me, ignored my orders and did what you wanted." He sat back and sighed. "Ianto?"
"From the first day on the job, tried to use your sexuality as a means of controlling Jack. You have no respect for him as your boss and no respect for your team. You come in when you want, you leave when you want, you demand time off and when you get called on it you claim it's because of Rhys and that Jack insists you don't let your relationship slide. All that is going to change. Your hours will be logged. The moment you step into the Hub you are to log into your computer. All keystrokes, history and anything else you do on the system will be monitored. You will log out before you leave, and a daily report of the hours and actual work you do will be forwarded to Jack and me. There will be an icon on the screen you can click it there is a call-out or if you leave for lunch. Your mobile is to remain in your desk unless you are on an actual break and by that it means one where you are logged out of the system. Solitaire has been locked and you are no longer able to access any outside sites except for the ones on an approved list. For the next three months you are on restricted duty. You will only leave the Hub if there is a full team call out. Other than that you will be staying behind to run the call. You will also be given refresher courses on computer, basic first aid and proper procedures for paperwork and all of these must be signed off on before you will be considered for return to full field agent."
"Jack!"
Jack pointed at her when she jumped to her feet. "Sit! He's not finished!"
Gwen flung herself back in her chair and once more sent a death glare at Ianto. "As part of your restriction and demotion you will be responsible for cleaning the Hub. As you will not be going out in the field unless absolutely necessary, you will no longer have detailed reports to do. I would suggest you wear less, well...you may want to dress accordingly. When Tosh and Owen have reported to me that you have completely retraining to their satisfaction, I will then work with you on procedures. Once that is complete and the three month period has expired I will meet with Jack and we will discuss if the probation ends or continues. Part of the discussion will be based on your attitude. However," here Ianto glanced at Jack and waited until he nodded before continuing, "during this probation period of at least three months if you are late, are caught doing anything that is not allowed in your revamped job description, or if you are found to be complained excessively of how unfair it all is, each transgression will receive one tic. If you accumulate ten or more tics in the three months the probation will automatically double. If you receive fifteen your employment will be terminated." Ianto pushed a stack of papers across the table to her. "This is everything we have just gone over. Read it, and sign it. It will be added to your personnel folder. If you refuse you will be given a one month unpaid suspension and the probation will begin when you return."
"If you return." Jack eyed her, seeing the fury in her eyes. "You've been given far too many chances and far too much leeway. Partially, I'm at fault but despite the fact you have been warned and suspended you continue to behave as if you are the one in charge. You're not. I am. And when I'm not here, Ianto is. Even when I am here if he says do it you had best do it. You've used up your chances. Once again, because you thought you were right, an innocent is dead. I'm sick of it, sick of your attitude and sick of you thinking you know better than I do. Read the papers, sign your name and start by straightening up the Hub. Ianto, could you please bring coffee to my office after you have your discussion with Owen?"
Owen started and looked at Jack. "What discussion?"
"I believe Ianto wishes to speak with you about a comment you made earlier." Jack stood up. "Tosh, get started on that entrance. Gwen, get to work. Owen, I suggest you learn this time." He left, closing the door to the conference room behind the three of them, leaving Ianto and Owen alone.