Title: Flame beneath ashes - Chapter 12: The test
Summary: AU. After the events of Countrycide, Ianto was retconned and allowed to start a new life in London. Intervening accidentally in a burning building, it's a very different man Jack meets four years later. But can Ianto really escape his own destiny?
Rating: T
Characters: Ianto Jones, Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Myfanwy, Original characters.
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Owen/Tosh, Gwen/Rhys (mentioned), Ianto/Lisa (past)
Genres: Alternate universe/action/romance.
Warnings: Violence, swearing, sexual situation (nothing graphic), character's death (temporary)
Spoilers: Spoilers for seasons 1 and 2. Exit wounds and Children of Earth are only mentioned as incidents and Miracle Day, of course, never happened
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Special thanks to my precious beta reader badly_knitted.
I beg you: please, please, don't hate Owen too much. His awful demeanour has a purpose, I swear.
This chapter was supposed to be shorter, but it seems that I had another attack of logorrhoea. Anyway, I hope you'll have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.
TW TW TW TW TW
Chapter 12: The test
When the panel opened again and let the four members of the team in, Ianto instantly jumped to his feet, his heart beating at high speed. The moment of truth had arrived, which would decide the rest of his life.
He immediately noticed that Jack stood back behind Owen, Gwen and Toshiko flanking the two men. His expression betrayed nothing that allowed Ianto to know whether he had managed to convince them to take him back or not and Ianto felt a sick feeling creep into him.
He warily looked at the three other people in the room. The two women offered rather open and outgoing faces, but the doctor was showing a scowl that didn't bode well. Ianto glanced at Jack, as he moved away from the group and went to lean against the wall, head bowed and his hands buried in the pockets of his coat. For a split second, Ianto thought he had seen the ghost of a smile on Jack's lips, but the vision was so fleeting, he couldn't have sworn.
"You know who we are?" Owen bluntly asked.
Ianto slowly nodded and cleared his throat.
"Yes, you...You're Doctor Owen Harper. This is Ms Toshiko Sato and there is Mrs Gwen Williams, née Cooper."
Owen pursed his lips, apparently satisfied.
"Good. We won't beat around the bush. Jack told us you want to come back working with us. Is that right?"
Ianto squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. Ok, apparently, he was experiencing a sort of 'Torchwood style' job interview.
"Yes, it is."
He tried to keep his voice firm and to show a level of assurance and confidence which he was far from possessing. Whilst his gaze slipped again towards Jack to seek his support, Owen shifted and came between them, blocking his view.
"Useless to count on Jack. He agreed to let me test you and has promised not to intervene. From now on, it's between you and me," he slowly said, punctuating each word by pounding his forefinger on Ianto's chest.
Owen took a step back and narrowed his eyes, arms crossed.
"I don't exactly know what Jack told you about us, but our work's got little to do with matinee performances for kids."
Ianto straightened.
"I get that. I'm not scared."
Owen snorted derisively.
"That's what they all say before ending up retching their breakfast, covered with greenish mucus and wading through alien guts."
Ianto's face suddenly darkened and he remained silent, staring into space for a moment, before looking Owen straight in the eyes.
"Doctor Harper. Have you ever witnessed the extrication of a six year old child crushed in a car embedded under a truck's axle?"
Gwen stifled a gasp and Tosh instinctively brought her hand to her belly.
Owen tightly pressed his lips together and shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"Well, I have. So with all due respect to you, I think it'll take a little more than some mucus and a few guts for me to throw up mine."
The tone was dry and firm, any trace of shyness gone. He paused and watched the effect of his words on the others. The eyes of Gwen and Tosh were filled with compassion, whilst Jack's face showed nothing but the falsely jaded expression of the ones who have already seen too much to afford to let their emotions show.
Ianto turned back to Owen, who tried to keep his face an impenetrable mask.
"Maybe I don't remember the atrocities I saw when working with you," Ianto continued, "but believe me, over the years I have worked as a fireman, I've certainly seen enough to forge my character. I'm no longer a kid, Doctor Harper."
