No spoilers
Beta-ed: GlassSplinter
Jack was annoyed. It was a dirty trick to be late for work. Ianto usually came in first, almost a whole hour before the rest of the team. That gave Jack just enough time to even things out. This way he had to wait, and he hated waiting. Throughout the whole day Ianto had kept himself in plain sight, where everyone could see him. He'd done it on purpose. Jack couldn't even go over there and tease. It wasn't very nice of Ianto to stand there with a smile on his face. Ianto was just rubbing salt on his wounded pride. He would wear out that annoyingly dressed man, just give him time. Time, he remembered, that he didn't have much of. If he didn't change the rules soon, he would be a whole day behind schedule. He can't have that. Why couldn't Ianto go to the archives, like he usually does, then he could go and find him. That gave him an idea, but he'd have to make more time for that. He knew the young man wouldn't submit with Owen sniffing around.
There was something buried in the pile. Gwen would surely be hooked by the missing children that came back with amnesia. Beauty was, he already knew the answer, and that answer needed all three of them. They needed Toshiko to analyze residual energy patterns, and the technology stranded in their hair, Owen to examine and take samples, and Gwen to piece things out. The distance from their district was just so convenient, Jack almost laughed at his genius.
"Ianto!" he yelled while stepping on the stairway. "I'll need file WX356-4, it's in the personal data section." First he needed him out of the way so that he wouldn't slip away. "Could you get it for me?"
"Yes, sir," he said steadily, but doubt showed in his eyes.
"Rest of you, boardroom."
It didn't take long to get them on their way.
"And you Jack?" Gwen paused by the door. "You're not going?"
"I need to sort out Suzie's file," he said shamelessly. In some twisted way Suzie did get him on this path, and her name efficiently put Gwen off his trail.
"Oh, well, ok." She said softly and went after the others.
He looked through the window of the boardroom. It only took them few minutes to grab their gear, and they were off. The cog door rolled back in their place and the Hub went into silence. Jack turned around toward his office. He would need a few things to make his idea more comfortable.