Come with us now on a journey through time and space...

The Torchwood Account (part 4)

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:33:53 GMT

Title: The Torchwood Account - Jubilee Pizza
Author: leofuller
Pairing: None
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Summary: It's not just the team who make a living from Torchwood.

Find the rest of this series here:
Fresh as a Daisy
Harrington Motors
The Crown

Jubilee Pizza

Reuben flicked a cloth along the counter. They’d been open ten minutes – no customers so far, but that was normal. Carl was out the back, chatting to Paulo as he prepped in the kitchen, waiting for somebody to order something so that he could deliver it.

Reuben liked Carl, he was keen - but he was new, and they all got bored quick enough. Matt would be in later when they got busier and he needed more people out on deliveries, but Reuben would probably be on his own in the shop most of the afternoon.

Nobody wanted that many pizzas on a Tuesday.

The phone rang with an order, and Reuben tapped the details into the computer automatically. Meat feast, Four cheese, Vegetarian with extra mushrooms and a Chicken and sweetcorn. Torchwood, paid by card.

Reuben pressed the button to send the order to the kitchen, and then wandered through to the back to make sure that the rather temperamental machine was working. Carl stopped talking when he walked in, and Paulo gave him a rather curt nod and held up the print out of the pizza order.

The shop door pinged and Reuben went to see to the customer.

Staff retention was something Jubilee struggled with. They weren’t a big chain, they didn’t have management training courses and things for his staff to aim for, not like McDonalds, say. Nobody with any kind of drive or ambition stuck around here. Reuben was the manager, and the other jobs were pretty much dead-end.

Paulo had been here for months now, and Reuben was ashamed to say he knew almost nothing about the guy, not even which South American country was home. Paulo had the legal right to work in the UK, and he knew how to make pizza, and that was all Reuben needed to know.

There had been a time when he’d cared. He’d tried to be friends with his staff, or at least as much as he could while being the boss, but the bright ones didn’t stop long and the dim ones didn’t want to know. So now he had a string of employees who changed every couple of months. Most of them did at least bother to hand in their notice when they got sick of putting pizzas into boxes and pushing them over the counter, or riding 'round Cardiff on a moped getting abuse from customers if they were late, but there were some who just vanished. Walked out mid shift , never came back from deliveries. Some of them even had the cheek to come back a week later to ask for their pay.

Annie was one who hadn’t come in for her pay, and Reuben had assumed that she’d just quit. She’d gone out with the Torchwood order, and she’d not come back.

Torchwood hadn’t ordered again for a while, and Reuben had been livid. If that stupid bitch had quit and taken the pizzas home, as some of the staff had been known to do, and he’d lost the Torchwood Account because of it…

A regular order like that was worth hanging on to. They were a bit odd, the Torchwood lot. The order was delivered to a tourist office on the Plass, tiny little office, only ever the one guy in there, but he ordered four or five pizzas at the same time, at least once a week. The delivery staff were on first name terms with the guy at Torchwood, but so far none of them had managed to work out why he needed five pizzas at a time. Not that it mattered, he paid for five pizzas, and that was all Reuben cared about.

So when Annie had buggered off in the middle of a shift, and Torchwood had stopped ordering, Reuben had called them, just to check. It turned out that Annie had delivered their pizza before she’d vanished, and that Torchwood had simply, coincidentally, decided to try the new pizza shop that had opened across town.

Three days after that, a police officer had come in to tell him that Annie had died in a car accident. It had taken them a while to find him and let him know, because she’d had two other part time jobs, and the other employers had been trying to contact her whereas Reuben had just given up. The police officer was very understanding about the staff turnover.

Torchwood had brought their business back to Jubilee Pizzas after about six weeks. They never said why, but Reuben had always said that his competitors couldn’t keep up, and this just proved him right.

Either that or it was because he was just round the corner.

It wasn’t as if he needed their business – he had a steady income from takeaways, and the passing trade at pub kicking out time, but Reuben liked to keep his regulars. It made up, in a way, for being unable to keep his staff. Maybe he wasn’t so bad at this management thing.

“Hey guys.” The shop was quiet again, so Reuben wandered through to the back where Carl had just returned from the Torchwood delivery, and Matt had arrived to start his shift. “Anybody up for going for a drink after work?”

Refraction 7/7

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:12:09 GMT

Title: Refraction 7/7
Authors: leofuller and the9thdoctor
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: 15ish
Spoilers: None really, but set after Reset, with blink-and-you'll-miss-them ones for Something Borrowed.
Summary: Ianto's had a lot of strange experiences recently – Falling for the repairman, becoming the subject of a betting pool at work and even spending time in another dimension.
This, though, is definitely the weirdest thing that has EVER happened to him... Both of him.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The flat felt strangely empty, with only one Ianto there. He'd got used to having himself around, over the past few days, and caught himself starting to speak out loud more than once while he waited for Jack to finish up at the Hub and come over.

Jack hovered by the door, still unsure of his welcome, even though Ianto was back to normal.

Ianto wasn't sure how long Jack had been waiting outside when he spotted him through the window. Secretly rather amused by Jack's apparent nervousness, Ianto buzzed the front door open before Jack could ring the bell, left the door to his flat ajar and went into the kitchen.

The sound of the door unlocking automatically surprised Jack into movement and he pushed the front door open. He called out to Ianto as he walked into the flat, the smell of fresh paint in his nostrils.

"I'm in here."

Jack made his way to the kitchen. He wasn't sure if this was going to be the sort of conversation he should take his coat off for or not.

"Well, I'm only going to have half the amount of washing up to do now..." Ianto joked, putting the last of the mugs away in it's proper place.

Jack stuck his hands in his pockets. It felt strange not to walk into the kitchen and immediately sweep Ianto up into his arms. "Less food to buy too." he replied, gingerly stepping closer.

"But I have to do all the cooking..." Ianto leant back against the counter and tilted his head to one side. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Do you even need to ask?"

"You've still got your coat on."

