Fic: On Torchwood Business
Title: On Torchwood Business
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Andy, OCs.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2141
Summary: Ianto takes to his crow form to help Jack retrieve something that’s fallen into the wrong hands.
Spoilers: Nada. Set in my Were-Crow ‘Verse.
Written For: Challenge 458: Flutter at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
Ianto crow smirked to himself as he fluttered down to land on Jack’s outstretched arm, then sidled his way to his lover’s shoulder. He’d never attracted this much attention as a human, but he could feel the eyes of everyone on the Plas turning to look at him. It was gratifying in a way. While he wouldn’t normally want to be the subject of such scrutiny, it was possible that in crow form he might just be a bit of a show-off. Besides, Jack loved the attention, and a happy Jack made for a happy Ianto, crow-shaped or otherwise. He preened Jack’s hair affectionately.
“Having fun, are you?” Jack teased.
“Always. Caw!” Ianto half spread his wings and shook himself, ruffling his feathers up and letting them settle smoothly back into place, aware of the sunlight, warm on his back and wings, giving a glossy sheen to his jet-black plumage.
“We’re supposed to be working, you know.”
“Caw! Can still enjoy it!”
Jack chuckled, shoving his hands in his coat pockets as he strolled casually across the Plas, Ianto balancing easily on his shoulder, his strong claws digging gently into the fabric of Jack’s coat. His lover had a point, Jack mused. It was a lovely day to be out and about, surprisingly warm for mid-autumn, so why not make the most of it? Nevertheless, even though this would appear to the average passer-by as some kind of pleasure jaunt, a man and his crow taking a walk together, enjoying the sunshine, they were in fact on important Torchwood business.
“What did you find out?” Jack murmured. “Did you see where our guy went to ground?”
“Burts Place,” Ianto replied, close to Jack’s ear. He was getting better at producing human speech, and also talking more quietly. Crows tended to be a bit loud, so he was learning to repress some of his natural crow exuberance when on the job.
“Handy. That’s a pet friendly hotel, no problem with you going inside.”
“Caw!” Ianto crow nipped lightly at Jack’s ear, indignant at being referred to as a pet.
“Okay, sorry, no offence meant. I’m just saying, I probably won’t be refused entry even if you’re with me. People make assumptions about you, which I suppose is only natural. Were-creatures are still considered a myth, so they don’t know you’re not really a bird.” Jack kept his voice low so the tourists and locals thronging the Plas wouldn’t overhear.
Mollified, Ianto relaxed, looking about himself as Jack strolled unhurriedly along, until a man abruptly stepped out into their path, blocking the way.
“What d’you think you’re doing with that bird? Don’t you know it’s illegal to keep wild birds as pets? I should report you to the authorities!”
Ianto crow rolled his eyes. “Idiot!” he muttered. “Caw!”
“Hush now.” Jack glanced sidelong at his feathered lover before turning his attention back to the man. “Do you see a cage, or anything keeping my friend here tied to me? He’s not a pet, he does what he wants whenever he wants. If he chooses to sometimes ride on my shoulder, what business is that of yours? Report me if you want, but it’s not against the law to let a crow land on me.”
“Mind yer own business,” Ianto crow cut in. “Caw!” He leaned forward, fluttering his wings and clacking his beak, venting his displeasure.
The man backed off. “That bird is dangerous! I’m reporting it! Did you train it to do that?”
Jack snorted. “Hardly. Like I said, he does what he wants, just like any wild bird, and it’s not against the law for a bird to behave like a bird. He’s entitled to defend himself against threats. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” Jack sidestepped around the busybody, continuing on his way. “I don’t know,” he said to Ianto. “Used to be, a man could take a walk with an attractive bird on his arm without getting interrogated by complete strangers.”
“Twpsyn,” Ianto crow muttered fondly. “Right, I’m off. See you there.” Spreading his wings, he launched himself into the sky, circling slowly on an updraft to gain altitude before heading directly towards the hotel. It wasn’t far, as the crow flies, but Jack would unfortunately have to follow the streets.
