Disclaimer - as we all know, this isn't mine. Not Torchwood (more's the pity), not Lucy (same deal - thanks rea for permission), not the city of Cardiff either.
It wasn't a bad visit with Lisa, he supposed. He'd had the chance to adjust her pain medication, she'd said he made her feel better by coming. If he'd been able to ease her burden, even a little, then it had to be worth the visit. It was just… it hurt, more and more every time. And it didn't help that she kept pushing. Every time he visited lately, she was pressing him more and more, what had he found? Was there anything new in his search to get her OUT OF THIS D****D BED! And he had to answer "No." No, there wasn't. And the guilt was becoming overwhelming. He was beginning to wonder if he'd even done the right thing in rescuing her. He'd wanted to save her, but was he just condemning her to a meaningless half-life? Even just choosing to step away from his tasks in order to visit her was becoming harder and harder.
It wasn't her fault, of course. She didn't ask to be half-converted, and she didn't ask him to rescue her. She'd been screaming in such agony, and he knew Torchwood well enough to know that none of the newly converted cybermen would be allowed to live - had he really done her any favors? Especially if he couldn't find any way to free her from her constant torment. Well, there was one way - but he knew that he would never, ever be strong enough to make that choice. Not even if it was her only way out. He knew that - and he kind of hated himself for it.
He passed the gun range, and he poked his head in. Maybe talking it out with Lucy would help. But the range was empty. He wasn't surprised. When she'd hacked into CRIMNET earlier, he knew she was trying to find John Tucker's family - something about the murdered man having said that his little brother could have his comic books. That phone conversation can't have been much more comfortable for her than his own visit with Lisa. If he knew Lucy, and he was beginning to suspect that he did, she was probably still in the middle of it. She'd planned to pretend she was a friend of his from uni, and the family would surely want to spend time talking with someone who knew him. And Lucy would do it - she'd talk as long as she felt they needed her, even though she'd only met him once, for two minutes after he'd already been killed. That was Lucy all over.
Ianto was glad Jack had chosen not only not to retcon her, but to give her a job with Torchwood. And not only a job, but the hope of a promotion, as soon as she met some basic requirement. Which, come to think…
He ducked into the archives - yesterday, while he was waiting for a free moment to speak with Jack on Lucy's behalf, he'd pulled together a bunch of files from the archives and set them all together in one place, meaning to get them to her later before he was interrupted by the new quest to find the WPC Jack had noticed. He opened the locked cabinet he'd left them in, pulled the stack of papers (nearly a reem - she'd be busy for a while), and headed back up to the main portion of the Hub.
Lucy wasn't at her desk. Ianto looked around, but couldn't see her anywhere from where he stood - although the remainder of the team was standing around Tosh's monitor, apparently watching CCTV footage. He set the papers down and stepped in that direction. Jack looked up. He looked at the paperwork, then at Ianto.
"That for Lucy's weapons database?"
"Yes."
"I'll let her know when she comes down."
"Thank you. Where is she?"
Jack jerked his head upwards, indicating the boardroom. Ianto nodded acknowledgment, before heading to the cleaning closet for supplies. The glass surrounding the armory was looking smudgy again. Why there was so much glass in an underground base… it was nearly impossible to keep clean. Of course the glass surrounding Jack's office was a lot worse - with the bottle of glass-cleaner and some towels, he headed over in that direction - but as he passed the workstation he paused to see what the others were looking at.
PC Cooper was up on the Plass, studying the stones around the waterfall. Jack cracked a smile, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"Like a dog with a bone, didn't I say so?"
Lucy came out of the boardroom, and down the stairs into the main part of the Hub. She came up next to Ianto and looked at the screen as well.
"How long has she been there"
"About ten minutes. How did the phone call go?" Jack asked.
"As well as it could." She shrugged. "I'm not totally sure he believed me, but he was happy to speak to anyone about his son."
"Well, let's keep an eye on PC Gwen Cooper, but get back to work. Lucy, can you get started on the weapons database you've been talking about? Ianto has found you loads of forms and files in the archive for you to start with. He's put them on your desk."
Lucy caught Ianto's eye and smiled a thank you.
"No problem"
"Ianto, I know it looks fine, but I want this Hub spotless, just in case she does get in. It needs to look like the perfect underground alien hunting base."
Ianto nodded, and headed back down to the lower level of the main room. Jack's windows would take too much time to look 'spotless,' and in the meantime leaving them alone would contribute to a 'film noir' feel, which felt appropriate to the idea of the "perfect underground alien hunting base." The armory, on the other hand, would look far more impressive if the glass walls sparkled with perfect clarity.
Ianto stepped into the armory. Beyond the smudged and fingerprinted glass, Lucy flipped through the stack of papers, grimacing at their disorder, while Ianto sprayed the glass cleaner, and wiped it clear with paper towels. Eventually, she turned the entire stack upside down and began to go through them one by one.
!(*)!(*)!(*)!(*)!
Two and a half hours later, the armory walls were clear as crystal, and every floor swept. Lucy's stack of papers was either a lot shorter, or a lot taller - depending on which stack you were talking about, and Ianto was working on binning the piles of rubbish that still littered almost every horizontal surface.