Jack sighed. "Wasn't sure if you wanted me to stay long enough for it to be worthwhile."

"Of course I do, Jack." Ianto turned away and took two tumblers out of a cupboard. "Wouldn't be much of a conversation if you're not here long enough to take your coat off."

Jack peeled his greatcoat off and draped it over his arm. "Is that better?" he asked with a smile.

Ianto laughed. "It's a start." He brushed past Jack and walked into the living room, putting the glasses on the coffee table and going to fetch the whiskey

Jack followed him and hung his coat up properly. He sat down, resting his head on his hands, a sudden bout of uncharacteristic nervousness washing over him.

Ianto stood with the whiskey bottle in his hand, taking the opportunity to just watch Jack. During the emotions and events of the last few days, he hadn't been in a position to check that Jack was okay, and it felt a little odd.

Jack felt Ianto's gaze on him and straightened up, "Are you alright?" he asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Ianto put the bottle down on the table and sat next to Jack.

Jack immediately poured both of them a drink, knocking his own back in one quick movement. "Me?" he said with a confidence he still didn't really feel. "You know me, Ianto. No problems here."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh." Jack poured another glass and resolved to take his time with it. He took a deep breath. "I think I've only just realised how difficult the last few days have been..." he looked at Ianto with a smile, "At the risk of preaching to the converted, I've felt like I'd been split in two."

Ianto picked up his own drink and swirled the whiskey, staring into the glass. "It must have been pretty difficult."

"Ever since I met both of you for the first time, I just felt like I kept putting my foot in it. I couldn't work out what to say or do that wouldn't make one of you angry with me."

"I've been angry with you quite a lot, these past few days..."

"Believe me, I noticed. I didn't mean to though... I only hope you can forgive me."

"The thing is..." Ianto looked up at Jack. "It's not a new thing. It's just that I couldn't hide how I felt any more, or rather that I didn't feel the need to hide how I feel."

"I know." said Jack, mournfully. He took another drink of whiskey with a shaking hand. "So... Is this it?"

"No!" Ianto shifted forwards, then stopped himself. "Unless you want it to be...?"

"God... I don't think I've ever wanted anything less."

"Then no, this isn't 'it'. I said a lot of things I'd been keeping quiet, over the last few days, and the world didn't exactly end..."

Jack smiled again, weaker this time. "Then I suppose we shall just have to try and work around it." he suggested. "How about you tell me how much of a total bastard I've been to you and I'll try and apologise?"

"Didn't I cover most of that?"

"Hey, I think this sort of situation probably deserves an itemised list..."

"Actually, I did have a list..." Ianto patted his pockets and looked around the room in an absent-minded sort of a way.

Jack looked at him with narrowed eyes. "I can never tell if you're pulling my leg or not." he complained.

Ianto laughed. "Good." he said

Sighing again, Jack said, "At the risk of repeating myself, I'm still sorry. For everything."

Ianto took a swig of whiskey. "Sometimes I don't think you know what you're apologising for. You're just saying 'sorry' and hoping that will cover whatever it is you've done."

Jack sort of folded in on himself. "And that's why we need the itemised list." he said sadly. "I'm an idiot. I realise that. I know I'm probably not your most favourite person right now, but since we both seem to agree on the fact that we want to stay together as an 'us', I really think we need to get this out in the open once and for all... You know, while you're all in one place."

"I'm not planning on being in more than once place at once again..."

"And I think you might have an idea of how relieved I feel about that."

"Do you really need a list?"

"I need a list. I need to know what I should never do again." Jack waved a hand between them. "I need this, Ianto. More than I thought I would. I'm not prepared to risk it again."

"Sure?" Ianto asked. "This might hurt..."

Jack swallowed hard and poured more alcohol into his glass. "I don't care." he said finally. "There is nothing I wouldn't do to make you happy."

Ianto put his glass down and cover his face with his hands while he thought how to put this. "It feels like you only want me to be happy when there's something in it for you. Like you'll promise me anything if it's right for the moment, but you'll go back on your word if it's not convenient to follow through with what you promise." He held out a hand to stop Jack from interrupting.

"You take me for granted, it never even occurs to you that I might have a life outside Torchwood, or that I might want one. This week was the first time I've taken any time off for months, and you've never questioned that. You just assume I'm going to be around at all hours of the day and night, to flirt with or to have sex with or just to tidy up after you if you're not in the mood."

Jack looked down at his hands, thinking hard about everything Ianto had said. "Okay." he replied. "I don't know where you got the idea that 'I only want you to be happy when there's something in it for me.' from. I would have thought that it was obvious that I wanted everyone to be happy. You, Gwen, Tosh and even Owen, all of you deserve to be happy in every way possible. I know that working for Torchwood probably isn't the best way to achieve that, but apart from giving you all a dose of Retcon there's not much I can do about that." he took a deep breath and continued. "I know I promise you a lot, and I always try so fucking hard to keep them, but I can honestly say, hand on heart, that if I break any of them I will always feel absolutely awful about it. You say I take you for granted, but I don't. I can't. You're part of my life, Ianto. You always will be. I'm sorry I don't ask you anything personal, but I'm scared that you might want to know something about me in return, and then I'd have to tell you... and then... and then you might not want to know me at all." he finished with a sigh.

Ianto stared at him, open mouthed. "Jack... how am I supposed to know any of this when you hold me at arm's length? You back off from emotional contact, unless there's something really serious going on. Every time I think that things are changing you go back to how we were after a couple of days, back to the innuendos and the flirting with anything that moves."

"I've been that person for over a hundred years. It's not that easy to shake it off, even when I want to."

"I'm not expecting you to change overnight, Jack, I'd just like you to notice that it bothers me."

"I notice, Ianto. Believe me, I notice, even if it doesn't seem like it..." Jack looked away from him, "But sometimes you're just too good at hiding it."

"I know." Ianto looked away. "It's a protection mechanism. I get hurt, you don't seem to notice, so I pretend that I'm not bothered so that people like Gwen don't pity me..."