Fluttering down to a landing on a rooftop across from the hotel, Ianto brought his crow vision into play. He was close enough to easily see through the windows and it didn’t take him long to locate the correct one. The man he’d trailed was still inside, the loot from his pickpocketing spree spread out on the table, including a small device that had come through the Rift, a device the opportunistic pickpocket had picked up before the Torchwood team could retrieve it. Tosh had been watching via the city’s CCTV network as the man had snatched it up and shoved it into his pocket before vanishing into Hamadryad Park, where there weren’t any cameras. That was when Ianto had changed form and gone looking for him, knowing the man couldn’t be allowed to get away with an unidentified piece of alien tech.
Now he shifted restlessly from foot to foot, watching as the man examined his haul. If the window were open, Ianto knew he could have simply waited until the pickpocket’s back was turned and then swooped in and retrieved the device, but unfortunately it was closed. All he could do was keep watch, and wait for Jack to arrive, which he soon did, having run most of the way.
Soaring down from the roof, Ianto glided towards Jack, who raised his arm. While Ianto could have landed on Jack’s shoulder, Jack’s head tended to get in the way when he was folding his wings, so an arm landing was less of a bother.
“He still in there?”
Ianto bobbed his head. “Top floor, middle window.”
“Okay, you keep watch while I go in, then I’ll open the window for you. Once I’m inside, I’ll contact Kathy with the room number, so she can send someone to pick this guy up with the rest of his loot.”
“Got it. Caw!” In a flurry of wings, Ianto crow took to the air again, returning to his rooftop perch. He was getting to be ever better on roofs than Jack was, especially the ones Jack couldn’t get to.
Inside the hotel, it didn’t take long for Jack to make his way to the right door, where he used his wrist strap to trigger the lock before pushing his way inside, Webley in hand. The man looked up at the sound of the door opening, leapt to his feet, then saw the gun and froze.
“Wise decision,” Jack said calmly, kicking the door shut behind him. “Now, you have something that doesn’t belong to you. Well, actually, you have quite a few things, but I’m interested in one in particular. Some things should not be in the hands of people like you.” He nodded towards a chair. “Lace your hands behind your head and sit down.”]
Eyes fixed on the Webley’s barrel, the man did as he was told, looking understandably nervous. “You’re not a cop. Cops don’t carry guns, not in this country!”
“You’re right, I’m not, but then I never claimed to be. I already called in an anonymous tip though, so the cops should be here shortly, and they’re welcome to you, just as long as I get what I came for.” Walking around behind the man, Jack used zip ties at wrists and elbows to fasten his arms securely to the chair. “If I were you, I wouldn’t try to get up; you could dislocate both your arms.”
He turned towards the window and unlatched it, throwing it wide open, then turning his attention to the small device on the table. Jack immediately recognised it as a clever little gadget that could potentially, in the wrong hands, be used to get into any security system that required a password or pin number. There was no doubt it would be much safer locked away in Torchwood’s secure archives, where it couldn’t be misused.
With a fluttering of wings, Ianto glided through the open window and landed on the table, cocking his head to look at Jack.
“Shit! Where’d that bloody bird come from?” Chair legs scraped against the floor as the pickpocket tried to put some distance between himself and Ianto crow. “It’s fuckin’ huge!”
Jack smirked. “Relax, he won’t hurt you unless I tell him to. Or unless you insult him, so you’d better watch your mouth.” Turning his attention to Ianto, he added, “It’s not a weapon, or anything like that. A certain friend of ours might find it interesting though; she can play with it until I get back.” Pulling a scrap of paper and a pen from his inside coat pocket and quickly scrawling a note to Tosh, Jack tied it around the device with a bit of string and set the small bundle back on the table. “Okay, you take that back to base, I’ll wait here for the police. Don’t want this guy getting away.”
“Caw! Will do!” Ianto strutted across the table and wrapped strong claws around the piece of alien tech.
“Be careful you don’t drop it. We didn’t go through all this just to lose it again.”
“As if! Have some faith! Caw! See ya later!” With that, Ianto took to the air, propelling himself through the window with a powerful downstroke of his wings, then soaring upwards and heading towards Mermaid Quay.
Jack smiled, watching his lover for a moment before closing and locking the window.
The pickpocket was gaping at him. “It talked! The bloody bird talked!”
“So what? Crows are excellent mimics, and he happens to be a very superior crow, highly trained for surveillance and retrieval work.”
“You’re ‘aving me on!”
“Am I? Maybe he’s not a crow at all, did you ever consider that? Maybe he just looks like one. He’s been watching you for several hours, following you, seeing where you went, witnessing everything you did. How d’you think I found you? He told me where you were.”
