Clean-up in Aisle Three [Ianto & Jack]

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Whilst out wandering the streets, Jack got a message on his PDA from Gwen saying that there was a Weevil sighting downtown near the shopping centre. He requested the coordinates and made his way to the locaction

It was dark out and the people out were few and far between. It was cold in Cardiff. Bitterly so and Jack didn’t seem to share the weary expressions he saw on those he passed by. Their expressions spoke of long work days and getting home to a warm fire and cocoa. His expression screamed of excitement and something to break the monotony of his day. Things had been relatively quiet concerning the Rift spitting stuff at them these past couple of days. That usually meant something big was about to happen.

That was how it worked. Things ran average. A few Weevil sightings, the occasional flotsam and jetsam falling through the Rift, then absolutely nothing. Nothing for days, possibly weeks before -BANG- all hell broke loose. Something was coming, he could practically taste the tang in the air.

The chronon decay signal he picked up the other day that led him to…absolutely no where, was just a decoy. He believed. Usually that signalled some type of disturbance, thought not the usual signal of decay they picked up from the Rift. This was more like at Jackson Leaves and when those bloody future lawyers would make their annual attempt to sue him for mishandling the 21st century. Bastards.

Yeah, something was coming, he only hoped they were ready.

The signal stopped in front of a supermarket. Jack raised his eyebrows out of surprise and amusement. He liked supermarkets. Lots of choice, lots of colour and loads of ideas for new things to play with.

The store was locked and closed for the evening.

He played with his PDA for a minute before sending Ianto a text.

Wanna come
Weevil Hunting?
I’ll be inside.
~J

He lifted his Vortex Manipulator and hit a button. The security system inside the door gave a blip before the door unlocked.

He tapped his comms. “Gwen, let PC Andy know that I’m the one who set off the alarm at the store.”

“All right, Jack. Then I’m heading home. I’m knackered,” she replied.

She did sound exhausted. “Yeah, and give Rhys a big sloppy one from me.” He tapped off the comm and went into the store to wait for Ianto.

(God-Moded Gwen, I play her, I can do bad things to her.)

[pande]

It wasn’t exactly that Ianto didn’t like his phone. It was cool and useful enough, but the fact that it never stopped ringing was starting to get on his nerves. He could turn it onto vibrate, but that only aggravated him more when suddenly his entire midsection was vibrating of it’s own agenda. Of course, there had been situations where Ianto hadn’t minded a sense of vibrating – but in the cold, almost empty spaces of the Hub, Ianto Jones was in no mood for a ring.

Of course, he couldn’t turn it off either – Jack would kill him if he ever actually entertained the thought of turning it off. A phantom argument started up in the archiver’s mind; ‘What if I need you?’ ‘I’m always in the Hub.’ ‘But what if you’re asleep?’ ‘Why are you next to me?’. It was an important conversation in their rel—uh, pairing. Ianto sighed and stared at the phone as it went off once more. He should never have let Tosh re-program it to go along with the alarms in the Hub. At one point it had made much sense, now it made almost none.

Idly he wondered where Jack had gotten off to. Probably out on the town, searching for aliens to bring down. Ianto looked down at the paperwork he’d been steadily working through for the past hour with a less than enthused expression. At one point, all he’d craved was just doing this, paperwork. Action was a revulsion to him. But now? Ianto wanted to be out there, doing something, being depended on by his partner to help flawlessly. And here he was… doing paperwork. Barely resisting the urge to place his head down on the stack and sigh heartily, Ianto blinked and glanced over to where Gwen was still working.

Ianto wasn’t sure what, but something was different about Gwen. A good something, she smiled a bit more, laughed with more life. There was a softness to her that Ianto Jones couldn’t put a finger on. The last thing he wanted to do was to ruin their friendship by digging into Gwen’s history and present-day activities. It wasn’t his place, after all, she’d been merciful enough not to ask him how Jack and he were getting along. He knew that had he been a girl, the nasty bits would have been spilled – knowledge would be shared. For once, Ianto thank some deity that he was a man. Admittedly, he was constantly referred to as ‘the gay one’, but he was often fortunate enough not to hear that bit. Tugging at the collar of his suit he lifted up a sheet of paper, put it down again.

He was bored, a new feeling for Ianto. There had to be something going on he could do aside from stare at paperwork all day. Suddenly his crotch vibrated again and Ianto leapt to his feel in surprise. He pulled his phone out grumpily before a smile lit his face. Loosening his tie a bit to breath easier, Jones sent a reply message.

