Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad
Chapter 42
Jack found Ianto in the firing range, jacket off, doing his meditation routine. He let the Changeling finish, then came down into the big chamber to face him.
"Gone?" Ianto murmured, fetching his field jacket with a less than steady hand.
"Bundled up and homeward bound," the Captain nodded. "Gwen had 'guilty' written all over her face. What did she say that upset you?"
"She said," Ianto breathed tightly. "'You shouldn't give away something so special from your dad's father. It should have gone to your niece if anyone, family. Please don't say you're getting rid of your past because you and Jack have decided to leave after all'. I told her we haven't."
"Bringing up your family was a cheap shot," Jack frowned. "Especially at Christmas. Yeah… that would set me off."
He held out his hand to the young Welshman, who automatically took it for the walk back upstairs.
"Out of curiosity," Harkness queried evenly. "Why hadn't you given the pony to your niece a long time ago? I remember it was always behind the lamp by the bed and I wondered why you had it there."
"It may seem stupid, but I still needed him," his lover confessed awkwardly. "Even up to what happened in London. He sat on my night table and made me feel safe… something familiar, something I could depend on. Until I died, everything was so uncertain. I never knew if I'd survive the next Rift alert, things had gotten pretty rocky with you toward the end, we'd lost most of the team, scraped out of the Hadron Collider mess with CERN, nearly went down in the Dalek invasion when they stole the planet, almost died in the Time Store at Torchwood-India, barely averted the Undertaker's Gift, and the list goes on. I needed that tiny bit of comfort from my childhood to keep from freaking out alone at night the times I'd go home.
"But things are different now. I don't need Cyfnos, because I have you. And since I can never go near Rhi and the kids again, I thought it would be nice to give him to Ebrill. I didn't realise it would be such a bad thing in Gwen's eyes. She seemed so disappointed in me for giving away something from my Taid, and wasn't seeing that I wanted to share a very special piece of my childhood. I could tell that she wanted to snatch the toy away from her daughter and shove it back at me. If she honestly wants me to feel like they're family since I'm dead to mine, why was it an issue?"
"I don't know," Jack stated truthfully, shifting to release the younger man's hand and put his arm around his shoulders instead. "And right now, I don't care. I'm more concerned with how much her reaction hurt you. You did something really sweet, very special, and she called you out for it. Which I intend to bring up when she comes in tomorrow. At the moment though, just concentrate on how happy Ebrill was with the pony. We'll have some dinner and enjoy what's left of our alone time, yeah?"
The eternal twenty-six-year-old tucked against his side took a deep breath and let it out very slowly, then nodded and slipped his arm around the older immortal's waist and sighed. The Changeling still seemed somewhat dejected, but his hands had stopped shaking and the speed of his breathing had slowed to near normal.
The pair skirted the cells in the Vaults to avoid the Weevils, headed back into the Hub via the rear of the kitchenette to warm up some of the huge quantity of left-overs their friends had brought them. The hand-picked plates of re-warmed victuals and a couple of bottles of water were settled on the table by the couch, and they sat down to enjoy the meal.
"So…" Ianto said after a span, thoughtfully nibbling on a ginger-honey glazed carrot spear before continuing. "You mentioned this morning that you had one more gift for me, and that I'd have to wait until tonight. How far into the evening are we talking?"
"Let's just say somewhat later than now," Jack smiled, taking a drink of water. "And the boss is gonna make you earn it."
"Hmmm…" the younger man looked upward as though ticking off an invisible list. "SUV is clean, no bodies currently needing disposed of, Weevils have been fed, Blowfish are on a hunger strike, Myfanwy's had her dinner, the kitchenette's absolutely speckless, all the litter's picked up, the Hub's been swept and mopped, and the latest retrieval is still processing. I can't imagine anything else the boss would want me to do."
"Oh, you know…" Harkness shrugged, grinning when his Archivist rose to collect their plates. "A little fun and games, tease him till he begs, that kind of thing."
"Ah…" Ianto breathed with raised brows, then shook his head and moved off toward the kitchenette to hide his smile. "Nope… no idea."
The older immortal laughed, wishing he could see the wicked gleam he knew would be in the Welshman's eyes. He rose to follow his companion, came up behind him where he was giving the dishes a quick soapy scrub in the basin, and put his arms around his waist so he could rest his chin on one jacket clad shoulder.
