Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 28

"You two go on," Lois urged, patting their leader on the arm after putting up the 'Closed for Maintenance' sign and shooting the bolt of the door. "We'll be ready and waiting with all the cool hovers and big smiles when you get back."

She made a shooing gesture toward the underground carpark as they entered the corridor behind the TIC, then turned toward the lift. This time it was Ianto who got a hold of his lover's hand and started them moving in the right direction. He felt the older immortal give his fingers an appreciative squeeze, some of the tension in his own shoulders easing with that tiny show of affection. It was going to be another long, hard day.

"So, I'm not the only one still bothered by the whole Rift Storm issue," the young Welshman murmured as they made for the SUV.

"No," his partner admitted with a sad smile. "And I managed to get Gwen wound up about it now too. I'm total rubbish this morning."

"Even Captain Cardiff can have an off day," Ianto shrugged with a small smile, releasing the American's hand so they could get into the big black Torchwood vehicle. "You can drive the lorry with the cargo blocks if you think it'll help. I'll just hang back in the SUV, keep my comms on so I can hear you scream and curse on the sharper turns."

"Oh, no," Jack declined with a smirk, pushing the ignition button of the SUV. "The heavy equipment's all yours. Though I don't recall ever seeing anything in your background information that said you had a commercial license or know how to run large construction vehicles."

"Actually, I am carrying a commercial license today," the Scieron Guardian confessed equitably as they exited the carpark and headed for Harwood's, waving at the crew setting up the road blocks as they passed. "Happens to be forged, but it works in a pinch. And one of the odd jobs I did before I started at Torchwood-London, was testing repaired vehicles and equipment for a Council Estate company in Newport. Forklifts, earthmovers, cranes, gravel haulers, concrete mixers… you name it, I learned how to run it, to make sure it'd pass inspection before the Safety Team checked it over and put it back in service."

"And that doesn't show up on your CV because?" the Captain prodded with a raised brow.

"It… was basically illegal, because I don't have a proper license for that kind of vehicle," Ianto explained carefully. "The foreman in charge of repairing the big equipment was an old schoolmate of Dad's. He knew I needed a way to make money while I was hunting for a 'real' job, so he showed me how to run all the stuff they worked on, what was a pass and what was a failure, and paid me £100 a week under the table from their Holiday Party fund. His crew preferred that to having to work funny hours or weekends testing what they'd repaired. And honestly, I never thought I'd have a use for what I learned about those king of mechanical behemoths once I started working for Torchwood, though the generator testing came in handy at times here. But that was before I had to use a laser scalpel and an industrial forklift to rip a concrete filled cell out of the Ashton Down compound."

"Now that rescue makes sense," Harkness grinned, obviously impressed. "Too bad that spiffy hardhat and safety vest got lost in London. You make one hot construction worker."

"Well, I don't know about replacing those," his partner said innocently. "But Lieutenant Montgomery with Team Eight did say he'd let me have one the nice red berets from UNIT."

"Hell yeah!" the Captain shouted gleefully.

"Thought you might like that," Ianto chuckled. "In fact, he gave it to me this morning when they dropped off the equipment. I put it in our room… figured I could model it tonight if we're up to a little playtime."

"Total mood changer," Jack grinned, reaching over to ruffle the younger man's hair. "You're better than a whole year's worth of Prozac, Ianto Jones."

"All in a day's work, sir," the Changeling smiled, pleased to have made his lover feel a little less on edge.

The conversation as they drove to Harwood's was much lighter after that, centring mostly on fun things they could add to their rounds of "dabbling" in the future. It was a nice diversion, and something they both needed to keep from being completely insane during the new Archive rework they were undertaking. Just as Harkness had told Gwen earlier, they'd concentrate on the task at hand and take the rest one day at a time… for now.

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AN: I promise not to make you suffer through the Archive re-lay. LOL!

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM