Several days later...
Ianto stood in the entranceway to archives first records room with a puzzled look on his face. In front of him was a sight that he never would have imagined. Gwen was standing on a small crate, looking into the top drawer of a filing cabinet. Inwardly, Ianto winced at the idea of her going through and messing up his neat filing system.
"What are you doing?" He finally asked. Gwen's head whipped up and she practically beamed herself against the low overhanging shelf.
"Ianto!" She said with a smile. "At last! Can you help me?" She pushed her hair back over her shoulder but it just slid forward again.
Ianto took a step into the room and looked around. It seemed that she had already been looking through the cabinets since several of the others had their drawers slightly open or had paper sticking out. This time he did wince as he took it all in before looking back at her.
"What are you looking for?" He asked. He went over to the first cabinet, opened the drawer and tucked the errant pages inside before closing it again.
"An employee manual," she said, pushing through the next folder in the drawer and looking at the contents.
"A what?" Ianto asked blankly. "You're not talking about that fool manual of Torchwood rules, are you? The one Owen made up as a joke one time?" She shook her head.
"No, not that. Though I do think that Don't mess with the rift can't be said to an employee enough," she said. She slammed the door shut and stepped off the box. "No, I'm talking about a benefits manual."
"Pardon?" Ianto asked. He looked at her blankly.
"Torchwood has been around for over a century. Shouldn't we have a manual that tells us our benefits?" She asked reasonably.
"Erm," Ianto paused as he looked at her. "You know, I never thought of that before. Usually Jack either had someone on hand or knows someone like Martha who can help us out. Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm curious," Gwen said. She dusted her hands off and looked at the man standing opposite. "Maybe I need to just ask Jack."
"Well, he is the boss," Ianto said with a tiny smile on his lips. "But getting him to commit to anything in writing is another story." She laughed and headed out of the records room. Ianto was torn between fixing the mess or seeing her confront Jack and he paused in the threshold, caught by indecision. Finally, with a last look towards the cabinets, he followed after her. The records would still be there later…
*
Ianto trailed behind Gwen as she marched up the stairs and into the Hub's main room. She made her way up the stairs to Jack's office and paused on the threshold.
Jack had his head down, scribbling on a piece of paper. He had an intent look of concentration as he worked, and for a moment Gwen was loathe to interrupt him. She shifted impatiently for a couple of minutes, but he didn't acknowledge her.
"Jack," she finally said, her patience worn thin by both the wait and her fruitless search of the archives.
"Just a sec," he said, putting up one finger to forestall her before adding another paragraph. He then frowned and scribbled over it, writing something down after the black splotch he had created. Sighing, he sat back. "Hi Gwen."
"Hi. Jack, can we talk?" She asked. She took a seat without giving Jack a chance to respond. Jack looked at her expectantly.
"Yes?"
"Jack, does Torchwood have an employee benefits manual?" She asked as she sat back in the chair. Jack looked at her blankly. "You do know what those are, don't you?" She heard a movement behind her in the entryway and knew that Ianto had followed her up from the archives.
"Benefits manual?" Jack asked. Gwen nodded. "I don't think anyone's ever asked before. Why do you want to know?"
"Because I'm curious. What are the policies regarding sick time, workman compensation and leave time?" Gwen asked. She was getting a bit annoyed by Jack's puzzled expression. "Surely I'm not the first person to ask about these things?" She turned to Ianto who shrugged. "What about Torchwood One? Did they have something?"
"They actually had a whole binder that you received when you went through orientation," Ianto said. Jack scowled at the reference to Torchwood Tower. "It was mainly policy, regulations and non disclosure stuff. I'm afraid I didn't look at it too closely, however."
"How typical," Gwen muttered. "But at least they had something. But we don't?"
"It never came up," Jack said, spreading his hands and shrugging. "Gwen, you've been here over two years now. Isn't it a bit late to be asking for the orientation manual?" She continued to stare at him and he shifted uncomfortably, feeling like he had done something wrong, though he couldn't imagine what. "What do you want to know?"
"What my benefits are," Gwen said. She crossed her arms and stared at Jack.
"Like what?" Jack asked. "If you're sick, you stay home." Gwen laughed.
"Right, if we're sick, we drag our arses in because we know that stuff needs to get done," Gwen countered. Jack grinned sheepishly. "What about maternity leave?" She could swear that Jack blanched at her comment.
"Mater… Gwen, are you trying to tell me something?" Jack asked his jaw dropping.
"No, I'm not pregnant," she said and waved her hand. "But what if I get pregnant? Rhys wants children. It's something we've discussed in the past. So it got me to thinking about what the policies are."
"Frankly, I'm surprised you'd even consider it after the Nostrovite," Jack said. She stared at him, not amused by his quip. "Okay," he said, holding up his hands to ward her off. "Bad joke." Jack ignored Ianto's snort of amusement from where he stood leaning against the wall. "Honestly, the topic has never come up before."
"Really?" Gwen asked. "No one has ever gotten pregnant while on active duty before?"
"Well, not in the usual way, no," Jack admitted. He thought back through the years. Neither Alice Guppy nor Emily Holroyd had been exactly the maternal type, and besides, turkey basters didn't exist back then. Moving forward from them, he thought about each female member of Torchwood. None of them had expressed an interest in having children. There were a couple of woman later on in the sixties and seventies, but they had left voluntarily and been wiped, so hadn't been on active status.
Gwen waited patiently as she watched Jack wrack his memory. "None?" He sighed and shook his head. "Then I'm guessing we need a policy."
"Okay," Jack said. He tried to picture Gwen pregnant and still working, and he could see her doing just that, since she was so stubborn. "What do you have in mind?"
"What, do I have to write the policy myself?" She asked. Jack shrugged. She shook her head. "I guess I better, since obviously you don't know the first thing about it."
"Ianto, could you look up and see if there's anything in our records for what they did at the Tower?" Jack asked. Ianto nodded agreeably. "Let's start with that."
"Okay then," Gwen said.
"Okay," Jack echoed. He watched as she stood and walked out of the room, still looking exasperated by him. He turned a helpless look at Ianto who was still leaning against the wall with a small smile on his face. "You seem rather amused by this."
"Me? No," Ianto said, but Jack saw the twinkle in his eye at Jack's discomfort.
"Do you have any policy questions? Plan on getting pregnant anytime soon?" Jack asked.
"Not in this lifetime, no." Ianto said as he pushed off from the wall and took the seat that Gwen had vacated. "But what about you?"
"No," Jack said. "Don't even think about it. I am not getting pregnant!"
"Don't you think this is something we should discuss? Short of pathogenesis, I had better be the only way that could happen," Ianto said in a mock threatening tone.
"Ianto," Jack whined. "Trust me on this one. Not going to happen."
"Are you sure, Jack? What if we have an accident?" Ianto was having fun teasing Jack. He wasn't even sure how it would be possible, but one never knew with Jack and for some reason, his story of being pregnant in the past had rung true to Ianto, as incredible as that had sounded.
"Ianto," Jack said in a warning tone.
"Hmmmm, I wonder if we can turn the Tourist Centre into a day care?" Ianto got out of the chair as Jack came around his desk, hands out in a threatening manner. "No?"
"No." Jack said. "If you say anymore, I'll be looking for a new agent, because I'm going to kill the one in front of me." Ianto moved to put the desk between then. "You keep this up, mister, and that desk isn't going to save you." Ianto grinned.
"Promise?" Ianto asked. He pulled his stopwatch out of his pocket and looked at it. "Shall we time how fast you are at catching me?" With that, he darted out the doorway and made his escape, Jack in pursuit behind him.
~*~
