ecstaticTitle: What Will Be.
Author: zorell
Chapter: 16/?
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Martha, Gwen.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Summary: The team gets to work.
Disclaimer: Torchwood belongs to BBC and RTD
A/N: Usual apologies for mistakes, bad grammar, dodgy plot etc.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.
Story starts here:
http://jackxianto.livejournal.com/5294840.html#cutid1
previous chapter:
http://jackxianto.livejournal.com/5482598.html
Chapter 16.
“ Thanks Ianto.” Jack smiled as he took his cup of coffee from his lover, their fingers brushing in the process, sending that familiar warm feeling through him.
“ You don’t think that’s the end of it do you ? That she’s finally realised there’s an ‘us’, and that there won’t be a ‘you and her’ ?” Ianto asked as he perched on the corner of Jack’s desk, his eyes meeting the Captain’s as he looked up.
“ I doubt it somehow, but you never know, stranger things have happened.” Jack rested a hand on Ianto’s thigh, gently rubbing his thumb backwards and forwards. “ Why didn’t you tell me ?” Jack asked in what he hoped wasn’t an accusing tone.
“ Tell you ?” Ianto wasn’t sure what Jack was referring to, although he could hazard a guess.
“ That she saw you as a ‘part time shag’.”
“ Because it wasn’t important.” Ianto’s voice was as calm as ever.
“ Not important . Of course it’s important.” Jack managed not to sound angry, even though he was annoyed that Ianto thought so little of himself to deem a comment like that unimportant.
“Although I know others think it, it has only been said to my face once, it was in the heat of the moment and that person found out what I thought of the comment. Though, I have to admit, at the time I felt like that was all I was.”
“ Oh Ianto, I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way, because believe me I’ve never considered you as that, even when...”
“ I know now.” Ianto said, cutting Jack off before he could finish, then leant towards his lover and kissed him, only for a knock on the door to interrupt them all too soon.
“ Sorry to interrupt,” Tosh apologised as she entered Jack’s office, “ But could I have a word please Jack ?”
“ If you’ll excuse me I have an appointment with Owen and Martha,” Ianto moved from the desk and headed towards the door, leaving his lover and best friend to talk.
“ What can I do for you Tosh ?” Jack smiled as he leant back in his chair and Tosh sat in the seat opposite him.
“ It’s Gwen. I’m worried about her response to your news earlier. I had expected her to totally lose it, but...”
“ I know. I have to admit her reaction has me concerned as well. Mind you it could have something to do with our conversation yesterday.” Seeing Tosh’s questioning look Jack continued, “ I told her to shape up or she would be out.”
“ Ah, I see, that’s why she held back. She knows to stand a chance of getting you...”
“ Which she doesn’t.”
“...she needs to be here.” Tosh paused then, “ You are serious about Ianto, about the engagement, about committing yourself to him, aren’t you Jack ?” Tosh fixed Jack with a steely look. She knew how much her best friend loved Jack, and she could see the love went both ways, but she also knew how flirtatious the Captain could be, and feared he might not be able to help himself if faced with too much temptation. If that happened Ianto would be devastated, and that wasn’t going to happen on her watch.
“ I’m very serious about him Tosh.” Jack hesitated, wondering whether to carry on or not. Looking across his desk at the young woman he respected immensely he decided to continue. “ I can honestly say I’ve only been in love a handful of times, if that, and out of those I have never loved anyone the way I love Ianto. I can’t explain it. He’s my other half, my soul mate. Without him I’m incomplete, nothing. I love him with everything I am...God, I sound a right sap!”
“ Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.” Tosh smiled briefly before her expression and tone of voice changed as she continued to talk. “ Why’s Gwen still here Jack ? Why have you given her so many chances ?”
“Because I didn’t want to admit I was wrong about hiring her.”
“ So you put others at risk, because of your ego. Not your best move.” Tosh continued to hold eye contact with the Captain.
“ Believe me, I know.”
“ Why are you finally prepared to do something about her now ?” Tosh was curious.
“ I’ve finally come to my senses, and realised enough is enough.” Jack told Tosh honestly.
“ Glad to hear it.” Tosh smiled slightly. “ Even with the threat of leaving Torchwood, and therefore you, I can’t see Gwen accepting you and Ianto being together.” The concern was back in the tech’s voice.
“ I know. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, but for now all we can do is keep a close eye on her, and..” Jack was interrupted by the ringing of his office telephone. Apologising to Tosh he answered, only to wish he hadn’t when hearing Brigadier Scott-Thompson of UNIT on the other end.
“ If you could hold on for a moment Brigadier...” Jack placed his hand over the receiver and looked to Tosh. “ Sorry, I’ve got to take this.”
“ It’s ok Jack.” Tosh started to leave, but halted near the door as Jack spoke to her.
“ Keep an eye on her please, Tosh, especially when she is near Ianto.”
“ Goes without saying Jack.” Tosh gave the immortal a reassuring smile before leaving a less than enthusiastic Jack to his phone call.
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Martha frowned as she gave the read out from the wrist strap a quick check. The information from the strap itself was more detailed than the information Owen had received to his PDA, and the two doctors would analyse it in more detail over the next few hours. Owen meanwhile, was taking another blood sample as Ianto moaned about being a pin cushion.