Jack sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. "Then it seems as though we've been going in circles for a very long time." he said. "Because from my point of view, sometimes I don't notice that you're hurt because you pretend that you're not bothered."

"Like I said, it's something I've learnt these past few days - the world doesn't end if I tell you how I feel."

"Then maybe we can stop chasing our tails. Tell you what, you promise to let me know when you're upset and I'll promise not to do anything to cause it. Deal?" Jack held his hand out for Ianto to shake.

"Let's not make promises we can't keep."

"Then call it a bargain." said Jack, desperate to resolve the issues left between them.

"We can promise to try, Jack. That's all I need."

"Thank God for that." Jack shifted towards Ianto. "Now, at the risk of sounding like an insensitive bastard taking you for granted, is there any chance that we can move on to the 'wildly passionate and mind-blowing make-up sex' part of the evening?" he asked, putting a gentle hand on the Welshman's knee.

"You're assuming that's what I want...?"

Jack quickly moved his hand. "Well, I was rather banking on it, yes..."

"So... you came round to talk me into bed..."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You've never complained about it before..." he said, "but, if I still need to prove that my intentions are entirely... well... slightly honourable, I can leave if that's what you really want."

"That's kind of my point, Jack. I've never complained about it before, but that doesn't mean I don't feel... used when you talk your way into my bed. I'm not saying that I don't want to, because God knows I do, but when I promised you that we'd sit down and talk, you promised me that you'd listen. And I don't think you are."

Jack sank his head into his hands. "I've done it again, haven't I?" he said, sadly. … "Look, I'll just go. I... God, Ianto..." Jack stood up and jammed his hands in his trouser pockets. "Right. Okay. I love you, and I don't think you understand what that means to me. Right now I want to take you into your bedroom and do several unspeakably erotic things to you, but what I'm *going* to do is put my coat on, kiss you goodbye and leave. Because you want me to. I really don't know what else I can do to prove myself to you. Hell, sometimes I'm not even sure what exactly I'm trying to prove."

"Don't be so dramatic. Do you really think that walking out is going to make things any better?" Ianto tried to keep his anger in check.

"I'm NOT walking out!" said Jack, only just keeping control of his raging emotions. "I'm going away! It's a different thing entirely." he could feel his chest tightening and knew he needed to leave soon, before he did something stupid, like clutch onto Ianto's shirt-front and sob like a child. "Please, Ianto..."

Ianto sighed. "Part of me wants to cling on to you and have you tell me that everything’s fine, and part of me wants to throw you out for being so…” he flailed for words. “And all of me knows that neither of those courses of action will make me happy."

He picked up his whiskey and downed the rest of the shot.

Jack looked even more pained. "Then what will make you happy, Ianto?" he asked quietly, biting down hard on his bottom lip to prevent the tears that he couldn't believe were threatening to fall. God, what this boy did to him...

"I don't know, right now, I don't know." Ianto buried his face in his hands. "This isn't how this was supposed to go..."

"Tell me about it." muttered Jack. "Can I suggest something?" he asked after a short pause, hoping to God he was finally doing the right thing.

Ianto nodded.

"If it's Ok, I mean, if you don't mind... Let me take you into your bedroom and just hold you until you fall asleep? That's all. I... I promise."

Ianto caught hold of Jack's sleeve and pulled. "Come here." he said

Jack all but fell into Ianto's arms.

"I'd like you to stay." Ianto said, softly.

"Thank God for that." whispered Jack in reply, reaching up a nervous hand to Ianto's hair. "Are we okay?" he asked, "Really?"

"I think we've got a way to go before we're okay." Ianto told him, catching Jack's hand. "But we're not giving up."

"Never."

Ianto shifted so that he could lay his head on Jack's shoulder. "I still need to you to actually *listen* to me when I tell you stuff..."

Jack wrapped an arm slowly around Ianto's waist, almost expecting him to pull away. "And, at the risk of repeating myself, you need to actually tell me when you have stuff to talk about."

Ianto twisted his head to look up at Jack. "Okay."

"So. Bed?"

"Let's just sit here for a bit."

"I have no argument with that at all." Jack said, holding Ianto just a little bit harder.

Ianto snuggled closer and closed his eyes, breathing in the smell that was uniquely Jack.

"You know," he said after a moment, "we should keep that machine..."

"Yeah?" replied Jack, burrowing deeper against Ianto. "I would have thought you would have been the first person to want to lock it away in the secure archives, never to be seen again..."

"Now that we know how it works," Ianto continued, sounding half asleep, "and how to turn it off again, we could use it."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Wanna see what other problems you have with me?"

Ianto shook his head without lifting it from Jack's shoulder. "I could have two Jacks..."

Jack spluttered, "You don't want two of me around, believe me!"

"Just for a couple of hours..." Ianto murmured.

Jack stroked Ianto's hair, combing his fingers through the strands. "Ask me later." he said.

~*~*~*~*~*~

And that's it... As usual, we both really hope you liked it, so please will you be kind enough to leave a comment and let us know if you did!

Also, just to let you know we're working on our next joint fic, and we'll have a couple of standalone pieces up soon for you, so keep your eyes peeled for them!

Refraction 6/7

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:10:06 GMT

Title: Refraction 6/7
Authors: leofuller and the9thdoctor
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: 15ish
Spoilers: None really, but set after Reset, with blink-and-you'll-miss-them ones for Something Borrowed.
Summary: Ianto's had a lot of strange experiences recently – Falling for the repairman, becoming the subject of a betting pool at work and even spending time in another dimension.
This, though, is definitely the weirdest thing that has EVER happened to him... Both of him.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 6

The TARDIS was standing in one of the lower corridors. Ianto had seen pictures of it, at Torchwood London, and they’d all seen the CCTV footage when Jack had gone missing, but seeing it up close was different. It was taller than he’d expected, more solid.