"I'm thinking a single hand of high stakes poker," the American whispered in Ianto's ear. "Winner takes all."
"And what happens if this is the one time you win?" the young Guardian prodded innocently, fighting to keep from laughing as Jack started nibbling his ear and snuffling at the top edge of the turtleneck he wore.
"Then I change the rules," Harkness breathed, sliding one hand down just inside the front of the waistband of the other man's jeans.
"Already are," his lover warned, trying not to drop the plates he was rinsing.
The Captain chuckled and kissed the nape of his Changeling's neck, then helpfully stepped away so he could finish the washing up.
"How about this," Ianto counter offered, drying his hands as he turned to face the former Time Agent. "You can have a kiss now, then we finish up with the new toy so it isn't chiming for attention at all hours, and get it safely locked away. After that, I'll do anything you ask me to, short of a threesome… especially since the only available add-ons are Weevils and Blowfish."
"So, if I asked you to go another round with the Interrogation Chair," Jack smirked, his eyes shining. "Then found a nice comfy spot in the Hothouse and asked you to drive, you'd do it?"
"Yes, sir," Ianto nodded, his expression deadpan. "And we can even work in the part with you begging if you really want."
"Kiss me, Barista Boy," his partner grinned. "And let's go get the 'toy' locked in the safe."
The twenty-six-year-old closed the small distance between them, put a hand on either side of his Captain's neck and claimed his mouth in a snog that left the older man quite breathless. Then before he could move away, his obviously pleased boss held him by the shoulders and returned the kiss in kind.
"You sure we can't just…?" Harkness asked leadingly once they'd both caught their breath, lightly massaging the muscles between the younger immortal's shoulders and neck.
"I'd hate to have the new toy explode or something in the middle of more interesting activities," Ianto insisted, though it was very apparent he was tempted to skip that step as well. "So, the sooner we identify and properly contain it, the sooner we can kill the CCTV and warm up the Interrogation Chair."
"Who's the one in command of Torchwood Three?" Jack asked with a grin.
"Definitely you, sir," Ianto nodded, his gaze pointedly flickering downward to his partner's crotch for a moment before refocusing on his face. "However, I believe your judgement is somewhat… compromised at the moment, due to certain anatomical phenomenon below the belt. So, I'm overriding your authority for the good of the Institute."
"Countermanded on account of hard-on… that's inventive," the Captain laughed, releasing the Welshman and nodding toward the work area the recent find was processing in. "The toy awaits, Tiger Pants."
They went to check the system's conclusions about the item they'd brought in, both of them reading the results on the monitor, then looking at the device, back at the screen, and finally at each other.
"Huh, it's not a weapon," Harkness stated flatly. "It really is a toy."
"Not one I'm keen to try out," Ianto observed, glancing at the information from the system again. "And not just because I don't have eight eyes, multiple arms, and a quantum phased brain implant. So… Containment box with a permanent Time lock in the deepest Archives?"
"Absolutely," Jack agreed with an appreciative whistle. "Log it in the Restricted Files, print up a tag only the two of us will understand, I'll grab the correct kind of containment box and we'll find a dark corner in Section 32 to shove it into so it's not blocking a space in the Safe. I don't want any of the team running across it and getting curious. Something like that could melt their brain before they realised what was happening."
"On it," the twenty-six-year-old acknowledged, already tapping away at the keyboard.
In short order they had the item sealed up, labelled, and ready for storage. A quick trip into the oldest part of the Archives, a careful bit of climbing and container shuffling, and the two were heading back up into the Hub.
"Oh," Ianto began casually as the emerged into the corridor near the Boardroom. "I shut down the CCTV when I logged the toy, so we're pretty much free to do whatever you've a mind to."
"Then I have a mind to about-face to the door down to the Interrogation Room," the older man grinned.
"Yes, sir," Ianto agreed equitably, turning to follow his lover to the desired location. "You do realise that this will actually work best if the leather restraining straps come into play."
Jack's eyes sparkled and he tried to suppress what sounded very much like a giggle, obviously looking forward to putting the suggestion to good use. He gestured for the younger immortal to precede him down the stairs and through the reinforced door at the bottom.
"Let the begging begin," Harkness chuckled as the door closed behind them.
Another round of inventive "dabbling" had begun.
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AN: Yep… Gwen brought up Ianto's family and accused him and Jack of planning to abandon Torchwood. I don't think she's going to like the talk waiting for her in the morning.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM