Disclaimer- I do not have the pleasure of owning Torchwood. If I did, there would be less aliens and more beautiful Welsh vowels. As you can tell by the aliens, the BBC has the honour of owning the show. And also Doctor Who, from whence many of the characters in this fic are also borrowed.
Spoilers- Lets say seasons 1 & 2 to be on the safe side
Rating- T
Synopsis- AU. Jack's working nights, Ianto's getting stressed, and Tosh is having nightmares again. With Gwen and Owen playing up too, can peace reassert itself in the Harkness-Jones household before disaster strikes?
General Notes- AU: the aliens only come out at night; and Torchwood is merely the name of a house. Idea came from nowhere; title is stolen from a Delta Goodrem song which may or may not be connected. My first Torchwood fanfic, so please be nice! Constructive criticism is always welcomed. And don't kill me for the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff *g*
Chapter Notes- Any opinions expressed herein by one William Dodd, esquire, are the opinions of the fictional character only and in no way reflect my own opinions. As a matter of fact, I'm with one messy-haired brunette on this. (Intrigued? Read on!) Also, if at any point you find yourself scoffing over minor details, just remember that this is an AU- they do things differently here. Sorry the chapter was delayed, busy weekend. But it's quite a long one, so hopefully that makes up for it. This is our first encounter with wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff: Ianto is dreaming a surprisingly accurate re-run of the day he met Jack (in case that wasn't obvious).
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Chapter 3
Ianto Jones would never forget the day he met Jack Harkness.
Neither, for that matter, would William Dodd. (The day, that is, not the meeting.)
At eight am, it had just seemed like a perfectly ordinary day. Ianto had straightened his tie, rinsed his coffee cup, locked the front door and traipsed over to his Audi, briefcase in hand. The sky had been blue, the birds had been singing; and you never would have guessed it was February. As he drove to work, he ran his mind over the itinerary for the day. He had two school groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Inwardly Ianto sighed. He somewhat hated the vestiges of PR clinging to his promotion; and was hoping that once he had done the whirlwind tour and a quick introduction of how the archives worked, he could retreat into his office to do some proper work, leaving the inquisitive schoolchildren to his subordinates. Ah well, even if he couldn't he should have a good hour or so to work before the first group arrived. Smiling at the thought, he turned the Audi neatly into the ornately gated entrance, speeding past the decorative sign reading 'Cardiff Central Archives'.
The first blissful hour of sorting through and cataloguing new acquisitions flew by all too fast; and Ianto found that all too soon he was being dragged out to face fifty-odd disinterested fifteen-year-olds. Uncomfortable under the gaze of so many pairs of eyes, the Welshman hastened through his part of the trip itinerary as fast as he politely could, before beating a hasty retreat to his office, confident that the staff left working on the floor could handle any minor enquiries the children might have.
It was a good plan, in theory. A plan which worked all the way through 'til eleven thirty-eight, at any rate. At that particular moment, one Chin Li happened to remark to a friend that she found it all just a tiny bit boring. Pushing unruly dark hair out of her eyes, the friend opened her mouth to comment that actually she found it all rather interesting. But the comment was whipped from her lips by the voice of a passing employee- the unfortunate William Dodd. Dodd was not known amongst the staff for his tolerance, but even Ianto, who prided himself on knowing his staff, could not have predicted the next words out of the young man's mouth. "Yeah? Well, maybe you'd find your own archives a little more captivating- perhaps we should fly you out there and see?"
The fist that connected with his nose came out of nowhere. The scream the hearty punch drew from him was enough to bring Ianto running from the sanctuary of his office.
"Alright, alright, what's going on?"
Dodd's eyes flashed fire. "She hit me!"
His blue eyes met a pair of equally furious brown ones. "Yeah? Well maybe you should think before opening your racist trap then!"
Ianto pieced together the situation in a second, Dodd's mutinous look, the words of the wild-haired brunette and the crying Asian girl beside her all adding up to make an uncomfortable picture. Inwardly cursing his newest employee, Ianto took charge of the situation immediately.
"Mr Dodd, you can wait for me in the staff room. You will not leave the room until further notice." Ignoring the flash of anger in Dodd's eyes, he continued firmly. "You, miss, can come with me," he addressed the dark-haired girl with the bloody fist. "The rest of you can disperse, and carry on with what you came here for. Nothing to see here, back to work!"
None of Ianto's employees would ever dare to disobey when he used that tone of voice, and it seemed the children sensed the danger of it too; for within seconds the path to his office was clear again and Dodd was beating a hasty retreat. Trying his best not to look too weary, Ianto turned on his heel and headed back to his office, glancing over his shoulder at the door to note that the brunette, now much subdued, had followed his instructions to the letter, and was right behind him. So too was the teacher in charge of the school party. Ianto suppressed an inward sigh with difficulty as he pushed open the door and ushered the girl inside before turning to face the mistress, putting on his most reassuring face.
"It's all right, ma'am, I can handle this. If you could just keep an eye on the rest of the children?"
The Welshman's tones brooked no disagreement, and the young teacher found her protests, questions and apologies dying on her lips. Wordlessly she turned on her heel and headed back to the rest of her flock.
Allowing himself a tiny smile at the victory, Ianto entered the office himself. The girl was standing on one leg, rubbing her calf nervously with the opposite foot; and instinctively Ianto could tell she was not used to getting into trouble. Evidently, then, whatever remark Dodd had made had been a step too far. Ianto allowed himself a half-stern, half-reassuring smile as he gestured to the chair opposite the desk.
"Take a seat."
The girl complied, folding her hands nervously in her lap.
"Ok, let's start with the basics," Ianto began in a business-like tone. "Name?"
"Gwen," she replied quietly, expanding on this when he raised an eyebrow to suggest that a first name was not enough. "Gwen Cooper-Harkness."
"Ok, Gwen, I need you to tell me exactly what happened out there."
Fire flashed in Gwen's eyes. "I was just getting the next roll of microfilm with my friend Chin, and she said that she wasn't particularly enthralled by the archives," she began, the fire fading and being replaced by the urge to laugh as she noticed Ianto's complete incomprehension that anyone could voice such a thought. Suppressing the urge with difficulty, she continued. "I was about to say that actually I found it rather interesting," (here Ianto's face brightened) "but before I could speak your… employee suggested that Chin might find 'her own' archives more interesting, and that we should 'fly her out' to see." The fire was back in Gwen's dark eyes again as she filled in the background detail. "Chin might be adopted, Mr…" (quickly she scanned Ianto's name badge) "Jones, but she's lived her whole life in Cardiff, and she's as Welsh as you or me."
Gwen Cooper-Harkness certainly sounded Welsh enough, matching Ianto's own accent vowel for vowel; though he was later to discover that her claims were only geographically true. But anyway.
Ianto frowned a moment, considering the situation. On the one hand, Miss Cooper-Harkness certainly seemed to have just aggravation. On the other hand…
"You broke his nose," Ianto pointed out, perhaps unnecessarily. Gwen flushed.
"I know, and I'm sorry," she muttered, looking at the floor. "But I couldn't help myself. My sister's adopted, see; so I kind of get angry whenever anyone makes racist comments about people who really don't deserve it."
Ianto could see her point, but at the end of the day he could not ignore the severity of the action.
"Apology accepted," he began slowly, earning himself a gap-toothed smile as he held his hand up to stop any reply she might have made. "I don't think there's any reason for any legal action to be taken, given the circumstances. I can talk Dodd out of any law suit he may feel inclined to start- but I didn't tell you that," he added quickly, receiving another grin. He raised an eyebrow in response, before turning serious again.
"Whatever punishment your school decides to impose is up to them; but I don't see how this event should spoil the trip for anyone else, so I'll just keep you here in solitary confinement until it's time for your departure."
Gwen looked both relieved and apprehensive at the same time, if such a thing were possible. Ianto suppressed a smile and carried on with his verdict.
"All the same, I am going to have to call your parents, I'm afraid."
The brown eyes locked onto his, pleading. "No, you can't call my Dad. Please. Not now. You can't!"
Somehow, the suggestion had driven the child from nervous to frantic in the space of a second. Ianto frowned.
"Alright, what about your mother?"
The expressive brown eyes dropped to the desk again.
"My mother's dead," Gwen mumbled.
"I'm sorry." Ianto's apology was swift and sincere. "How about a step-parent?"
Gwen shook her head.
"In that case, Miss Cooper-Harkness, I'm going to have to ring your father."
