Fic- The Captain and the Boy 55/65

[branwen_blaidd]

Title: The Captain and The Boy 55/65

Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Jack/Others, Ianto/Others

Ratings: Adult – graphic sex and some violence throughout

Spoilers: General spoilers for first 2 series

Summary: An AU version of Jack, Ianto and Torchwood. Some pre-series.

Disclaimers: I own nothing.

Notes: With thanks to oncomingscone and rowanheart24 for their glorious help! Comments make me write more. I hope you enjoy this. I’ve been working on this story for nearly a year and it’s finally finished. I’ve very proud of it and I hope it’s good enough for my lovely readers! This is a finished series and won’t be abandoned. I’m planning to post a chapter a day (at roughly the same time) until it’s finished.

 

 

Jack kept going on about the coffee Ianto had made. Ianto smiled as he saw the rapturous expression on Jack’s face.

“Is it okay?” he asked.

Jack beamed at him. “Perfect.”

Ianto returned his smile, then glanced around at the others. Owen and Tosh wore similar expressions. They sat back in their chairs and sipped from their mugs in blissful quiet. Ianto glanced at Suzie and found her glaring back at him. Her coffee sat on the desk, untouched.

Ianto swallowed hard. “I’ll…get to work on the archives then, Sir.”

Jack smiled at him again. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Ianto made his way down to the archives, glad to be away from Suzie’s dark looks. The archives consisted of rooms and rooms of cabinets. In each room were stacked cardboard boxes full of stuff yet to be filed. Ianto braced himself and opened a cabinet. He winced. Files and folders shoved in anywhere. Ianto liked order and this wasn’t it. But never mind. No matter how long it took, Ianto was going to sort this mess out. He was making himself useful and letting him and Jack get their space from each other.

He took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves and got to work. These lower levels were full of dust. As well as sorting, he was going to have to clean. He couldn’t work in conditions like this.

He was elbow deep in papers, still in the first room of the archives, when the door opened behind him. He withdrew from the cabinet and turned to greet his visitor. Maybe it was Jack or Owen checking up on him.

He stiffened. Suzie stood in the doorway. Her face was shadowed and unreadable. He swallowed, forced himself to relax and gave her a cautious smile.

“Hi. Can I help? Do they need more coffee upstairs?”

She advanced slowly. She didn’t return his smile.

“So,” she said, her voice tight but strangely smooth. “You’re back then.”

“Jack offered me the job as an agent. I’ve…moved on from all that other stuff.”

She smirked at him. “Oh, Ianto, you’ve got no idea, have you? Jack wants you to go back to working for him in other ways. He knows what you’re good at, after all.”

“No, you’re wrong. Jack gave me the job because he knows I can do it. I…want to be useful.”

She patted his shoulder. “You can be useful, Ianto. You can do one thing right. You can be a tight ass for Jack to fuck. That’s all he wants, you know.” She squeezed his shoulder tightly. “Jack’s missed his little whore in his bed.”

She turned and walked away. Ianto watched her warily, a huge lump in his throat.

At the door, she turned back. The malice in her voice melted away to a kind of sickly sweetness. “Still. I suppose this is your chance at a new life off the streets. You’ve got the life Michael wanted, haven’t you?”

Ianto was frozen to the spot, eyes still glued to where Suzie had been. He felt sick. Her words echoed in his brain and his head swam. He didn’t know what to believe, what was truth and what was her lies. But he knew one thing. He wasn’t letting his guard down around her, not ever.

                                                      * * *

Ianto’s weekly rituals had changed over the past few weeks he had been at Torchwood. He worked hard and long hours but he enjoyed it. No day at Torchwood was the same. There were quiet days, when he worked steadily in the archives. And there were the busy days, in which it was all hands on deck. It was difficult to maintain a ritual when every day changed. But Ianto managed. It wasn’t much but keeping his rituals was an important part of his survival. At the end of each day, no matter what time in the morning that was, Ianto said his prayers.