The man swallowed hard. “I demand legal counsel.”
“I’m sure the police will see to it that you get everything you’re entitled to.” Looking down at the street below, Jack watched as a car pulled up. “And here they are.” He turned to smile at his captive; it wasn’t a friendly smile, more a savage baring of bright, white teeth. “Just remember, you’ll never know whether or not I, or one of my friends, will be watching you. Everywhere you go, everything you do, there could be eyes on you, because I know who you are now, and I don’t take kindly to criminals. This city is under my protection. You might want to remember that, in the unlikely event that you get released on bail.” With that, Jack swept out the door in a flurry of coattails. He met PC Andy Davidson in the upstairs hallway, near the stairs.
The police constable paused. “DI Swanson said you caught a pickpocket. In there, is he?” He gestured to the open door.
Jack nodded. “With all the incriminating evidence spread out for anyone to see. You won’t even have to carry out a search.”
“Your lot don’t usually bother with petty criminals. Is this another one of your spooky-dos?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Jack said, being deliberately cryptic, knowing it annoyed Gwen’s former partner. “I think this guy might be on drugs though, or maybe a bit wrong in the head, so be careful. He’s been hallucinating, going on about talking birds spying on him, and all manner of weird stuff.”
“Is that so?” Andy gave Jack a suspicious look, but Jack just looked calmly back at him.
“Probably best to take whatever he tells you with a grain of salt.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
“You do that.” Jack beamed his best smile. “See you around, PC Davidson!” He started to move away.
“Not if I see you first!” Andy replied.
“You look like a man who enjoys an occasional flutter. Care to bet on that? I could make it worth your while.” Jack looked back over his shoulder and winked.
“I’ll pass. Your ego’s big enough already.”
Spinning on his heel and walking backwards, Jack clasped his hands over his heart. “You wound me!”
“You’ll get over it.”
Laughing, Jack turned and bounded down the stairs, taking them three at a time. He was still grinning when he got back to the Hub twenty minutes later. Beautiful weather, a mostly enjoyable outing with his lover, a successful retrieval, a criminal caught, and a chance for a bit of verbal sparring with PC Davidson… He wished more days could be like this.
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Andy, OCs.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2141
Summary: Ianto takes to his crow form to help Jack retrieve something that’s fallen into the wrong hands.
Spoilers: Nada. Set in my Were-Crow ‘Verse.
Written For: Challenge 458: Flutter at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
Ianto crow smirked to himself as he fluttered down to land on Jack’s outstretched arm, then sidled his way to his lover’s shoulder. He’d never attracted this much attention as a human, but he could feel the eyes of everyone on the Plas turning to look at him. It was gratifying in a way. While he wouldn’t normally want to be the subject of such scrutiny, it was possible that in crow form he might just be a bit of a show-off. Besides, Jack loved the attention, and a happy Jack made for a happy Ianto, crow-shaped or otherwise. He preened Jack’s hair affectionately.
“Having fun, are you?” Jack teased.
“Always. Caw!” Ianto half spread his wings and shook himself, ruffling his feathers up and letting them settle smoothly back into place, aware of the sunlight, warm on his back and wings, giving a glossy sheen to his jet-black plumage.
“We’re supposed to be working, you know.”
“Caw! Can still enjoy it!”
Jack chuckled, shoving his hands in his coat pockets as he strolled casually across the Plas, Ianto balancing easily on his shoulder, his strong claws digging gently into the fabric of Jack’s coat. His lover had a point, Jack mused. It was a lovely day to be out and about, surprisingly warm for mid-autumn, so why not make the most of it? Nevertheless, even though this would appear to the average passer-by as some kind of pleasure jaunt, a man and his crow taking a walk together, enjoying the sunshine, they were in fact on important Torchwood business.
“What did you find out?” Jack murmured. “Did you see where our guy went to ground?”
“Burts Place,” Ianto replied, close to Jack’s ear. He was getting better at producing human speech, and also talking more quietly. Crows tended to be a bit loud, so he was learning to repress some of his natural crow exuberance when on the job.
“Handy. That’s a pet friendly hotel, no problem with you going inside.”
“Caw!” Ianto crow nipped lightly at Jack’s ear, indignant at being referred to as a pet.