"Not now!" Gwen pleaded desperately. "Please not now. Just wait 'til three o'clock, please. But don't call him before then. Don't call him at work, please! I'm begging you!"
Ianto's heart went out to the girl, though he couldn't help wondering at her desperation. If the thought of calling her father in the middle of a working day put that much fear into her, then either the man was a tyrant or he did a very important job. Ianto was intrigued.
"I'm sorry, Gwen, but I have to," he responded softly, laying a consoling hand on the girl's shoulder. She shrugged it off angrily, looking betrayed. Ianto felt more than a little sorry for her, but company policy dictated that he had to call her parent immediately in this circumstance, and Ianto Jones was not one to openly flout company policy.
"Look, stay here and calm down," he ordered, heading for the door. "I'll just go and have a word with your teacher."
Mary White could not suppress the stab of relief that shot through her as the door to that office opened, and the man who was evidently the boss of the facility headed in her direction. Finally she was to have a say in the course of the day's events. Having heard the whole story from a tearful Chin, she could not help but conclude that perhaps Gwen had been justified in her actions; although she was still appalled that any pupil of hers could behave so at any time, least of all in public.
"Mr Jones," she greeted the archivist as he headed towards her. "What can I do for you?"
She did not complain as the Welshman took her elbow and gently guided her out of the earshot of the children. Truth be told, she would have willingly followed this man anywhere. He did look good in a suit.
Once safely away from the pupils, Ianto regarded Miss White sombrely.
"I shall leave Gwen's punishment up to the school, Miss White- I think I can persuade my colleague not to sue."
Mary breathed a sigh of relief which was cut quickly short when she saw the look on Ianto's face.
"However, I do need to call Gwen's father and keep her here until he arrives, to discus the matter with them both," Ianto continued, and Mary nodded. That seemed to make sense.
"As I assume Gwen will at the very least receive a suspension, I doubt it will matter much if she arrives back at the school later than the rest of the pupils," Ianto's voice refused to be halted by his companion's gesture. "The rest of the school party can stay out the rest of the visit as planned, I see no reason to disrupt it further. All the staff here are CRB checked, so legally it should not be too much of a problem to leave Gwen here for the present."
Mary nodded again, a little more nervously this time. She was not quite sure how the headmistress would react once she learned that a member of her staff had willingly left a pupil behind on a school trip. Ianto smiled at her reassuringly.
"Any problems, just refer them to me," he suggested confidently, earning himself a grateful smile before he frowned a little in concern.
"There is only one thing which worries me, Miss White," he confessed. "Gwen seems very adverse to the idea of me calling her father out of work- why is that, do you know?"
Mary looked perplexed. "I haven't the faintest idea," she confessed in her turn. "Gwen's a good girl, you know? Bit of a hot temper sometimes, but never really been in trouble before- not so deeply that we've had to contact her parents. She has a heart of gold that sometimes leads her into hot water, but she's never put a toe more than a millimetre or so out of line before."
"Hmm," Ianto considered the answer carefully, before treating Mary to a smile. "Well then, it seems like everything is settled. You'll take the rest of the children home at twelve thirty as planned, and I'll keep Gwen with me until her father arrives. Incidentally- I will need his number; I'm sure you have it."
"Oh! Yes, I do." Slightly flustered by the effects of the smile, Mary hastily tugged the folder of consent forms from her bag and rifled through until she found Gwen's.
"There you go, her father's number will be on there."
"Thank you." Taking a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket, Ianto scribbled down the number and handed back the consent form, shooting Mary one last reassuring smile before heading for the staffroom.
Two heads looked up quickly at the intrusion, one brunette, one blonde. Ianto smiled at the blonde.
"Rose, could you make a phone call for me? I know it's your lunch break, but this won't take a minute. I need to speak to this man urgently regarding the behaviour of his daughter- will you impress upon him the need to drop by as soon as possible?"
Putting her lunch aside with a cleverly concealed sigh, Rose Tyler nodded her consent, reaching for the number.
"Hey, a name would be nice!" she teased, glancing at the scribbled figures. Ianto flushed slightly- it hadn't even occurred to him to ask Gwen her father's name.
"Well, it's a mobile number," he reasoned with his secretary. "Bound to have only one owner. And his daughter's name is Gwen Cooper-Harkness, so I'm guessing the surname will be along the same lines, if you want to cross-reference it with the name the owner of the number gives when answering the call." As caught up as he was in the turmoil of the day, for once Ianto Jones did not register the expression of surprise on his secretary's face.