The last two words had been said in a sarcastic tone and Owen tilted his head to the side, smirking.
This guy has balls. I like it.
"If you say so."
He uncrossed his arms, cooled his features and started to slowly walk in circles around Ianto, sizing him up from head to foot.
"The other problem, you see, is that you'll have to work with me. And frankly, I don't think you'll enjoy it. We didn't like each other back then and there is no reason why that should change."
He stopped his pacing and locked his gaze on Ianto.
"I don't care that you were a boss in your little fire station. As far as I'm concerned, here, you're at the bottom of the food chain, okay? I'm the second in command and trust me, it won't change soon. You'd better keep in mind that having been Jack's part time shag won't earn you any privileges."
Although Jack knew perfectly well it was only a way for Owen to drive Ianto into a corner and assess him, he couldn't help reacting.
"Hey, Owen! Watch your mouth," he barked at him.
Owen turned to him and furrowed his forehead.
"What? It's not a secret..." His eyes widened and he muttered between his teeth. "You told him, didn't you?"
Jack faltered and chewed the inside of his mouth.
"Yes, but... Well, we didn't really go into details, okay?"
Owen rolled his eyes at him, then managed to plaster a stony mask on his face, before turning to Ianto again.
"Anyway," he went on as if nothing had happened, placing himself almost nose to nose in front of Ianto. "I'm a real pain in the arse. I know it. They are used to it and I don't intend to change. Question is: are you sure you want to deal with it?"
Ianto slightly tilted his head as if musing, then finally spoke in a reflective tone, looking Owen in the face.
"Well, I don't know what kind of relationship you and I had when I worked here and honestly I don't care. I've had my share of jerks through the years though and it never stopped me. I don't want your job, mine would be enough. You don't have to worry." He paused and twitched the corner of his mouth. "As for whose bed I'm sharing or not, that's none of your business. Roger?"
The faint smile on his face widened and his lips curled in a feral smirk, as Ianto looked Owen up and down.
"Besides, it seems that I'm bigger and heavier than you are, I'm pretty sure I can handle a guy like you without any extra help."
The two men stared at each other for a moment, until Owen cocked an eyebrow and broke the spell.
"Ok," he finally said with a wry smile which barely lasted a second. "As you wish. But you've been warned. Don't come complaining to me."
With that, he turned on his heel and headed towards the hidden door. When crossing the threshold, he stopped and beckoned Ianto over.
"Come on, Teaboy. It's high time for you to meet the rest of the freaky family."
Ianto glanced towards Jack, who merely nodded at him, still leaning against the brick wall, arms crossed.
Feeling increasingly like he was borrowing Alice's shoes and was about to land in Wonderland, Ianto took a deep breath and rushed after the doctor into the dim corridor, followed by Tosh and Gwen.
As she brushed past Jack, Gwen patted his forearm with a smile and whispered into his ear:
"Fireboy 1. Grumpy Doc 0."
Jack chuckled and shook his head, before following them through the wall.
Perhaps everything wasn't lost yet after all.
TW TW TW TW TW
The lift ride to reach sublevel 4 went into heavy silence.
Owen had positioned himself just in front of the metal doors with his back turned to the others and was staring into space, an undecipherable expression on his face. Gwen and Tosh stood behind him, glancing nervously at each other from time to time. And therefore Jack and Ianto had ended up at the back of the lift cage, each huddled into a corner.
Ianto was looking ahead, head up, trying hard to hide his stress, though his hands were clenched in tight fists.
Jack cast him a side glance. He was yearning to do something, anything, to help him, but a deal was a deal and he had promised he wouldn't interfere. Helping Ianto would only mean betraying Owen's trust and would also belittle Ianto's skills. He leant against the wall and looked away. In the metal doors' reflection, he caught sight of Owen's eyes locked on him and they shared a faint nod.
The lift dinged as it reached its goal and the doors swooshed open.