“Okay, sorry, no offence meant. I’m just saying, I probably won’t be refused entry even if you’re with me. People make assumptions about you, which I suppose is only natural. Were-creatures are still considered a myth, so they don’t know you’re not really a bird.” Jack kept his voice low so the tourists and locals thronging the Plas wouldn’t overhear.
Mollified, Ianto relaxed, looking about himself as Jack strolled unhurriedly along, until a man abruptly stepped out into their path, blocking the way.
“What d’you think you’re doing with that bird? Don’t you know it’s illegal to keep wild birds as pets? I should report you to the authorities!”
Ianto crow rolled his eyes. “Idiot!” he muttered. “Caw!”
“Hush now.” Jack glanced sidelong at his feathered lover before turning his attention back to the man. “Do you see a cage, or anything keeping my friend here tied to me? He’s not a pet, he does what he wants whenever he wants. If he chooses to sometimes ride on my shoulder, what business is that of yours? Report me if you want, but it’s not against the law to let a crow land on me.”
“Mind yer own business,” Ianto crow cut in. “Caw!” He leaned forward, fluttering his wings and clacking his beak, venting his displeasure.
The man backed off. “That bird is dangerous! I’m reporting it! Did you train it to do that?”
Jack snorted. “Hardly. Like I said, he does what he wants, just like any wild bird, and it’s not against the law for a bird to behave like a bird. He’s entitled to defend himself against threats. Now, if you’ll excuse us…” Jack sidestepped around the busybody, continuing on his way. “I don’t know,” he said to Ianto. “Used to be, a man could take a walk with an attractive bird on his arm without getting interrogated by complete strangers.”
“Twpsyn,” Ianto crow muttered fondly. “Right, I’m off. See you there.” Spreading his wings, he launched himself into the sky, circling slowly on an updraft to gain altitude before heading directly towards the hotel. It wasn’t far, as the crow flies, but Jack would unfortunately have to follow the streets.
Fluttering down to a landing on a rooftop across from the hotel, Ianto brought his crow vision into play. He was close enough to easily see through the windows and it didn’t take him long to locate the correct one. The man he’d trailed was still inside, the loot from his pickpocketing spree spread out on the table, including a small device that had come through the Rift, a device the opportunistic pickpocket had picked up before the Torchwood team could retrieve it. Tosh had been watching via the city’s CCTV network as the man had snatched it up and shoved it into his pocket before vanishing into Hamadryad Park, where there weren’t any cameras. That was when Ianto had changed form and gone looking for him, knowing the man couldn’t be allowed to get away with an unidentified piece of alien tech.
Now he shifted restlessly from foot to foot, watching as the man examined his haul. If the window were open, Ianto knew he could have simply waited until the pickpocket’s back was turned and then swooped in and retrieved the device, but unfortunately it was closed. All he could do was keep watch, and wait for Jack to arrive, which he soon did, having run most of the way.
Soaring down from the roof, Ianto glided towards Jack, who raised his arm. While Ianto could have landed on Jack’s shoulder, Jack’s head tended to get in the way when he was folding his wings, so an arm landing was less of a bother.
“He still in there?”
Ianto bobbed his head. “Top floor, middle window.”
“Okay, you keep watch while I go in, then I’ll open the window for you. Once I’m inside, I’ll contact Kathy with the room number, so she can send someone to pick this guy up with the rest of his loot.”
“Got it. Caw!” In a flurry of wings, Ianto crow took to the air again, returning to his rooftop perch. He was getting to be ever better on roofs than Jack was, especially the ones Jack couldn’t get to.
Inside the hotel, it didn’t take long for Jack to make his way to the right door, where he used his wrist strap to trigger the lock before pushing his way inside, Webley in hand. The man looked up at the sound of the door opening, leapt to his feet, then saw the gun and froze.
“Wise decision,” Jack said calmly, kicking the door shut behind him. “Now, you have something that doesn’t belong to you. Well, actually, you have quite a few things, but I’m interested in one in particular. Some things should not be in the hands of people like you.” He nodded towards a chair. “Lace your hands behind your head and sit down.”]
Eyes fixed on the Webley’s barrel, the man did as he was told, looking understandably nervous. “You’re not a cop. Cops don’t carry guns, not in this country!”
“You’re right, I’m not, but then I never claimed to be. I already called in an anonymous tip though, so the cops should be here shortly, and they’re welcome to you, just as long as I get what I came for.” Walking around behind the man, Jack used zip ties at wrists and elbows to fasten his arms securely to the chair. “If I were you, I wouldn’t try to get up; you could dislocate both your arms.”