Pick up some milk while you’re there.
We’re almost out.
On my way.
~I

Ianto paused for a full few seconds as Gwen left the building before he went out into the familiar garage. With a blip, the car opened and the Welshman slipped inside the surprisingly warm interior. With a roar the engine came to life and Ianto reversed, and surged ahead. He grimaced as he was stuck behind a red light, the on-screen display came online and Ianto navigated the less than crowded streets of Cardiff at night with ease.

Still, it took him a whole ten minutes just to get to the store, and Ianto parked just off to the side before turning the Cat (as he affectionately called the car he was driving) and got out. His hand rested easy on his gun, and he strode silently towards the store. The doors were partially open, proof that Jack was already inside. Ianto looked around, standing silently. There was a whisper of cloth – Jack’s greatcoat. Ianto would know that sound anywhere.

Heading towards it, he keyed his senses to full alert, but he walked with an ease that betrayed how comfortable and confident he was at capturing weevils. He spied Jack a few seconds later and jogged over, one hand on the pocket containing the weevil mace. Ianto smiled at Jack, “Any luck finding it yet?” he asked, looking all around them.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Jack drew his Webley and a torch and slowly made his way into the store. Passing the checkout, he noted a sound on the far side, beyond the frozen foods. Jack looked around to see where the stock room doors were located. He wanted to wrangle the creature back there as carefully as he could. He moved with care and as little noise as was possible.

The Weevil was crunching on something, which was odd since Jack didn’t take them as the frozen fish sticks kinda creatures.

His PDA buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at it. A smile curled his lips. Ianto Jones was an enigma. His brains, those suits, that wicked sense of humour and, by the Gods, that filthy mind. Sometimes he wished he’d met Ianto before he lost the ability to die. Perhaps then he could have had something to offer the young Welshman. A future. A happily ever after.

He couldn’t and that was a simple, sad fact. He couldn’t even bring himself to acknowledge how he felt. They were…he didn’t quite know. More than just a grope in the dark for comfort. Yet, they weren’t exactly planning a CP and picking out rings. That would never happen. He had feelings for the young man but sometimes he wished he didn’t. It would be easier to just dismiss Ianto, push him away for his own sake. Perhaps he would find someone, a nice Welsh girl, make nice Welsh babies and be happy. Unfortunately, Jack was selfish and it really wouldn’t be that easy to dismiss Ianto Jones.

Jack had come to rely on Ianto’s presence in his life. Almost the same way he relied on Gwen’s. Gwen was his heart, Ianto was his balance. He knew that he would find places for Liz, Arabella and Alistar. They were still too new and, unlike when he hired the rest of his team, he wanted to keep this lot at arms length. He didn’t know how much more he had in him these days, to mourn his loses. Those young faces, so brilliant, so full of life, destined to die young just by the shear fact that they now draw a cheque from Torchwood.

Gwen. He was worried about her. She’s seemed distracted and tired and…

Well, quite frankly, she smelled differently to him. Everyone had a scent, to him at least. Not just the perfumes and soaps they used. To Jack they had signatures. Gwen’s scent reminded him of citrus fruit, more lemony with hints of cinnamon. Lately, she was sweeter, rounder, honeyed, unfamiliar.

Jack smiled thinking of Ianto’s scent. Fresh green fields and of course, coffee, though, he believed that was more because of the time the younger man spent making the stuff.

The Weevil moved and Jack pushed forward. The creature spotted him but Jack pretended not to notice. The Weevil moved slowly to the back of the store, grabbing items off the shelves as it went. Before pushing through the store-room doors, the Weevil grabbed a few loaves of bread.

Jack heard the SUV outside and knew Ianto was there. He lowered his gun and looked around at the damage. Someone would have to clean this up, unless they just have Gwen doctor a fake B & E and leave it for the clerks to clean up.

“Any luck finding it yet?” Ianto said, sidling up to Jack.

He hadn’t heard Ianto until the last minute but Jack liked that the man tread so quietly.

“I haven’t had these in ages,” Jack said, lifting a box of frozen waffles. “I should do the shopping more often. So much choice.”

He cast a bright smile at Ianto. “It’s in the store-room.” He looked Ianto up and down and his smile grew. “I have mentioned that you look brilliant in that colour,” he said, reaching out and touching the collar of Ianto’s shirt. He seemed lost in thought looking at the younger man, remembering his musings from earlier. His smile never faltered but his eyes grew softly sad.

Just let you go. You’d grow old. You’d be happier…in the end.

Jack shook himself from his thoughts. Nope, he couldn’t let him go even knowing that in the end it would be worse for both involved.

“C’mon, let’s get this bad boy,” said Jack, renewing his smile and rushing off toward the store-room doors.