"She's given up!" Owen cried out, triumphantly. "I knew she would."
Ianto glanced at the screen, to see that PC Cooper was indeed no longer out on the Plass.
"Almost three hours - she's stubborner than I would have thought," Suzie commented - setting aside the knife she'd been working on and picking up the glove again.
"Humans - dogs with a bone. Didn't I say that?" Jack practically crowed.
"Yes, you did. That would be the third time today, sir, if I recall correctly."
Lucy looked up at Ianto and smirked back.
"She hasn't given up, you do know that, right?"
Tosh gestured at the screen, now empty of human life.
"Two and a half hours, but now she's not there. Of course she's given up. Hasn't she?"
Lucy just smiled serenely at Tosh and turned back to her papers.
"She'll be back," she muttered - quietly enough that Ianto was probably the only one who heard her.
Ianto got back to work. The Hub still wasn't "perfect," and out of all of them, he'd lay money on Lucy being right.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later Gwen crossed back in front of the water tower, heading towards the bay and carrying two pizza boxes.
Ianto stole a quick glance over at Lucy, who caught his eye and grinned.
"Well, at least I don't have to order out tonight, she's done the work for us."
He raised an eyebrow at Lucy, who ducked and raised her hand to her face - not quite muffling the giggle, though he doubted the others noticed.
"Ok," Jack finally spoke up. "This is what we're going to do. She's going to come in here and we're going to ignore her, pretend like she's not there and not important. Everyone at your desk and get on with something. If she wants to talk to us, she's going to have to be the one to start that conversation. Ianto, you go upstairs and let her in."
The lift was halfway to the top level before Ianto realized he was still holding the bag of rubbish he'd been collecting. A large, contractor-sized black garbage bag would not fit with the image of the secret underground base - as the lift door opened he hurried to the tourist office and to his private office behind the beaded curtain so he could stash it before their visitor arrived. He nearly made it, the outer door opening just as he tucked the half-full bag behind the door.
He turned and stood, tugging his jacket to smooth and straighten it - then he noticed a mug he'd apparently left on his desk earlier in the day, unfinished. The coffee would be at an undrinkable temperature, but maybe it would add something to his "performance." He caught it up and stepped to the door again, to get his first in person look at the woman he'd been stalking for the last two days.
She wasn't in uniform, and she clutched the two pizza boxes to her chest as if they were a security blanket as she looked around the small office uncertainly.
He stepped through the bead curtain and smiled at her. She didn't even realize that what she was looking awkwardly at was actually the Hub-access door. It took a second for her to notice he'd come out, and when she did she stammered quite awkwardly.
"Oh hi, sorry I'm late." She was every bit as Welsh as Ianto himself. "Someone ordered pizza?"
"Who's it for?"
"I think it's a… Mr Harkness?"
There had been many pizza delivery girls through the tourist office - even the ones on their first day had never telegraphed "I don't know what I'm doing" as clearly as PC Cooper did. He almost felt sorry for her, as he pushed the security button under the office end of the counter, closing the outer door with a sharp click. She looked over in alarm, then back at Ianto, clearly feeling rather trapped.
He stepped over to the other end of the counter, and pressed the other button. With a grinding noise, the Hub-access door swung outward into the stone corridor that led to the lift. She watched it open, then turned back and stared again at Ianto.
"Don't keep him waiting."
She hesitated, turned to the door. Ianto took a drink - ok, it was still drinkable after all - and set the mug down by his computer. Gwen hesitated in the doorway and turned back to look at him one more time. He might have been enjoying this a little more than he should, but he raised a brow and mouthed "go" to her - FINALLY, she turned and stepped through into the stone tunnel. He pushed the button again so it closed behind her, then settle down at his desk to pretend to get some work done. It wouldn't do to follow too closely, after all.
# # # #
He waiting about half an hour, before grabbing the rubbish bag and heading back toward the lift. As the blast doors opened, he heard Lucy's voice.
"...DVD rental place. I've watched all the stuff at Ianto's now."
"Did I hear my name?"
He glanced up at the office platform where the team gathered - all but Suzie, who was at her desk, and Jack, who along with Gwen was nowhere to be seen.
Lucy shrugged.
"Just saying I've watched all your DVDs."
Ianto glanced past her to the coffee table. Damn. Besides the empty pizza boxes on the workstations - had no one saved him even a single slice? - there was another pizza box, a nearly collapsing stack of dvds and cassettes, a roll of tissues and about half a dozen drinks bottles. He probably should have taken care of that before washing the windows.
As Ianto began to sweep the rubbish into his bag, Lucy headed back to her desk.
"What do you want done with these files?" she called to Ianto. "Back into the archives, or does my locked cupboard work just as well?"
"As long as they are locked up, I don't mind." Ianto said absently, dropping the drinks bottles straight into the rubbish bag rather than bothering to keep them separate for recycling. He just didn't care anymore. "Makes it easier for me if I don't have to put them away and then find them again tomorrow morning."
Just then Jack walked back up into the hub, along with Gwen Cooper.
"Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper."
Jack began the introductions.
"DOCTOR Owen Harper, thank you." Owen corrected.