He turned towards the window and unlatched it, throwing it wide open, then turning his attention to the small device on the table. Jack immediately recognised it as a clever little gadget that could potentially, in the wrong hands, be used to get into any security system that required a password or pin number. There was no doubt it would be much safer locked away in Torchwood’s secure archives, where it couldn’t be misused.
With a fluttering of wings, Ianto glided through the open window and landed on the table, cocking his head to look at Jack.
“Shit! Where’d that bloody bird come from?” Chair legs scraped against the floor as the pickpocket tried to put some distance between himself and Ianto crow. “It’s fuckin’ huge!”
Jack smirked. “Relax, he won’t hurt you unless I tell him to. Or unless you insult him, so you’d better watch your mouth.” Turning his attention to Ianto, he added, “It’s not a weapon, or anything like that. A certain friend of ours might find it interesting though; she can play with it until I get back.” Pulling a scrap of paper and a pen from his inside coat pocket and quickly scrawling a note to Tosh, Jack tied it around the device with a bit of string and set the small bundle back on the table. “Okay, you take that back to base, I’ll wait here for the police. Don’t want this guy getting away.”
“Caw! Will do!” Ianto strutted across the table and wrapped strong claws around the piece of alien tech.
“Be careful you don’t drop it. We didn’t go through all this just to lose it again.”
“As if! Have some faith! Caw! See ya later!” With that, Ianto took to the air, propelling himself through the window with a powerful downstroke of his wings, then soaring upwards and heading towards Mermaid Quay.
Jack smiled, watching his lover for a moment before closing and locking the window.
The pickpocket was gaping at him. “It talked! The bloody bird talked!”
“So what? Crows are excellent mimics, and he happens to be a very superior crow, highly trained for surveillance and retrieval work.”
“You’re ‘aving me on!”
“Am I? Maybe he’s not a crow at all, did you ever consider that? Maybe he just looks like one. He’s been watching you for several hours, following you, seeing where you went, witnessing everything you did. How d’you think I found you? He told me where you were.”
The man swallowed hard. “I demand legal counsel.”
“I’m sure the police will see to it that you get everything you’re entitled to.” Looking down at the street below, Jack watched as a car pulled up. “And here they are.” He turned to smile at his captive; it wasn’t a friendly smile, more a savage baring of bright, white teeth. “Just remember, you’ll never know whether or not I, or one of my friends, will be watching you. Everywhere you go, everything you do, there could be eyes on you, because I know who you are now, and I don’t take kindly to criminals. This city is under my protection. You might want to remember that, in the unlikely event that you get released on bail.” With that, Jack swept out the door in a flurry of coattails. He met PC Andy Davidson in the upstairs hallway, near the stairs.
The police constable paused. “DI Swanson said you caught a pickpocket. In there, is he?” He gestured to the open door.
Jack nodded. “With all the incriminating evidence spread out for anyone to see. You won’t even have to carry out a search.”
“Your lot don’t usually bother with petty criminals. Is this another one of your spooky-dos?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Jack said, being deliberately cryptic, knowing it annoyed Gwen’s former partner. “I think this guy might be on drugs though, or maybe a bit wrong in the head, so be careful. He’s been hallucinating, going on about talking birds spying on him, and all manner of weird stuff.”
“Is that so?” Andy gave Jack a suspicious look, but Jack just looked calmly back at him.
“Probably best to take whatever he tells you with a grain of salt.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
“You do that.” Jack beamed his best smile. “See you around, PC Davidson!” He started to move away.
“Not if I see you first!” Andy replied.
“You look like a man who enjoys an occasional flutter. Care to bet on that? I could make it worth your while.” Jack looked back over his shoulder and winked.
“I’ll pass. Your ego’s big enough already.”
Spinning on his heel and walking backwards, Jack clasped his hands over his heart. “You wound me!”
“You’ll get over it.”
Laughing, Jack turned and bounded down the stairs, taking them three at a time. He was still grinning when he got back to the Hub twenty minutes later. Beautiful weather, a mostly enjoyable outing with his lover, a successful retrieval, a criminal caught, and a chance for a bit of verbal sparring with PC Davidson… He wished more days could be like this.
The End