Author's notes:
Back from the commercial break/a hellish week at work. Literally hellish: pits of burning lava, the whole shebang.
In the meantime I've drafted out a borderline scathing letter to RTD expressing my disappointment with the events of CoE. I hope that everyone will do the same! And of course mail coffee to the BBC. If you're in America like me, I'm planning to mail mine out on the 30th. I'm a broke college student, so if I can afford to post these things (and subsequently not eat), so can you!
TorchwoodSeason 4, Episode 1, Part 2
Yanto looks momentarily surprised, then frowns, displeased for some reason at this revelation.
Yanto: Was it at least heroic? Did I save a busload of children from veering off a cliff?
Jack says nothing, and has trouble maintaining eye contact.
Yanto: Or an old lady from being attacked by a weevil?
Jack, snapping: It was a mistake, all right. A miscalculation.
Yanto, taken aback: Sorry.
Jack, suddenly reaching across the table and grabbing both Yanto's hands: No, I'm sorry. I never thought I'd get a chance to tell you that, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. So sorry.
He raises the hands to his mouth, but doesn't do anything. Just holds them there. A knock on the glass door startles them. Jack drops Yanto's hand, and he doesn't stop them as they fall and hit the table audibly. He hisses in pain.
Asa, raising an eyebrow: Am I interrupting something?
Jack and Yanto, simultaneously: No.
Asa: Ready to get to work?
Yanto: Yes, ma'am.
Asa: Follow me, please, Captain.
They leave the break room and follow Asa up a staircase. Asa walks through the frosted glass door first, which shuts quickly behind her, and Yanto holds it open for Jack. The office is a disaster. Stacks of paper everywhere, crates of extra terrestrial artifact,s which obviously deserved more care and precautions than they were treated with. One corner was filled with neatly labeled boxes and stacks of colored folders. Yanto made a beeline for it and began the tedious task of pulling each artifact out of a crate, examining it, writing something in a notebook, and putting it in one of a number of opened boxes.
Asa: Please have a seat. [She gestures to the opposite her own chair, which is occupied by a box full of delicate looking gold instruments.] Whoops. [She picks up the box and drops it heavily onto the floor. Yanto whimpers from his corner, slips over and drags it to his corner. Jack looks at him apologetically. They sit.] I'm sorry if I've seemed insensitive. I truly had no idea of the status of Torchwood Three. Ever since the destruction of Torchwood One, we've been a bit out of the loop.
Jack: No need to apologize.
Asa: Let me, since I'm about to be insensitive again in asking exactly what your intentions are in seeking us out.
Jack: Intentions?
Asa: Are you saying it's a coincidence, that of all the places and times that manipulator could have brought you, you wound up here, with us. [A long pause. They stare at each other suspiciously. ] I just don't see how that's possible.
Jack: I had my reasons for being there. Reasons which I am neither obligated nor inclined to share with you. [Another strained silence. The sound of Yanto shuffling papers seems to echo in it.]
Asa: I'll be frank with you, and hope that you understand, as someone one of a similar rank. Do you have an interest in Torchwood Four? That is, in my position at Torchwood Four?
Jack: No. Oh god, no. I'm finished with Torchwood.
Asa, nodding slowly, obviously not convinced: Good then. That's settled. You're free to stay for as long as you like. With no obligation to our missions, of course, beyond your own curiosity. Keep this conversation in mind, however. And if you do plan a mutiny I wouldn't recommend turning to any of my team for help. They're fiercely loyal. No idea why. [She's shuffling papers around on the desk, and they keep slipping over the edge, much to Yanto's chagrin. Underneath a page she finds a Danish with a single bite taken out. She sniffs it a little, and takes another bite. She continues talking while eating.] You can have Mr. Jones, but it'll cost you a pretty penny. And he's shit in a fight.
Yanto: Oy!
Asa shrugs her shoulders and stands up, gesturing for Jack to follow. When they get out to the landing, she should out for Hannah. Hannah's head pops our from a door on the third-ish story.
Hannah: What's happening?