"Toshiko Sato, computer genius," Jack continued, ignoring Owen's interjection. "Suzie Costello - she's second in command." Suzie smirked up at them and continued polishing… whatever she was polishing. "Lucy Smith, working on becoming our weapons expert," Lucy smiled as she turned the key to lock the desk cupboard.
Then Jack turned to Ianto.
"And Ianto Jones. Ianto tidies up after us and gets us everywhere on time."
He stood a little straighter, slightly flushed at Jack actually turning the spotlight onto him.
"I try my best."
"And he looks good in a suit."
Again? Jack was...ugh.
"Careful." Ianto teased, as Jack swept past him towards his office. "That's harassment, sir."
PC Cooper looked around, apparently feeling every bit as uncertain and trapped as she had when Ianto had first shut the outer door of the tourist office. It probably wasn't right to keep watching, as if this were a drama on the telly (which, according to Lucy, it actually was in her world), but no one wanted to miss this, so she had every eye on her or Jack.
She hesitated for a second, before speaking out.
"But, why are you telling me their names? I'm not supposed to know, am I? This is classified, isn't it?"
Jack grinned back at her.
"Way beyond classified."
He turned to head into his office, but she broke in.
"Then you shouldn't be telling me."
He stopped, then he turned to look at her. She seemed to shrink.
"What are you going to do to me?"
"What do you imagine?"
He turned back again, this time not stopping as she kept going.
"Well, I've seen too much, your names and everything, and the Weevil, and…" She looked over at Tosh. "You can dump a man in the water and lie about his death."
Again, Ianto nearly felt sorry for her. Torchwood was dangerous, she wasn't actually wrong to be alarmed. Suddenly, he wasn't enjoying this show anymore. He started towards Jack's office - there were still a few things he had to clear before the day ended.
Jack whipped back around just as Ianto went in, newly-donned greatcoat flaring out as he spun.
"Ok, Tosh, finish that calibration in the morning. Owen, first thing in the morning get ahold of Chandler and Bell, 'cause I think they're lying. Ianto, if he needs backup, then you'd better be on standby. Lucy, tomorrow morning I want a plan of what you're going to do with a rough estimate how long it's going to take if you do it full time and if you leave it as a side project. Suzie, I know it's a pain in the ass but I need the costing on the glove research."
Gwen stared around until Jack suddenly turned and pointed directly at her.
"As for you, you're coming with me. This way."
He walked away, and Gwen followed.
Ianto turned back and pulled the full bin liner from Jack's rubbish bin and tied it off.
He pulled a fresh bin liner from the bottom of the bin (quite the time saver, to have three or four already folded up inside), opened the top, then jerked it down to open it fully. He let it settle into the bin, then looked up to see Lucy.
He decided to leave the empty rubbish bag in the office - he'd be early enough to clear it in the morning anyway.
"How long are you planning on staying?"
They walked together towards the blast doors and the lift.
"Long enough to make sure Miss Cooper doesn't leave herself a reminder about Torchwood."
He wondered for a second why she assumed he wouldn't be going home with her as they usually did, but then remembered that this was, apparently, an Episode - the first one, in fact.
"What if she just writes it down with pen and paper?" Lucy asked, genuinely curious.
"I did some research earlier, looked into her home computer, emails, that sort of thing. She's not the kind of person to write a diary from what I can tell, but she also relies on the computer email alerts to remind her to do stuff. So the balance of probability says that she'll store it on her computer."
Lucy stared at him. Trying not to let on, he quickly checked to make sure he hadn't mussed up something on his suit when replacing the bin liners - but he hadn't.
"That's kind of scary that you know that. Brilliant, but scary."
He laughed.
"It's my job - I clean up after them, remember?"
"It's more than cleaning up after them."
Lucy always argued, every time he was dismissive about his job, always trying to tell him how important he was to Torchwood. He loved that about her, especially given how invisible he felt to the rest of the team. If he wasn't careful, he might… no, better not to think that way.
"Anyway," she broke into his revery, "what I was going to ask was, do you want me to wait with dinner or not?"
Even having no idea what she had planned, that sounded good. He almost said so, but stopped.
"It'll probably be fairly late. You can take the car, and I'll go via the chippy next to the taxi rank."
"Ok, just wanted to check. I'm planning an early night, so I'll probably see you tomorrow morning."
They'd reached the tourist office by now. Ianto stepped behind his desk, while Lucy headed to the outside door.
"See ya, Ianto."
She turned to catch his eye, and he smiled at her.
"Bye Lucy. Enjoy the new book."
She laughed. "I'd ask how you know, but I'm aware that you always know everything."
He didn't bother trying to conceal his smile.
"It was delivered to the house this morning. I found out the usual way, with my eyes…"
She snorted, his words apparently made funnier by something or other known only to her. She regained composure, and grinned back.
"Ok, well, like I said I'll see you tomorrow morning."
With a smile and wave, she headed out.
He watched her walk along the Bay until she turned onto the Plass and disappeared.
He closed the door to the tourist office, and settled in at his desk. He turned on his computer, once more hacked into PC Cooper's PC, and settled in to wait. It might be a long night.