Jack kept things absolutely professional. He taught Ianto a lot, seeming to take pleasure in watching Ianto improve himself. Ianto learned how to fight, how to use a gun, how to use scanners, computers and every other sort of tech they had. Tosh was a good teacher there. Ianto loved the way she used the tech. She was a wizard at it. Ianto hoped to be half as clever as her one day. As well as the coffee, the archiving and the cleaning, Ianto found himself going out with the team, taking part in defending the city and the sorting out afterwards. Ianto knew he was a valuable member of the team. Jack, Owen and Tosh showed him that every single day.

But Suzie was different. He didn’t trust her one little bit.

There was something bothering him and it had been for weeks now. He remembered her words on his first day back. The taunts echoed in his head and he did his best to ignore them. He was good at pushing unwanted memories away but something about Suzie’s words that day tugged at him. It was something to do with what she’d said about Michael. He put the worrying problem to the back of his mind where his subconscious could work on it.

Ianto liked his new job. It challenged his mind. There was always something to remember, something to work out, some problem to fix. He was beginning to feel like he really belonged here.

Ianto was always in early. Thomas often woke him by coming in at the crack of dawn. Once awake, Ianto couldn’t get back to sleep. So, he’d get up, get dressed and manage some coffee and toast before heading into work. It was still semi-dark as he made his way towards the hub. He loved the bay at this time in the morning. He’d always spend a little time here before he went down into the hub. Nobody was around at this time in the morning. He walked slowly through the Plass, enjoying the slowly changing lights around the pillars and the sound of the water lapping softly at the little harbour. He felt peaceful here and happy.

Jack had his own routines. Ianto had got used to them. Jack was always up and around when Ianto arrived. Sometimes, he’d stay in his office and it would be up to Ianto to switch the lights on, get the computers booted up and start the coffee. On other days, everything would be started up when Ianto arrived and Jack would swagger about in his shirt sleeves. He’d lean against the counter and talk to Ianto, watching him as he got the coffee started. Ianto looked forward to these times. Jack seemed calm and happy in those moments. But for every day of calm Jack, there would be two or three of silent, reclusive Jack.

But, no matter what Jack’s mood, at the end of the day, Ianto would make him one last cup of coffee and they would sit together and drink in each other’s company. Sometimes they talked about their day. Other times, they sat in silence. But whether Jack was chatty or silent, Ianto found comfort in their little routines, both morning and night.

                                                      * * *

A new day and Ianto arrives in the hub and finds all the lights are still off. This happens sometimes. Ianto switches on the coffee machine, starts it going then goes to say good morning to Jack.

His office lights aren’t on either.

Frowning, Ianto carefully opens the door and peers inside. There is a lump on the couch and it is making a noise. Ianto steps closer and realises it is Jack and he is sobbing.

Ianto inches closer and kneels down beside the couch. “Jack? Are you okay?”

Jack chokes back a sob and looks up at him. “She’s gone,” he croaks..

Ianto doesn’t have to ask who he means. Maya. Jack’s lover. Ianto reaches out and touches Jack lightly on the arm.

“I know,” he whispers.

“She’s not coming back,” Jack sobs.

Ianto nods. “Yeah. I know.”

He sits with him and, gradually, Jack stops crying and silence falls. Ianto finds himself rubbing Jack’s arm comfortingly and watching the floor.

After a moment, he realises that Jack is watching him and he looks back up at Jack.

“Thank you,” Jack whispers.

Ianto just nods.

Jack looks anxious. “I’m…I’m so sorry, Ianto. About everything. I’ve treated you so badly.”

Ianto looks away. Old thoughts flash in his head. Nothing he didn’t deserve. That’s what whore are for. He pushes them away. He doesn’t want to think like that anymore.

But Jack is so hurt. Now is not the time for recriminations. They’ve both been hurt so.

He turns back to Jack and gives him a smile. “It’s in the past. It’s all behind us now.”

He leans over, kisses Jack on the forehead and smoothes his hair back from his forehead. Then gets up and goes to tend to the coffee. They’ve got their day to be getting on with.