The Doctor was also not what he expected. Ianto couldn’t say what he had thought the Doctor would be like, but the man currently being hugged by Martha wasn’t it.

The Iantos hung back as Martha finished hugging the tall thin man in a long brown raincoat.

Martha turned to face them, holding the Doctor by the arm. “Doctor. This is Ianto.”

The Doctor cocked his head and peered at both of them. “Yes…” he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking backwards on the heels of his maroon trainers. “And who’s the other one?”

“I’m Ianto as well.” replied one of them. “We’re kind of stuck like this.”

“Ahhh… I see.” said the Doctor, untangling himself from Martha and pulling a pair of thick black rimmed spectacles from his pocket. He took a step towards them and put the glasses on. “You do seem to have a bit of a problem, don’t you?” he asked with a manic grin.

The Iantos glanced at each other again and raised an eyebrow at each other.

“So… What was it?” asked the Doctor, moving round them. “Can’t have been a transporter malfunction… not in this time period. Of course the Urbankans had the technology to make full-size clones, but they all died out… ohhh… years ago now.” he pulled out a long silver device and jabbed it at one of the Iantos, who flinched. The Doctor peered at the end of the machine. “Not a robot then. So where does that leave us?” he tapped it ruminatively on his chin. “OF COURSE!”

“Doctor?” asked Martha.

“Ibraxian psychic divider!” crowed the Doctor. “Oooh. Haven’t seen one of those in years! You shouldn’t have one at all…”

“It came through the rift.” mumbled an Ianto.

“Why are you here?” Martha asked.

“You asked me to come…”

“But when I phoned, you were…”

They were interrupted by Martha’s mobile ringing. She scrabbled in her pocket.

“That’ll be him.” Ianto told her, nodding towards the Doctor.

“What do you…?” Martha trailed off as she looked at the screen on her mobile. “Doctor?” she said, answering the call. “Yes, I’m fine, thanks.”

“Tell me to come to Cardiff.” The Doctor mouthed at her.

“Er… I need you to come to Cardiff.” There was a pause while she listened to the other end of the conversation.

“Tell me you’ll explain it when I get here.” The Doctor mouthed.

“I’ll explain when you get here.” Martha said into the phone, looking increasingly puzzled. “It’s complicated, okay?”

“Only it’s not, really is it?” said the Doctor after she’d ended the call.

“Everyone’s done all they can.” said a Ianto mournfully.

“And a fat lot of good it did as well.” said the other one.

“Oh come on, you can’t tell me you lot haven’t figured it out yet!” said the Doctor, sticking his hands back into his pockets. “Call yourselves Earth’s final line of defence.” He tisked. “Honestly. It’s a wonder you’ve survived so long.”

“What do you mean?” asked Martha.

The Doctor ignored her. “Where is it then?”

“What?”

“The divider.” said the Doctor impatiently. “Come on, I haven’t got all day…”

“It’s upstairs. In Jack’s office.”

“Oh. He’s here is he?”

“No. He’s gone out.” replied Martha. “It’s just us.”

The Doctor clapped his hands together. “Good. Right. Allons-y” he said, before dashing down the corridor towards the main Hub.

Martha, Ianto and Ianto exchanged glances, and set off after him.

“This is a lovely little machine.” The Doctor was saying as they caught up with him in Jack’s office. “Never quite saw the point of them myself, but they can be a good party trick, I suppose. If you like that sort of thing.”

“Do you know how to reverse the effects?” Ianto asked. The Doctor looked from one Ianto to the other.

“You turn it off…”

“You… turn it off..?.” repeated an Ianto.

“Yes, it’s quite easy really. Just press this button here.” The Doctor prodded a slightly raised section of the machine and pointed it in Ianto’s general direction. Martha flinched.

There was a shimmer of light and a faint inrush of air.

“Oh.” said Ianto. Martha looked up. There was only one Ianto standing in the middle of the office. He was wearing strange mix of the clothes that both Iantos had been wearing that day. He looked down at himself, spreading his arms. “I *liked* that shirt.” He said sadly, fingering the edge of the pale blue one he was wearing. “I wonder where it’s gone…”

“Right, well. That all?” asked the Doctor. “Any other problems? Need me to change a lightbulb?”

Martha looked at Ianto, who was still staring down at himself and looking confused. “No.” she said. “Thank you.”

“Right then. I’ll be off, then.” The Doctor rubbed his hands together. “Like a lift back to UNIT?”

“Yes please!”

“Come on then. Nice to meet you, Ianto.”

Ianto looked up, startled from his thoughts. “Er yes, nice to meet you too. And thanks, for…”

“Don’t mention it.”

Ianto checked the diagnostic, which had finished running, and went back down to the archives to find more files on the shapeshifter. It felt strange to be back in one piece again. Like he was missing something that had never been there in the first place. Phantom limb syndrome, he thought, feeling horribly aware of the exact part of his brain that had provided the comparison. He slowly slotted a misplaced file into the cabinet and sighed, recalling his promise to Jack to have a talk about their relationship. He wasn’t looking forward to it, but to give Jack his due, he had done all he could to help Ianto… He tried to convince himself, but one small voice at the back of his head kept asking him if he thought Jack would be pleased that he was back to normal.

It was at that point that he had a brilliant idea. Ianto smiled to himself and looked down at his watch. The team would be back soon.

“Tosh, any luck on getting that comm link back up yet?” Jack asked as the SUV approached the Hub.

“Sorry, still down. It looks like there was some kind of power surge at the Hub not long after we left, and it’s knocked to communications offline.”

“We’re almost back now, Jack, I’m sure Ianto’s fine.” Gwen tried to reassure him.

“If something’s happened to either of them…” Jack flung the SUV into the usual parking space and set off for the main Hub at a run.

“Ianto? Ianto!”

There was nobody in the Hub.

“The diagnostic’s finished.” Tosh said. “Maybe they’re both in the archives.”

“Yeah? Well where’s Martha?” asked Jack, hurrying towards the stairs. “Something’s wrong… You guys stay up here. Look for Martha.”

