melancholyTitle: What Will Be.
Author: zorell
Chapter: 17/?
Rating: PG
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh, Owen, Martha, Gwen.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Summary: The team continues to work on a solution.
Disclaimer: Torchwood belongs to BBC and RTD
A/N: Usual apologies for mistakes, bad grammar, dodgy plot etc.
Second version of this, so hope it’s ok.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.
Story starts here:
http://jackxianto.livejournal.com/5294840.html#cutid1
previous chapter:
http://jackxianto.livejournal.com/5498375.html#cutid1
Chapter 17.
Tosh was studying the markings Ianto had put down on paper, as the man himself arrived back with their coffees, having already delivered the latest round of refreshments to the others.
“ Is this everything you can remember ?” Tosh asked, smiling as she accepted her coffee from Ianto as he sat down.
“ Yes, and it is as I remember it being positioned on the orb.” Ianto took a tentative sip of his coffee before placing it on the desk where Tosh had put hers.
“ I see what you meant about it reminding you of writing and hieroglyphics. Particularly here, but these seem more random. Right lets scan this and see if we can find a match.”
Tosh quickly uploaded the information and started the search programme. Picking up her coffee, she turned to face her best friend. Aware that Gwen was close by Tosh kept her voice low as she began to speak with Ianto.
“ How are you Ianto ?” Tosh was worried about her friend. He seemed to be dealing with everything, but she knew how good he was at hiding things, - particularly his emotions.
“ I’m alright.” There was the faintest hesitancy in his voice, anyone who wasn’t close to the Welshman wouldn’t have noticed, but Tosh was and did.
“ Ianto.” Tosh didn’t mean to push, but she thought it would do the young man good to talk.
“ I’m fine Tosh..well as fine as someone who was dead and now isn’t, and who has no idea how, can be.” Ianto gave Tosh an apologetic look. “ Sorry, I didn’t mean to..”
“ It’s ok Ianto,” Tosh placed her hand on his knee, and gave Ianto a small smile, both in support and reassurance. “ I can’t imagine what must be going through your mind right now. Just remember we’re here for you...” Tosh’s voice went even lower, “...well most of us are...” her eyes focused over Ianto’s shoulder to where Gwen was seated, seemingly doing paperwork, “...and we will work this out.” Tosh reassured him.
“ I know, thanks Tosh.” Ianto smiled at his friend letting her know he really was alright.
“ So...” Tosh’s tone of voice changed as she removed her hand and sat back a little, “ ...you’re engaged !” Her smile was infectious. “ Let’s have a proper look at the ring then.”
Ianto blushed as he held his left hand so Tosh could see the ring. Before she could comment though, Owen shouted up from the autopsy bay.
“ What do you want Owen ?” Tosh asked using the internal coms to contact the doctor rather than shouting like some sort of fish wife across the Hub.
“ Need you to see if you can ‘soup’ up a piece of tech for us.” Owen replied.
“ Never heard of ‘please” ?” Tosh retorted.
“ Heard of it. Don’t use it much.”
“ We noticed.” Tosh smiled at Ianto.
“ Well ?” It appeared that patience wasn’t in Owen’s vocabulary either.
“ Can’t you bring it over here ?”
“ No.” Was Owen’s blunt answer.
“ Looks like I’m going over there then.” Tosh said to Ianto before directing her next words to Owen, “ I’ll be there in a moment.” Tosh brought her cup of coffee to her mouth, “ He can wait until I’ve finished this though.” She said smiling at Ianto, before savouring the contents of the cup.
Some minutes later both Tosh and Ianto were approaching the autopsy bay. Ianto to collect the empty coffee mugs, which he did quickly, before returning back to Tosh’s workstation to collect theirs. Tosh to see what Owen wanted looked at.
“ What do you need modified ?” she asked on arrival.
“ This.” Owen pointed to what Tosh recognised as an alien tissue/cell scanner that she and Owen had already done some work on.
“ We’ve already done some modifications on that.”
“ I know, but it seems to be giving a false or ‘ghost’ reading, and we could do with the cellular information being a bit more in depth.” Owen handed the device to Tosh, and then he moved to the computer screen where Martha was studying the latest results from that particular scanner. “ See here..” Owen gestured for Tosh to look at the screen as well. Pointing to a specific area showing a magnified view of various cells, Tosh began to look concerned. “That’s why I want you to take a look and see if you can get this to give us a better view, more in depth information.”
“ I’ll see what I can do,” Tosh looked at the device, already thinking of possible ways to improve the scanners efficiency, and to ‘clean up’ it’s images.
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Having reached Tosh’s workstation, Ianto took a quick look at how the search was going and if it had uncovered anything yet. Nothing. A little disheartened Ianto picked up his and Tosh’s empty mugs, before moving over to collect Gwen’s.
“ You know it won’t last.” Gwen carried on looking down at the file she had open in front of her. Anyone observing the scene would be unaware that she was talking to Ianto. “ This ‘thing’ between you and Jack doesn’t mean anything. He’s just using you to make me jealous. You know it was the thought of coming back to me that kept him fighting while he was away, and when he found out about me and Rhys, Jack was gutted. Your ‘engagement’ is just ‘tit for tat’, a way to make me jealous. We both know you’re second choice, the convenient option, because I wasn’t available. How does it feel knowing that it’s always been me he’s wanted and it’s me he still wants ?”