"I think there was some sense in there somewhere," the pretty blonde teased as she headed out of the room, hastening her exit as she caught the look on her boss' face.
Having dealt all he could with the aggressor for the moment, Ianto now turned his attention to the aggravator.
"So tell me what happened out there, Bill," he ordered, his tones stern; and Dodd scowled.
"This Asian girl said she was bored, yeah; so I just suggested that she might find her own country's archives more interesting. It was an innocent comment, boss; but then that little bitch just jumped on me!"
Ianto raised an eyebrow at his employee, trusting Gwen's account far enough to know that Bill Dodd was only telling half the story.
"Oh, I think our young friend may have been able to hold her temper if that were all you said," Ianto suggested mildly. "I'm guessing it was your suggestion of deporting her peer that didn't go down so well."
Dodd scowled again. "Innocent suggestion, boss!" he protested again vehemently, and Ianto sighed.
"I know you love your job, Bill; but there are times you take your passion for it just a bit too far. You know I can't have my staff going round insulting visitors left, right and centre-"
Dodd looked rebellious, and Ianto held up his hand to cut off any protest.
"Oh, you might not have meant to cause any offense; but if offence was taken then clearly we need to watch what you say around visitors. And to tell the truth, Bill, I might have hit you for that remark myself." Ianto's cold blue eyes flashed fire and ice, much as Gwen's darker ones had earlier. "I will not have my staff making racist remarks, whether in the presence of guests or not. It simply is not acceptable."
Sensing his beloved job slipping away from between his fingertips, Dodd's rebellious look was fast turning to desperation. Taking pity on the man, Ianto returned a speedy verdict.
"Oh, I'm not going to sack you, Bill- this time. But you understand that I do have to take disciplinary action against you. So you are suspended without pay for one week, starting now. You can start by taking yourself along to the doctor's to get that nose checked out, and after that you can spend the rest of the week contemplating how you can alter your attitude so that this does not happen again. Because I'm not a man to give third chances, Mr Dodd- you screw up like this again, and you are fired. Do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly, Sir." Even the orders of how to spend the week in suspension could not keep the relieved smile from Dodd's face at the thought that he got to keep his job. Ianto decided it was time to wipe the smirk off the employee's face. Heading for the door, he turned around as he reached it and added, apparently as an afterthought:
"Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention. You won't be pressing charges against our young friend- or you will be on the dole faster than you can say 'innocent remark'." Ianto's voice had taken on that tone again, and Dodd had no choice but to sulkily agree, knowing that his boss meant every word he said.
Having now dealt with both 'culprits' in the matter, Ianto crossed the floor of the research area on the way back to his office, noting the silence with satisfaction- the school group had headed home. (Or back to school, at any rate.)
Upon re-entering his office, Ianto was surprised to find Gwen not sat still staring at the desk as he had expected, but on her feet and moving around, examining the photocopied documents on Cardiff's history which adorned the walls. Ianto felt a rush of warmth towards the child- evidently she hadn't been lying when she said she was interested by the archives. The Welshman was about to join her in her perusal of the documents when the phone on his desk rang. Suppressing a long-suffering sigh with difficulty, he picked up the receiver and tried not to snap into it.
"Jones."
"Ianto, I made that phone call for you," Rose's dulcet tones drifted down the line. "The man was far from happy, but he said he'll be here asap."
Ianto smiled, a half-smile which, had he only known it, made him look really rather hot. The fact was not lost on Gwen, who turned back to the article she was reading with a secret smile. Perhaps calling her father out of work wouldn't be so disastrous after all.
Unaware of the thoughts going through his companion's head, Ianto concentrated on his phone call.
"Great, thanks Rose. Show him into my office when he gets here, would you?"
"Yeah, sure."
Ianto heard the click of the other receiver being placed down, and he echoed the action now before turning his attention back to Gwen.
"Your father's on his way, he'll be here soon," the Welshman announced, his heart stung by the sudden sag of her shoulders and the defeated way in which she took a seat opposite Ianto once more.
"Why is it so bad that we called him out of work, Gwen?" Ianto asked gently, but before the girl could reply the door opened suddenly and an irate whirlwind swept into the room.