Jack pulled his gun from his holster and started down the stairs.

“Ianto?” Jack cautiously pushed open the door to the archives.

“Hi Jack.” Ianto appeared around a shelving stack. “Everything okay?”

“We lost contact with you. Tosh says there was a power surge, and we haven’t been able to get the comms to work since. Any idea what happened?”

Ianto shook his head. “The power hasn’t gone off or anything…”

“There was nobody upstairs…” Jack said, not wanting to admit that he wasn’t sure whether he was talking to the Ianto who had been running the diagnostic programme or the one who had been down in the archives.

“Well, I’m not aware of anything wrong…” Ianto turned and disappeared back into the archives. Jack followed.

“Ianto?” he called. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” retorted Ianto, pausing by an over-stuffed cabinet. “I’m fine. You know nothing can happen to me while I’m stuck in the Hub.”

“Ah. Are we still having that argument?” asked Jack. “I said sorry. It just wasn’t possible this time. I’ll send you out in the field the very next chance I get.”

Ianto folded his arms. “I look forward to you keeping your promises.” he said, sarcastically.

Jack pouted. “Thanks for your support.” he said. “Where’s the other you?”

“Why? Want to go and see if he’ll snog you in a dark corner?”

“No.” said Jack, slightly affronted. “I want to go and see if he’s alright as well. After all, I have two of you to worry to death about now.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that would be much of a problem for you.” shot back Ianto.

“Worrying about Ianto’s safety is always a problem for me. You of all people should know that. I spend half the time hoping you’re alright as well.”

Ianto sighed. “He’s around here somewhere.” he relented.

“Thanks. Are we okay?”

Ianto shrugged. “Until the next time you go back on your word.”

“Ianto…”

“Look, Jack, it’s been a long week. Let’s not have this argument now.”

Jack looked slightly uneasy. “Are we going to have it later?”

“Probably, yes.” Ianto grinned. “Go on. Try U-Z”.

Jack paused for a moment, trying to work out what Ianto was serious about the postponed argument, then nodded, and set off for the other end of the archives.

Ianto hid a smile until Jack was safely out of the way, and then took a short cut to the end of the alphabet.

“Ianto?”

“I’m in here.”

“Is everything okay?”

Ianto looked puzzled. “As far as I know, yes. Why? Is something wrong?”

“We lost the comm link, there was some sort of power surge.” Jack explained again. “Martha’s not upstairs.”

“She did say something about going back to her hotel for something.” Ianto told him. “Maybe that’s where she’s gone.” He frowned. “Are you all right?”

Jack nodded. “Yes.”

“You just look a bit…edgy.”

“I just had a bit of a disagreement with… you.” Jack waved his hand in the general direction of D-G. Ianto’s face fell.

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It bothers you, that you fight with me? Him?”

“Of course it does.” Jack guessed what was bothering Ianto. “I don’t want to fight with either of you.”

Ianto took a deep breath. “If we stay as two separate people, what is that going to mean, Jack? I mean, for us?”

“You mean… us? As in, me-and-you?”

Ianto nodded. “You know how I feel about you, Jack. I don’t want to have to compete with somebody else for you, even if that somebody else is me.”

“I told you, you don’t have to compete.”

“I don’t want to share you, Jack.” Ianto turned away and slotted the file he was holding into a drawer.

“You want me to choose?” Jack asked, incredulous.

“Could you?”

“I don’t know.” Jack shook his head. “I mean, you’re both Ianto. And I love all of you, even if you are walking around in two bodies at the moment. I don’t want just part of you.”

He braced himself, fully expecting Ianto to get upset, maybe even start crying again. Instead, to his surprise, Jack realised that Ianto was smiling.

“What…?”

And then there was a rush of static, and Owen’s voice coming over the comm.

“Jack? Jack? Can you hear me?”

“Yes Owen?”

“Comms are back up, obviously. And there’s something on the CCTV I think you should see…”

“I’ll be there in a moment,” said Jack. “Give me some time.”

Owen paused for a second. “It’s about Ianto…” he said. Jack looked at the young man in front of him, who was still smiling.

“What about Ianto?” he asked, suddenly nervous. “What’s happened?”

“I think you really need to come and have a look for yourself, mate.” said Owen. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“I think you should go and look, Jack.” murmured Ianto, quietly.

Jack narrowed his eyes. “And leave you down here?” he asked.

“I’ll be here when you come back.” said Ianto. “I promise.”

Jack hesitated for a moment. “Alright then.” he finally replied. “You’ll be here?”

Ianto nodded. “Right here.”

“Fine. I’ll go and see what he wants,” said Jack, backing towards the exit. “Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked again.

“Jack, believe me… I’ve never been better.”

“What the hell is it?” shouted Jack, dashing into the Hub where Owen, Gwen and Tosh were crowded round Tosh’s desk watching the CCTV footage.

Tosh smiled at him as he came up behind them. He could see Ianto on her screen, standing in the centre of his office, fiddling with his shirt.

“You need to see this from the beginning.” she said, restarting the footage.

It was from the camera in Jack’s office, the one pointing towards the door.

“Hey, that’s…” Jack exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the screen.

“The Doctor, yes, we’ve established that.” Owen told him.

“What’s he holding?”

Tosh zoomed in on the Doctor’s hands. “It’s the alien device that split Ianto.” She explained, and scrolled out again. The Doctor did something to the machine, there was a beam of light, and then there was only one Ianto.

“What did he do?”

“I don’t know, we don’t have the sound.”

“And where is he now?” Jack glanced around as if he expected the Doctor to walk in.

“Gone again. He’s taken Martha home as well.” Gwen held out a sheet of paper. “She left us a note.”

Jack took it from her and read it aloud.

“Hi guys, The Doctor’s fixed Ianto and he’s offered me a lift. Thought I’d leave a note, since there’s a bad history of people just disappearing with the Doctor.” Jack had the grace to look a little guilty. “Nice to see you all again, Martha.”

“So, there we are then, all back to normal.” Owen said.

“Did you find Ianto?” Tosh asked Jack. Jack nodded. “Yes, he’s down in the…”

He took off for the archives at a run.

He found Ianto sat on the floor in a gap between two filing cabinets. He had his knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped lightly around them. He looked up and Jack grew closer towards him.

“It’s you.” said Jack, stopping in front of Ianto.

Ianto sighed, “Yes. It’s me.”

“It’s all of you.”

“It’s all of me.” agreed Ianto.

“The Doctor fixed you.” said Jack, taking another step closer to the young man.

Ianto bit his lip. “Yes.” he whispered. “Are you angry?”

Jack stared at him in disbelief. “Angry?” he asked. “Why would I be angry?”

“I lied to you.” said Ianto softly, looking away from him.

Jack knelt down beside him and reached out with a shaking hand, not quite making contact with Ianto’s arm. “I don’t care about that.” he said, truthfully. “All that matters is that you’re alright.”

“You said you didn’t just want a part of me. Did you mean that?”

“I have never meant anything more in my entire life.” replied Jack with utter conviction.

Ianto looked up. Jack was taken aback by the look in his eyes. His hand finally made contact with Ianto’s arm.

“Do you want me to leave?” Jack asked.

Ianto smiled sadly. “I was wondering if you wanted me to leave.”

“Why?”

“I remember everything both of me told you.” Ianto said, shifting slightly. “I think we might have been a bit unfair to you.”

“I think it needed to be said.” Jack told him. “It was a bit of a shock, and you were a bit… yes, harsh, I suppose, but it’s better that you told me how you felt.” He frowned. “Do you still feel that way?”

“It’s still me, Jack. There’s a bit more balance, and the arguments happen on the inside, but everything that both of me felt was real.”

“Did you find him, Jack?” Owen called from the corridor. Jack rolled his eyes at Ianto – trust Owen to interrupt.

“Yes. He’s here.” he turned back to Ianto. “We’d better go out there, everybody wants to know what happened.” Jack scrambled to his feet and held out a hand to help Ianto up.

Ianto kept hold of his hand, and stopped Jack as the captain turned towards the door. Jack stopped and looked at him.

“I’ve missed you.” he said quietly. Ianto smiled, took a step forward to close the gap between them, and kissed him.

“I’ve been here the whole time.”

“Yes, but not in one complete package.”

It was Jack who broke the kiss, pulling back slightly and putting his hands on Ianto’s shoulders.

“I believe I was promised a proper conversation, once you were yourself again?”

Ianto nodded, not taking his eyes off Jack’s face. “You were.”

“Can I come over, after work?”

“Of course.” Ianto reached for one of Jack’s hands, gave it a squeeze and started to walk up to the main Hub. Jack followed.

“Just so I know, before we tell the others, what did the Doctor do? To fix things?”

Ianto looked back over his shoulder and grinned.

“He turned the machine off.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Only one more Chapter to go now, so please leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of this one!

Done that? Then on to Chapter 7 – The End

Refraction 5/7

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:06:49 GMT

Title: Refraction 5/7
Authors: leofuller and the9thdoctor
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: 15ish
Spoilers: None really, but set after Reset, with blink-and-you'll-miss-them ones for Something Borrowed.
Summary: Ianto's had a lot of strange experiences recently – Falling for the repairman, becoming the subject of a betting pool at work and even spending time in another dimension.
This, though, is definitely the weirdest thing that has EVER happened to him... Both of him.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Jack pressed the buzzer to Ianto’s flat, feeling rather nervous. It was several moments before Ianto answered.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Ianto, it’s me. Jack.”

Ianto didn’t answer, but the door buzzed open and Jack made his way upstairs.

The door to the flat was open, like last time, and there was nobody in the main room.

“Hello?”

“Just a minute.” There was an odd noise from the bedroom, and Jack took a couple of steps forward.

“I, er, brought your jacket. You left it in the pub? Owen brought it back to the Hub…”

“Oh, thanks.” One of the Iantos appeared in the bedroom doorway. He’d got changed since Jack had last seen them, and he wasn’t entirely sure which one it was. “We’re just putting some shelves up, it’s easier with two.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “I would have helped.” he muttered.

“Of course you would.” Ianto replied. “Once you’d saved the world and had sex.”

Jack sniffed. “I’m actually quite good at DIY, I’ll have you know.”

“I’m not disputing that. It’s just that domestic things aren’t exactly a priority for you, are they?”

“I suppose not,” Jack conceded. “But if you ever need a door re-hanging, I’m your man.”

Ianto looked a little nervous. “Is that a euphemism for something?”

“No. I took a course during the fifties… Don’t ask.”

“Okay.” Ianto walked back into the bedroom. “Be with you in a minute.”

Jack glanced around Ianto’s living room. There was a bucket of what Jack hoped was wallpaper paste sitting in the corner near the kitchen. Jack draped the jacket over the back of the sofa.

“Would you like a drink?” Both of Ianto came out of the bedroom. The one who’d just spoken headed towards the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to wait for Jack’s answer. The other one went straight to the jacket and went to hang it up in the right place.

“Uh, please.” replied Jack. He felt unaccountably worried, and hoped it didn’t show. He hoped Ianto would offer him something slightly stronger than coffee.

“Coffee, or something stronger?” Ianto called from the kitchen.

“Coffee for me, please.” called the other Ianto.

“I know.” replied the one in the kitchen.

Jack sighed with relief. “What have you got?” he asked, debating whether to sit down or not. To be honest, he was hoping Ianto would invite him to.

“Beer, whiskey, wine?”

“Or there’s that bottle of peach schnapps somebody left here after that party.”

Jack blinked in surprise. “I prefer melon.” he said, “but I suppose wine will do.”

He edged closer to the sofa, glancing between it and the nearest Ianto.

“You can sit down, you know.” Ianto told him, looking amused at Jack’s uncharacteristic nerves.