“ Problem ?” Owen asked noticing the look on Martha’s face as he placed the freshly taken blood into tubes ready for the samples to be tested.
“ Mmm ...Here..” Martha pointed to a section of the readings. “Elevated heart rate, respiration... A warning should have been triggered but...”
“ I’ll just head up to help Tosh.” Ianto made to get off the autopsy table he was sitting on, quietly cursing his friend for needing to see Jack thus leaving him to deal with the ramifications of the previous evenings exertions alone.
“ Oh no, you stay right there.” Owen said with a smirk. Then returning his attention back to Martha he continued, “ The reason the alarm wasn’t triggered was because I calibrated it to take into account certain variables.”
“ Certain variables ?” Martha questioned.
“ This is Harkness and Teaboy were ‘talking’ about, and a snowball has more chance in hell than there is them keeping their hands off each other, so I calibrated the wrist strap to take into account readings caused by, - how should I put it ?- certain strenuous activities !” Owen was grinning now at Ianto’s obvious discomfort, though he added a little grudgingly, “ Must say I’m impressed with the staying power !”
“ Well thank you, Owen. If you need any...”
“ Believe me I don’t need help from you.” Owen cut in, disgruntled at the implication that Ianto could give him advice where sex was concerned.
“ Not what I’ve heard.” Ianto was the one smirking now.
“ Now, now boys, behave.” Martha sounded like a school teacher admonishing her class. “ Your free to go Ianto, we don’t need you for anything else at the moment, but..”
“ I know, if I feel ill, ‘funny’ or just not myself come and find one of you.” Ianto finished what the UNIT doctor was saying, as he got off the autopsy table this time and left to join Tosh at her workstation.
“ Right Dr Harper bloods or readout ?” Martha asked as Ianto left the autopsy bay.
“ I’ll take bloods.” Owen moved to the work area and started to set up for testing on the fresh samples he had just taken. Nothing unusual had shown up in previous tests and Owen doubted there would be any change this time, but until they had an answer to what was going on they would continue going through the motions in the hope of a break through. It would help if all Ianto’s medical records from Torchwood One, especially those prior to the incident with the orb, were accessible. But at the moment all, but the brief ‘all clear’ medical done directly after the incident, were amongst the lost data Tosh was working on retrieving.
“ You ok Owen ?” Martha asked, noticing the weary look on her colleagues face.
“ Yeah, ..it’s just...”
“ Frustrating ?” Martha offered.
“ Yeah, you could say that. I mean, the blood samples seem normal. So far the tests we’ve run concerning a possible link to either Jack or the rift haven’t shown up anything. There’s got to be something somewhere that will explain Jonesy reviving. You got anything ?”
Owen moved next to Martha who was looking at the first lot of data downloaded from the wrist strap.
“ Well, vitals all seem to be within normal parameters. I’ve only just started to look at the cellular data, but again I can’t see anything obvious from these first few readings.”
“ Great we still have sweet FA.” Owen threw the pen he had been fiddling with down on to the work surface in frustration.
“ Sure at the moment we don’t have much...” Owen gave Martha a ‘look’ “...ok, maybe we don’t have anything. But like you said, there has to be something, somewhere and we are going to find it. While those other tests on the blood are running, give me a hand going over this data. With both of us checking it there is less chance of missing something.” Martha was feeling a lot like Owen was at the moment. They were doing all they could but were still coming up empty. She just hoped a closer look at this data might find the breakthrough they needed.
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“ Any luck Tosh ?” Ianto sat down next to his best friend who was busy taping away on her keyboard.
“ Huh..oh..a..some,” the tech answered distractedly, her concentration focused on her task. “ Though I haven’t managed to retrieve anything of any help at the moment. Sorry.” Tosh looked apologetically at Ianto, who gave her a reassuring smile in return. He knew she was doing her best, as were the others, and it wasn’t her fault that nothing helpful had been found yet.
“ So, do you remember much about the orb ?” Tosh asked, she was still typing away but her attention was now with Ianto.
“ Maybe fifty percent of the markings. I never actually sat down and studied it; it was more glances going past.” Ianto informed her.
Tosh nodded, it might only have been glances Ianto got, but with the young man’s memory, she was sure they would end up with something they could use to search with, and find a match to.
“ While I finish setting up this programme, why don’t you write down what markings you remember, then we can run them through the computer and see if we get a match on our systems, or anyone else’s while we’re at it.” Tosh said with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Ianto wondered if there was any computer system that was safe from his friend.
Sitting at her workstation, Gwen glanced over at Tosh and Ianto working a few feet away. Shaking her head slightly in disbelief, the Welshwoman ran through the events of the morning in her mind. What was Jack thinking ? How could he get engaged to him, of all people ? Jack must have done it to make her jealous, that was it. She had hurt Jack by getting engaged when he was away, and now he was doing the same back, it didn’t mean anything, how could it when it was her the Captain loved. After all, whatever Jack said, she knew it hadn’t just been flirting on his part. He had meant those looks, the touches and the words that had passed between them. No, this engagement didn’t mean anything. Jack just wanted to see how much she wanted him, and what she was prepared to do to get him back. Well, she was prepared to do whatever she thought necessary to get what she considered hers back. And believe me, Gwen thought, Jack is most definitely hers.
next chapter: http://jackxianto.livejournal.com/5511867.html#cutid1