Just as they stepped out of the lift, Jack managed to brush the back of his hand against Ianto's. It wasn't much, but it lasted just long enough to let Ianto know it wasn't an accident and for him to feel a pleasant sensation of warmth spread along his arm.
At the end of the corridor, the cogwheel door slowly opened and they entered the main area in the deafening roar of the alarm. Once they were all inside, the circular outer door closed, shutting off the alarm.
The flashing light went out and Ianto startled as the inner barred gate locked behind them, sealing the Hub.
He took a deep breath and walked forwards, whilst the others moved aside to let him pass.
Ianto had never seen anything similar and would never have imagined that such a place could exist just beneath his feet. He let his eyes roam along the galleries leading to the two upper levels and the large glass windows facing the main area.
The amount of electronic devices that met the eyes was worthy of a science fiction movie.
Welcome to Wonderland, Alice.
"And this is Torchwood," heralded Owen, turning round, then stepping backwards in the middle of the area, arms outstretched. "Nice bit of stuff, right?"
Gaping at the sight before him, Ianto slowly looked up at the central power column rising up to the high ceiling.
"Well... That's pretty... huge. To say the least."
Owen smirked mischievously.
"And you haven't seen anything yet."
Just like a real estate agent touting his flagship product, he started to pace whilst uttering at high speed an enthusiastic description of the premises.
"Eight sublevels, thirteen miles of corridors, fifty five cells, a greenhouse, an autopsy bay and, the most important thing, three bathrooms. A permanent connection to all existing satellites and even to those which are not supposed to exist. Complete energy autonomy. Internal and external ultra-sophisticated monitoring systems with total access in real-time to the secret data of all governments in the world, provided they are wired to an internet connection."
He paused to catch his breath before adding with a wink:
"Not to mention the little extra that makes the difference: an invisible lift."
"You've got an invisible lift?" asked Ianto in awe.
Gwen nodded at him with delight and Ianto pulled an appreciative face.
"Wow."
"In a word," carried on Owen. "The best of the best in the field of secret bases. Even James Bond's villains have never seen anything like it."
Ianto raised his eyebrows and scratched the back of his neck.
"Quite impressive."
Owen couldn't help but chuckle.
"How right you are."
His face suddenly became more serious and something told Jack that the break was over.
"Okay. Hum... So the next part of the classic tour should be to take you to the vaults and introduce you to our lovely guest in vinyl suit named Janet, but as it seems that you have already met some of her friends last night, we're gonna change the etiquette and move to the next stage."
He quickly grabbed a remote on Gwen's workstation and pressed a key. The metallic click of a bolt unlocking resounded and they looked up.
A fleeting shadow flew over the room in a rustle of wings and a shriek echoed against the walls of the Hub.
SCREECH!
"Fuck!"
Ianto ducked out of instinct and Gwen did likewise as Myfanwy hedgehopped just above their heads.
"Ianto meet Myfanwy. Our guard pterodactyl," introduced Owen.
Gwen put her hand on Ianto's arm and helped him to stand up, whilst Myfanwy went to gracefully perch on a metal rail a few feet away.
"Don't worry," said Gwen with a reassuring smile. "She's not dangerous. She's trained."
Hypnotized, Ianto couldn't take his eyes off the improbable being that stood before him. Myfanwy let out another piercing scream, but Ianto was far too fascinated to react, as he took a few steps towards her.
"She's too big for a pterodactyl," he stated absently. "She belongs more likely to the pterosaur class."
"How do you..." amazed, Tosh turned to Jack who merely shrugged.
"I... I don't know," stammered the young man, surprised himself by his statement. "I must have read it somewhere... probably."
He briefly glanced at Jack over his shoulder.
"It's the one we caught in the warehouse?"
Jack nodded with a quick smile.
"Yes, she is."
Ianto resumed his approach towards the pterosaur.
"So, you were my pass-ticket to Torchwood. Thank you."
The creature fidgeted on her perch and shied away with a snap of her beak when Ianto reached out to her.
"Hey, calm down, gorgeous. I don't want to hurt you."
He turned his head and gave the others a confused glance.
Tosh stepped forwards.
"She's just nervous because... she thinks you're angry with her."
Ianto frowned.
"Why? Why should I be angry with her?"
"Well..."
Tosh looked at Jack seeking his help. The Captain stood up and took the floor.
"Because I used her to attack the Cyberwoman and give us a chance to escape."
A veil of sadness darkened Ianto's eyes.
"Was she hurt?"
Jack shrugged and sighed wearily.
"As much as a Cyberman can hurt."
Ianto nodded slowly and returned his attention to Myfanwy, who was tilting her head from one side to the other, obviously confused. Once again, he slowly reached out to her whilst speaking in a soft voice, without taking his eyes off her.
"Come on, beauty. I'm not mad at you, you know. Here, here... I'm not gonna hurt you. Yeah, good girl."
Slowly, he moved closer until his hand came in contact with the long beak of the dinosaur. Whilst continuing to move forwards and lavish soft words on her, he began to stroke the bridge of her beak in a slow up-and-down movement. After a few moments, and under the flabbergasted looks of his companions, the pterosaur nestled her head in the crook of his neck and started to coo.
"Hey, easy pretty girl," chuckled Ianto, as Myfanwy nudged her beak under his arm. "It tickles."
She didn't seem willing to obey him though and continued to rub her beak against his jacket.
"Oh, naughty girl," giggled Ianto. He stepped back to avoid the 'advances' of his new friend and rummaged through the breast pocket of his jacket, from which he retrieved a chocolate protein bar.
"This is what you were looking for, isn't it? Greedy girl."
He unwrapped the bar and started to feed Myfanwy with little pieces of chocolate bar.
"If you hoped he'd freak out, sorry, but it's over," whispered Tosh to Owen, playfully nudging him in the ribs.
"Mmm... I haven't finished yet," grumbled the doctor, before conspicuously clearing his throat. "Sorry to interrupt this pure moment of cuteness, but we aren't finished yet. Come on, Teaboy. It's high time to get to the next test."
"Be good, gorgeous," murmured Ianto."I'll be back soon. Well, I hope so."
Ianto gave Myfanwy the last remaining piece of chocolate and petted her head, before heading towards the nearest exit in Owen's wake, followed by the rest of the group.
The pterosaur gulped her treat and glared at the lout who was interrupting her reunion with her friend. After an angry snap of her beak in Owen's direction, she spread her wings and flew away to sulk in her nest, punctuating her retreat with a last shriek.
"Maybe we should have taken some photos and used them as greeting cards," whispered Jack into Gwen's ear.
She giggled.
"It would have been so cute."
"Bullshit," muttered Owen under his breath
"You have a chip on your shoulder, Owen. Do you know that?" teased Gwen, rolling her eyes.
"It's not true."
"Yes, it is."
"Oh, give me a fucking break," blurted Owen, as they reached the staircase.
He brusquely opened the door and held it, motioning to the others to go downstairs.
"Where are we going?" asked Gwen, as she put her foot on the first step.
"Shooting range," deadpanned Owen without looking at her.
Ianto faltered and stopped dead in his tracks, feeling tension coming back at full speed.
He had never set foot in a shooting range. The one and only time he had held a gun in his hands was more than fifteen years ago, when he was still in high school and his classmate Dafyd had showed them his father's gun after school. If the next test required him to use a weapon, he had every chance of seeing his hopes of joining the team flying out of the window.
He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the reassuring presence of Jack at his side and the memory of their hands touching in the lift. Even if the Captain could do nothing to help him, the mere fact that he stood up for him was enough to raise his hopes. He could hardly imagine Jack taking sides with an incompetent, so maybe the Captain knew things about him that he himself was unaware of. Squaring his shoulders, he followed Gwen and Jack down the stairs.
Tosh was the last to cross the doorstep and as she passed close to Owen, she took his hand in hers.
"Owen."
"Mmm."
She brushed her lips against his ear and whispered:
"I love you."
A fond smile lit up Owen's scowling face.