Jack sank thankfully into Ianto’s squidgy sofa. “Yeah, so… I brought your jacket back.” he repeated, hoping the Ianto currently in the room hadn’t heard him the first time.

“Yes… I saw.” Ianto glanced at the jacket, which he’d just hung up. “Thanks.”

The awkward moment was broken by the other Ianto emerging from the kitchen with a tray, on which he was carrying a mug of coffee, a bottle of red wine and two glasses. He put the tray on the coffee table and sat next to Jack.

Jack stared longingly at the bottle. Once again, he couldn’t help but think that only a week ago, being sandwiched between two Iantos would have been his idea of a good time. Now though, he wasn’t too sure.

“So.” said the Ianto to his right, picking up his coffee. “Apart from the jacket, why are you here?”

Jack blinked. “What do you mean?” he asked in an attempt to keep up the pretence. “I was just being a good Samaritan.”

“Bringing round a jacket that I would otherwise have had to pick up tomorrow? Thanks, Jack.”

Jack shrugged. “Think nothing of it.” he said, deliberately ignoring the Ianto’s sarcastic tone of voice. “And anyway, maybe I just wanted to enjoy your stimulating company.”

“Stimulating?” The Ianto to Jack’s left enquired lightly, pouring the wine.

It took almost all of Jack’s self control not to smirk and come out with a highly witty, yet smutty comment. “You know what I mean.” he managed to finish, grabbing his wineglass as soon as he could and taking a large swallow. “After all, I *do* still like you.”

“We know what you mean.” The Ianto on the right reassured him.

“*Exactly* what you mean…” The Ianto on the left flicked his gaze from Jack’s face to his lap and back again.

Jack coughed, grateful that he hadn’t been drinking at the time. “Why, Mr Jones, are you trying to seduce me?” he asked, grinning. Usually at this point he would be sliding down the sofa towards the object of his affection, but wasn’t altogether sure which direction he should be travelling in this situation.

“Do we need to?” The one on the right asked. “We didn’t think that was necessary any more.”

“You don’t normally need much encouragement.” the other one added.

“I don’t.” agreed Jack. “But I thought we weren’t going to do that sort of thing until you were better.”

There was a noticeable change in the atmosphere, as both of Ianto seemed to relax.

Jack drank another mouthful of his wine. “I mean, I’m flattered and everything…” he said.

“You might want to stop while you’re ahead, Jack…” warned the Ianto on the right.

“Right. Yes. Shutting up now… Oh, hey, did I tell you – Martha had an idea about how to help you this afternoon.”

“Oh, yes?”

“You might not like it… Either of you.”

“What is it, Jack?” The Ianto to his left looked worried. The one on the right looked like he might be about to get angry.

“It’s like this… Do you recall me maybe mentioning something about the Doctor?”

“Torchwood’s enemy number one? The one you disappeared with for several months?”

“You may have mentioned something, in passing…”

Jack narrowed his eyes and wondered how the two Iantos could each individually manage to be more sarcastic than the original model. “It turns out,” he said finally, “that Martha can get in contact with him. She thought about asking him to help.”

“Okay.”

“Just one small problem though… He was a bit busy. You know, saving the universe and all. She said she’d try phoning him again though.”

“Jack? What happens if he can’t fix us?”

Jack sighed and carefully put his wineglass on the table. “Then there’s a chance you might stay like this for a long time…” he admitted finally.

The Ianto on the left made a little worried noise.

“What do we do, on a practical level?” The other one asked.

“Well…” Jack began, unwilling to fully think of the idea that Ianto could be stuck as two people. “I suppose we could ask Tosh to help create a new identity for one of you. Shouldn’t be too tricky to give Ianto Jones a twin brother.”

“So I have to change my identity.” The one on the left said.

Jack shrugged. “One of you will… I mean, people will believe that you’re twins, but I doubt they’ll think your parents were so unimaginative that they named you *both* Ianto.”

“It will have to be me.” The one on the left said.

“That makes sense.” The one on the right agreed. “Since those girls we met know *me* as Ianto, we should probably stick to that.”

Jack nodded slowly. “We’ll help you both as much as possible.” he said, looking down at his hands. “*I’ll* help you.” he glanced up between the two Iantos. “I promise.”

“So… double the salary, backdated to the day this happened?”

“Naturally. I’m sure I could get the boss to agree to that.” Jack replied with a small smile.

“Then we’ll be in tomorrow.” The one on the right told him. “But I want to do more field work.”

“I can’t see a problem with that. What about you?” Jack asked the other Ianto. He bit his lip. He was finding the idea of having two Iantos around permanently quite tricky to get his head around. Now the initial novelty had worn off, and they had made it quite clear that resuming their relationship would be hard, Jack desperately wanted everything to go back to the way it had been before. And that was the heart of the problem, wasn’t it? Two identical Iantos was a wonderfully kinky idea – a fantasy – but that was all it was. Jack genuinely enjoyed Ianto’s company both in and out of the bedroom. He didn’t want these two. Despite appearances, neither of them were *his* Ianto. He could see where they fitted into the original Ianto’s psyche, but the personality traits that both of them embodied should be tempered by the other half, not allowed to run unchecked. It made one of them too cynical and the other too self-depreciating. When he got back to the Hub he would ask Martha to try calling the Doctor again. If Jack had to call in a few favours to get this sorted out then he would do. He’d do anything to help Ianto, he realised.

Ianto finished his coffee and took his mug through to the kitchen.

“Look, Jack,” said the other one, “I…”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Jack slowly reached out and rested his hand on the Ianto’s knee. He tried to make it not look like the come-on the gesture usually was.

“That’s the thing. I *do* want to… but it’s not a good idea.” He glanced towards the kitchen. “It might be better if you go…”

“Are you alright?” asked Jack, keeping his hand where it was, even though it was blatantly a bad idea.