Ianto looked at Gwen, his mask firmly in place. Listening to the former PC rant Ianto couldn’t help but think that deluded was a good description of her. Ianto continued to look at his competition for the Captain’s heart. Could Gwen be called competition when he had already won ? And he had won. He and Jack were together, and however much Gwen tried to undermine what they had, Ianto wasn’t going to let her, even if some of what she said echoed his own thoughts from earlier in their relationship. Those doubts had been addressed and he knew exactly where Jack’s feelings lay.
“ Believe what you want Gwen. Jack and I both know the truth, and that’s all that matters.” Ianto said with conviction, before turning and going towards Jack’s office to retrieve the final piece of dirty china.
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Why did telephone calls with UNIT invariably end up with him suffering from a headache? Jack wondered as he leant back in his chair, rubbing his forehead, attempting to fend off the headache currently trying to take hold. His conversation with Brigadier Scott-Thompson hadn’t been as bad as it could have been. Although the Brigadier was one of a rare breed, - a member of UNIT who actually acknowledged Torchwood Three knew what they were doing when it came to aliens,- he was still UNIT, and therefore had to do their bidding. In this case it was to request, yet again, access to a particular piece from the archives. Scott-Thompson had on this occasion brought up the ‘favour’ Torchwood owed UNIT. Jack had no idea to what he was referring, and after deftly putting off the UNIT officer, he made a mental note to ask Ianto about the aforementioned ‘favour’. Jack was drawn from his thoughts by the knock on his door. Smiling, Jack motioned for Ianto to enter.
“ Hey, I was just thinking about you.” Jack said as his lover entered the office.
“ Oh ?” Ianto smiled knowing what Jack’s thought process tended to be.
“ Not like that !” Jack let out a small laugh.
“ Makes a change.” Ianto commented straight faced.
“ Are you implying I have a one track mind Mr Jones ?”
“ Well, if the shoe fits.”
“ And they fit such big feet..” Jack wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as he continued. “ And you know what they say about big feet..”
A wry smile crossed Ianto’s face as he shook his head in disbelief at how he had walked straight into that. His smile faltered as he looked into Jack’s eyes and saw pain within them.
“ Headache ?” The young man asked. Ianto was now Jack’s side of the desk, cupping is lovers cheek with concern.
“ Yes. UNIT induced.” Jack leant into the tender touch of his fiancé.
“ Ah, that would account for it. Who drew the short straw this time ?”
“ Scott-Thompson.”
“ At least he’s one of the more reasonable ones. Are they still after the same artefact ?”
“ Yes. Managed to put him off, but he mentioned a ‘favour’ we owe them ?” Jack watched for a reaction from Ianto.
“ Ah...” Ianto saw the questioning look on Jack’s face. “ You didn’t go through all the case files for when you were away did you ?” It wasn’t so much a question as a statement.
“...Not all, no.” Jack hesitated a little before coming clean about not reading up on every incident that occurred during his absence.
“ If you had, you would have been aware of the Hoix incident.”
Jack’s face paled. Hoix weren’t exactly the friendliest aliens they had encountered, and if UNIT had been involved somehow, things obviously hadn’t gone well. The only plus point was that all the team were alive and well, so whatever had happened hadn’t caused any lasting damage.
“ What happened ?” Jack asked cautiously.
“ It was while the others were returning from the Himalayas fiasco...” Ianto began to explain. Saxon had ordered them to the Himalayas. He had rejected Saxon’s authority over them, stating that Torchwood answered only to the reigning monarch and he would only go if ordered personally by Her Majesty. With no such order being forthcoming, Ianto remained at the Hub. Although Ianto was wary of Saxon, the others seemed quite happy to do the enigmatic Prime Minister’s bidding. So Ianto had remained at the Hub, while the other three had followed the then Prime Ministers orders. After the American President’s assassination and Saxon’s death, Owen, Tosh and Gwen headed back to Wales. Ianto had been keeping watch on the rift, and dealing with things on his own during that period of time. Thankfully there hadn’t been anything major until this particular day. “...reports came through of two attacks. From the descriptions I was pretty sure it was Hoix, and once confirmed I called UNIT. There was no way I could deal with two of them on my own so...”
“ You persuaded Scott-Thompson into lending a hand, by promising access to Torchwood artefacts.” Jack wasn’t sure whether to be mad at Ianto for promising UNIT such access, or be relieved that his lover had had the good sense to ask for help, rather than try and deal with the Hoix on his own.
“ It was the best option at the time, and the Brigadier knows full well that access was dependant on your approval, as was what exactly he would be allowed to see and when.” Ianto hesitated for a moment, “ I’m sorry if I’ve put you in a difficult position, but it really was the best I could do at the time.”
“ You don’t have anything to apologise for. I’m glad you did call in UNIT and didn’t go it alone. I hate to think what could have happened.” A small shiver ran down Jacks spine as he thought of what could have been. However, before the conversation could continue, Tosh’s voice rang out over the Hubs coms.
“ Jack, I’ve got something.”
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