Asa: Take a turn with the Captain. Show him the controls. Oh, show him the team pet! If you can find him, that is. [Turning to Jack.] Sorry, but I have a previous appointment to be verbally abused for my inability to keep things organized. [Muttering to self as she walks away.] I swear he enjoys it.
Jack meets Hannah on the main floor, where she flops heavily into a chair at the central computer, a tall cylinder with a continuous screen around the middle and a plethora of exposed wires.
Hannah: Meet Cencom, the sixth member of our team. Or fifth, depending on how you count it. She's pretty incredible, if you can get her to run smoothly. I think she may have had a thing for Chuck; he never had a problem getting her humming, if you know what I mean. Anyway since we lost him she's been a little depressed. A little finicky. We've been trailing this D.E. for weeks, followed the R.P. trail here, and then nothing. I'm pretty sure she brought us to the wrong time. Trails don't just disappear, right.
Jack: D.E.? R.P.?
Hannah: Dangerous entities. And rift particulates. You'll have to learn the lingo if you want to join the team.
Jack: I don't want to join the team.
Hannah, looking unconvinced: Of course you want to join the team.
Jack: I don't. I…can't. Not again.
Hannah, after thinking for a minute: I've always thought that being alone in the universe is a prerequisite for joining Torchwood. And that's why we cling so desperately to each other. Could you really go back to being alone after that? It doesn't matter how much more it may hurt, to lose someone so irreplaceable; Once you have the taste for this degree of camaraderie, well there's no going back, is there?
Jack says nothing.
Hannah: Just think about it.
From the frosted glass office, a crash is heard, followed by Yanto shouting "Don't step on that!" Hannah laughs a little.
Hannah: He's brilliant, you know. You should have seen this place a few months ago. Shit everywhere. Whole place nearly got taken down by a Blowfish because no one could find a gun. Now the only area stubbornly refusing to get clean is Asa's office. He's on his second week of overtime, which Malcom has thankfully budgeted for. He's got a sixth sense for these things. It's freaky, really.
Jack, watching Yanto's vague outline through the glass: What do you think he needs all the money for?
Hannah: No clue. Drug habit maybe? [Jack shoots her a stern look.] Joking. If it were drugs he'd be much more cheerful. Maybe he just likes money? Maybe he bought a house? Maybe his family has money problem? [Hannah begins to get excited about the speculations, but Jack cuts her off.]
Jack: Has he ever mentioned his family?
Hannah: Not really. He doesn't talk much. Wait…I asked him about his suits once, and he mentioned that his father was a tailor. And I would guess that he isn't an only child; he's too conscientious.
Remy walks by with a tray of medical tools, seemingly oblivious to their conversation, but he stops next to their chairs, gestures to Yanto with a nod of his head.
Remy: He has a girlfriend.
Jack sets his lips into a thin line.
Hannah, surprised: How do you know?
Remy: He keeps a picture of her in the bottom drawer of his desk. [He gestures to a small makeshift workstation in the corner of the main floor. The jacket to Yanto's suit is on a hanger attached to the handle of a filing cabinet. Hannah gives Remy a strange look.] I wasn't going through his desk. He had it out, but he put it back after I asked about it. He said it was a picture of his girlfriend.
Jack, darkly: I see.
Remy walks away without further conversation, and Hannah continues to speculate about what Ianto's girlfriend looks like and what she might do. Her voice fades in and out to Jack, and a strange ringing fills his head. His vision becomes clouded, and his line of sight is being tugged by some external source towards a blinking red orb on the dashboard of Cencom. Jack reaches out to touch it.
Hannah, fearfully: What are you—
Jack turns it about one quarter of the way and presses several buttons before Hannah finally gets to his side and pulls him away from the machine.
Hannah: What the hell do you think you're—
They are cut of by the whining of an alarm, and all around the room lights are dancing.
End part two.
Sorry it's so short! And severely lacking in Janto. Wanted to write and post it before my bus gets into New York. And on a similar note, excellent choice with the wireless internet and outlets on your buses, Greyhound.
I love reviews! And I love people who contact the BBC and tell them to bring back Ianto. Do both of these things, everyone!