“As far as I can be.” Ianto replied. “I mean, I’m only half a personality and I’m probably going to have to take on a new identity. And I don’t know where I stand with you, and if I have to compete with myself for your attention. Other than that, I’m fine.” He laid his hand over Jack’s and kept it there for a moment, before moving Jack’s hand away.

There didn’t seem to be much Jack could say to that, so he nervously shifted away and picked up his glass to drink the rest of the wine. “You never have to compete for my attention.” He whispered finally.

“Even with…?” Ianto nodded towards the kitchen.

“Well… Are you planning on fighting over me?”

“Go home, Jack.” Ianto appeared in the kitchen doorway. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jack nodded and stood up. “Yeah.” he muttered heading for the door. “Bright and early.”

“Morning Ianto!”

“Morning Gwen.” Ianto, dressed in a suit as usual, handed her a coffee as she walked in. Gwen looked around for the other one.

“Are you…?”

“Also downstairs, filing.” Ianto smiled.

Gwen blinked and then laughed. “It’s going to take awhile to get used to that, you know.”

“Tell me about it.” Ianto replied as he headed over to Martha with a mug.

“Anything going on?” asked Gwen brightly as she sat down at her desk and swivelled her chair round to face the rest of the team.

Owen shook his head. “Bugger all.” he said. “In fact it’s so boring I’ve spent the last half hour reorganising my collection of scalpels. Do you have any idea how many different ways there are to reorganise scalpels?”

Gwen shook her head, and sipped at her coffee.

“Three.” replied Owen. “Size of blade, length of handle and sharpness. And I’ve only got eight of them, so it’s not been the most interesting of mornings.”

“Don’t listen to him.” called Tosh. “He’s been sat on his arse since he got here.”

“Well, with Dr Jones here in he building, there’s really nothing for me to do.”

“I’m sure we can find you something, Owen.” Martha told him.

“Don’t tempt fate.” Tosh said. “I’d like to get this system diagnostic complete, even if the rest of you have nothing to do.”

Right on cue, the rift alarm went off. Tosh sighed and made an exasperated gesture. “Thanks guys!”

“Hey come on, it’s not like we made that happen!”

“Okay guys, what have we got?” Jack bounded out of his office.

“Weevil activity in Butetown.” Gwen told him, pulling up the details on her computer.

“Right, let’s go. Gwen, Tosh, you’re with me. Owen, I want you in the SUV to co-ordinate and for medical backup.”

“What about me?” Ianto asked.

“You stay here, continue with Tosh’s diagnostic.”

“I want to go out in the field, Jack. I’ll come with you, the other me is downstairs, he’ll do the diagnostic.”

“He’s busy.” Jack said shortly. “I need him to complete the report on the shapeshifter. It needs to get sent off to UNIT in the morning.”

Ianto scowled and folded his arms.

“I’m not arguing with you on this one, Ianto.” said Jack in his best ‘I’m the boss’ voice. “I know I promised you more fieldwork, and I’m not going to back down on it. It’s just that this takes precedent.”

“What about Martha?” asked Ianto tetchily.

Martha’s eyes widened. “I don’t know the first thing about your mainframe!” she squeaked.

“And I’m not taking her out on a weevil hunt.” finished Jack. “Just do it. Please.”

“Fine. I’ll stay here then.” Ianto ground out. “Stay here like a good little boy and make you all coffee when you come back.”

Jack sighed. He really didn’t need to have this argument. He turned away from Ianto and addressed Gwen, Tosh and Owen. “Come on guys. Let’s get going.”

“Is he usually like that?” Martha asked, sitting on the edge of Tosh’s desk and watching Ianto as he continued the diagnostic.

“What, completely unable to discuss anybody else’s opinion? Yes, that’s pretty much standard for Jack.”

“You didn’t used to be bitter about it.”

“I didn’t used to be two different people.”

Martha smiled and fiddled with a paperclip. “Did he, uh, tell you about…”

“The Doctor? Yes. He told me.”

“I’ve tried calling him again, but he’s switched the phone off… Well… I *hope* he’s turned it off, but knowing him he’s probably dropped it into a volcano or something. When I get through I’ll ask him to help.”

Ianto nodded. “Maybe he can, but he’s not here is he?” he stood up and wandered off to the coffee machine again.

Martha stared at the wavy lines flashing across Tosh’s monitor. Out of the corner of her eye she watched the other Ianto come up from the archives and drop an armful of paperwork on the table in front of the sofa. “How’s it going?” she asked him.

Ianto looked up at her and glanced around the Hub, “Uh, fine… Ummm… Where is everyone?”

“Rift alarm. Weevils.” The other Ianto told him.

“I thought you were going to be doing field work?”

“Not this time, apparently.”

“Jack?”

“Jack.”

They sighed in unison. Martha had to admit that she found them slightly unsettling when they were both together, especially when they were dressed alike and it wasn’t easy to tell them apart.

“I really thought he was going to make some changes.” The one who’d just come up from the archives said.

“He’s all talk.” The one doing the diagnostic stated. “Always has been.”

“He probably just needs some time to adjust.” Martha told them. “It’s not going to be easy for him, is it? Maybe pushing you into your old role is helping him to deal with this situation.”

Ianto muttered something under his breath and turned back to the computer. The other one turned and walked away, towards the kitchen. Martha looked from one to the other, at a loss what to do.

Suddenly there was a noise. A loud wheezing, groaning noise. A noise that Martha had thought she had left behind. “IANTO!” she yelled as all the lights went out. “Get out here NOW!”

Ianto ran back down to them, while the other one rooted in the drawer for a torch.

“What’s going on?” he asked, “What is that noise?”

“It’s the Doctor!” replied Martha glancing around as the noise grew louder and louder. “He’s here!”

“Why has he turned off all the lights?”

Martha ignored him and tried to concentrate on where the noise was coming from. “Come on!” she called, dashing towards the entrance to the Vaults. “He’s landing!”

The Iantos looked at each other for a moment before one of them shrugged and they both followed Martha.

~*~*~*~*~*~

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