"I love you too."
TW TW TW TW TW
As they entered the room in single file, the lights went on, illuminating the huge tunnel used for shooting practice. Ianto couldn't help staring wide-eyed and rubbed his forehead nervously. Of course, he should have guessed that Torchwood's shooting range couldn't be anything but exceptional.
The room was chilly and the air saturated with the smell of cordite. Ianto quelled a shiver, caused at the same time by the drop in temperature and the anticipation of the trial to come.
Like the other times, Jack kept away from the group, without so much as taking his eyes off of Ianto, whilst the girls stayed side by side near the young man.
Wasting no time, Owen immediately strode towards a long table on which were displayed the pieces of several weapons awaiting cleaning. Turning his back to the others, he began to assemble a classic model of automatic. The gun clicked as he pulled the slider back and put a bullet in the chamber.
"No special weapon for now. Only a good old Sig Sauer," he said, showing Ianto the gun in his hands.
"I should warn you that I've never…" the young Welshman started.
Owen lifted his other hand to cut him off and shrugged.
"Don't worry, using a gun is the easiest thing in the world."
Turning on his heel, he nonchalantly walked to the centre of the room, facing the line of targets shaped liked weevils which occupied the far end of the tunnel.
"Look, you stand side on to the target," he instructed, illustrating each comment with a gesture. "Feet shoulder-width apart. You hold your arm out straight." He glanced at Ianto who was staring at him with the fascination of a deer caught in headlights. "You exhale… slowly… and… you squeeze the trigger."
BANG!
The detonation reverberated off the walls of the tunnel and the cement floor with a deafening noise, which made them jump.
"See? Very easy," smirked Owen, smugly blowing on the tip of his smoking gun. "Your turn."
Making the gun twirl around his finger, he handed the grip to Ianto, who gulped nervously and took it with a slightly shaking hand.
"Come on. It's not so different from using an air rifle at the fair."
Ianto sighed.
"If you say so."
He switched places with Owen and tried his best to copy his posture. It shouldn't be so hard. All he had to do was to aim and pull the trigger whilst avoiding closing his eyes at the last second.
Holding the gun gingerly, he took a deep breath and pointed it towards the target. God, it looked so much easier in movies.
"Come on, Teaboy," taunted Owen beside him. "Show us how great you'd be in the field."
"Owen, leave him alone," scolded Tosh.
"What?" he snorted unrepentantly "I just want to know how he'd do under a bit of pressure."
He came closer to the Welshman and started to speak to him in a low voice.
"Don't mess up, Ianto. Right in the head. Can you do that? Imagine if this thing was holding a hostage. A child, for example. Why not a little girl?"
Ianto felt the palms of his hands becoming increasingly clammy as Owen spoke to him. He tried to steady himself, blinked several times and tightened his grip on the butt of the Sig in order to suppress the slight shaking of his hand.
In spite of his best efforts, he couldn't manage to completely ignore Owen's acerbic comments, which were echoing his own insecurities.
"What if you missed?" Owen continued, seemingly oblivious to Ianto's growing discomfort. "What if you killed her? What if it killed her first? Would you dare fire before it sank its fangs in her throat? Would you? Won't you?"
Ianto gripped the gun harder and harder. So much so that his knuckles were turning white. But he couldn't compel himself to fire, as if it would reveal for good his utter failure.
Owen came even closer and Ianto could feel his breath on his neck.
"Maybe, one of us could be killed too. After all, unlike Jack, we're only mere mortals."
"Owen, stop it!" shouted Jack, giving up his restraint.
Ianto sighed and lowered his arm. He sent a pained look his way.
"I'm sorry, Jack, but he's right. I don't think I can do it. This is just… out of my league. I'm sorry, I don't want to risk putting anyone in danger."
Owen took the gun from his hand and slowly headed to the exit.
"Great. For once, we are of the same opinion."
"It doesn't mean anything, Owen," objected Jack. "I trained him once. I can do it again."
Owen stopped at the doorstep and let out a joyless chuckle, without turning around.
"Oh no, no way. If there should ever be some kind of training for him, it would be my job. We all know what your weapons training looks like. It has far more to do with flirting than with actual training, excuse me."
Jack rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Owen, please!" pleaded Tosh.
The doctor stayed still for a moment, then minutely shook his head.
"One second… I'm thinking." His voice sounded muffled and distant, and the others glanced at each other quizzically.
With no warning, Owen suddenly turned around.
"Ianto! Three Weevils at nine!" he shouted, startling all of them, as he threw the gun towards Ianto.
At that instant, time seemed to stretch out. They followed the course of the gun with their eyes as it made an arc in the air and they couldn't help gaping when Ianto caught it in mid-air in a fluid movement, then stepped effortlessly into a textbook perfect shooting stance, before aiming and squeezing the trigger.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The bullets hit the 'Weevil' targets right in the centre of the foreheads leaving three neat holes behind them.
A stunned silence followed the detonations and Ianto looked down at the weapon in his hand with amazement, as if wondering how it had ended up there.
"What? How?" stammered Gwen with disbelief.
"What a wonderful thing conditioned reflexes are," chuckled Owen with a wry smile. "That's creepy…but I like it."
He took the gun from Ianto's hand once again and carefully put it down on the table. Leaning against it, he crossed his arms and looked at Jack.
"Seems that there was some training, after all."
Jack shook his head and snickered.
"Of course there was and he was one of the best trainees I have ever got my hands on. No pun intended."
He took a step forwards and raised his eyes to heaven. "Do you really think that I'd have dragged him with us to the Brecon Beacon's if he hadn't been able to shoot accurately?"
"I know," admitted Owen quietly. "And that's the only reason for this little test."
"So we're done?" intervened Gwen hopefully. "You got what you wanted, didn't you?"
"Well…"
"Owen," scolded Tosh. "He has already proved he could be in the field. What more do you want?"
Owen raised his hands defensively.
"Hey, hey. Calm down, guys. There is still a question that needs to be answered." He turned to face Ianto who was still too stunned to react. "Beware mate, it's eliminatory."
They looked at him expectantly, all of them holding their breath. Owen's sullen face suddenly broke into a large smile.
"Please, tell me you know how to use the fucking coffee machine."
Ianto smiled in turn and chuckled.
"I think that's more my area of expertise."
At these words, the group erupted with joy and Ianto found himself taken in a stranglehold between Gwen and Tosh, who were hugging him tightly.
Owen walked slowly towards Jack, who hadn't moved and patted his shoulder.
"Congratulations. You have him back."
"Thanks Owen," replied Jack, his eyes locked on Ianto, who was looking back at him above the girls' heads.
"You're welcome, Jack," said Owen softly, glancing over his shoulder at the two women happily chatting with Ianto.
He let out a weary sigh. Contrary to popular belief, Owen wasn't a total bastard. He didn't even dislike Ianto as much as he pretended to either, and he wasn't blinkered enough not to see that the man was more than capable of doing the job. No, his qualms had nothing to do with Ianto's abilities… nor with his 'baggage' with Jack.
He didn't care if they slept together. Of course, their previous relationship had been a mess, poisoned by secrets and things unsaid, but Owen was sincerely glad that they were given another chance to make it better. God knew that they both deserved their share of happiness in this world.
No, the problem was that though he really wanted to be delighted about Ianto's return into their lives, he couldn't help worrying. He didn't want to see Jack hurting again. He didn't want to have to scrub his friend's brains from his office wall once again. And he definitely didn't want to have to retcon the two of them, if things finally flunked.
In spite of his best efforts to try and see the bright side of the situation, the pessimist in him still wondered if they were making a mistake by letting Ianto come back and all he hoped now was that they hadn't missed something and that it wouldn't come back and bite them in the ass.
He gave up his musing with a shrug and sighed again.
No need to twist yourself in knots, man. Only time will tell.
Burying his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he nonchalantly went to join the others and left the room.
To be continued.