"Damn it, Gwen, I was working!" A rich American accent berated the girl with exasperation, startling Ianto. Whatever he had expected of Gwen's father, it certainly wasn't this. But the man didn't seem like a tyrannical father; which made it much easier for Ianto to be civil.
"I'm guessing from that statement that your job is considerably more important than mine," he began pleasantly, rising to his feet and extending his hand. "Ianto Jones, Head Archivist. Thank you for coming so promptly."
A pair of startlingly blue eyes locked onto Ianto's, momentarily taking his breath away, especially when accompanied by that dazzling grin.
"Pleasure to meet you, Ianto Jones. Captain Jack Harkness, Cardiff Fire Service, Bay Sector."
As Jack gripped his hand in a firm handshake, Ianto felt more than a little dizzy. 'God damn it, Jones!' he berated himself crossly. 'The man's a father, he's gotta be straight!'
"He likes you," Gwen's voice piped up out of nowhere, drawing the two men's eyes reluctantly apart. "He only misuses his job title when he's trying to impress."
'Hmm, maybe not…' A considerable part of Ianto's subconscious leapt hopefully.
Jack was slightly less impressed with his daughter's untimely interruption.
"Hush, you," he glared at her, causing her to subside immediately. "You just keep quiet whilst Ianto fills me in on why the hell I'm here when I should be working." Jack Harkness might be a very easy-going parent on the whole; but the number one rule of the household was that Dad must never be called at work, except in a dire emergency, like the house catching fire (in which case, he was most definitely the one to call, he always quipped, though the smile never reached his eyes with that joke.) Gwen had blown it big time today, and she knew she was in deep trouble.
"Sorry, Dad," she muttered, subdued, doing her best to fade into the background whilst her father grilled the archivist about his daughters antics.
"So tell me, Ianto Jones, why am I here?"
Trying not to think about what that delicious American accent was doing to him, Ianto quickly tried and failed to think of a good way to break the news to the handsome man in front of him. Realising that there wasn't really a tactful way to start such a conversation, and that the American would probably appreciate it if he didn't waste any more of his time, Ianto decided to leap straight in there with the truth. It was about the only viable option, anyway- the intense gaze of those brilliantly blue eyes was rendering constructing a sentence remarkably difficult.
"Well, um, you see, the thing is… Your daughter broke the nose of one of my employees."
Whatever Jack had been expecting to hear, it evidently was not this, judging from the way he took a step backwards in surprise.
"She… what?" he questioned, his tones more than a little incredulous.
"She broke the nose of one of my employees," Ianto repeated, far more calmly than he felt.
"But why on earth would she do that?" The American seemed genuinely mystified. "Gwen wouldn't do a think like that deliberately. Was there some sort of an accident?"
Ianto smiled wryly. "You could say that."
The American raised an eyebrow in question, and Ianto fought to stay composed in the face of the unintentionally sexy gesture.
"The employee in question made a somewhat racist remark about one of the pupils here this morning, and your daughter happened to be standing nearby," Ianto explained. His heart went out to the girl as he observed the look of shock and anger which flared quickly across her father's face, just for an instant, before those handsome features regained their usual composed and cheeky look.
"Don't worry, I've persuaded the employee not to press charges," the archivist added quickly, hoping to spare Gwen at least some pain from the tongue-lashing she was evidently about to receive.
The American smiled at him gratefully, before glancing at his watch. "Well, that all seems to have worked out rather well then- I can take Gwen back to school on my way back to the station and still make the last couple of hours of my shift."
As if sensing the protest rising on Ianto's lips, his visitor continued quickly even as he hustled his daughter in the direction of the door.
"Mr Jones, thank you for your help, and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you. Sorry to run out on you like this too; but I'm sure you'll appreciate that mine is not a job one can leave mid-shift lightly."
"No, I don't believe it is," the Welshman muttered, summoning his best PR smile to his face as he tried to quell his protests. The charming smile he received in return almost dazzled him to the point of losing coherent thought.
"I do still have some questions, though, so here's my number. Just give me a call, any time, to fix up when it would be convenient to meet to discus things further- Ianto."
And with that he was gone. Ianto ran his thumb over the small white card which had been pushed into his hand in a daze, powerless to stop the whirlwind from leaving his office. Come to think of it, he couldn't really think of anything else that needed to be talked through regarding the matter. Which meant… this wasn't an invitation for a date- was it?