Fic: Vizzini's Rule (85/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 85
Rating: R
Warnings: Just some bad language
Spoilers: Season One thru Captain Jack Harkness (1x12)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Noel Clarke for dialogue and situations borrowed from Combat and to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Captain Jack Harkness - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Ianto deals with a cranky Owen, a cranky Jack and a cranky rift…
Notes: This chapter is the bridge between Combat and Captain Jack Harkness. CJH was a Ianto-heavy episode so there’s a quite a bit of borrowed dialogue. Hopefully it’s not boring!! Angst ahoy! :)
Additional Note: Big thanks to cowboyhd for the fabulous mood theme I snagged! :D
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Eighty-Five
While Ianto didn’t end up sleeping for three days straight, he did manage a good thirteen hours, a new record for actual sleep in Jack’s bed. And the most amazing part was that Jack was still curled around him when he finally woke up. The rest of the team didn’t bother to put in an appearance at the Hub for several days. Owen was still in hospital, Tosh was resting and checking in on Owen, and Gwen was spending some quality time with her boyfriend (“Her words, Yan, not mine,” Jack claimed) so Jack and Ianto had some ‘quality time’ of their own for a few days which they put to good use.
Between rounds of naked hide and seek with Jack’s new stopwatch, they actually got quite a bit of work done. Over the past few months, Jack had slowly been letting Ianto in on most of Torchwood’s secrets and exactly what his job entailed. It was as if finding out about Flat Holm had opened the floodgates of information. Between Jack’s current policies and responsibilities, and his own investigations into the archives, Ianto liked to believe that no one knew more about Torchwood than he did. They had to deal with one negative rift spike in the days following Owen’s injuries, but when they arrived at the field the coordinates directed them to, the only thing they found was a terrified rabbit. It stared at them for several minutes, shaking from ears to fluffy tail and then hopped off into the brush.
“You don’t think…?” Ianto asked hesitantly, unable to imagine what falling through the rift would do to a helpless bunny.
Jack just shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
Jack went to visit Owen at the hospital for the first time on the day he was cleared to go home. Jack didn’t share what was said between them, but Ianto knew it couldn’t have been good. When Jack returned to the Hub, he spent the better part of the afternoon down in the shooting range. Ianto checked on him to offer some dinner and distraction, but Jack was still out of sorts and uninterested in either. As Ianto was turning to head back upstairs to go home, he noticed that Jack had replaced the usual snarling weevil targets with some plain circle targets. Still feeling guilty about Janet, Ianto thought on his way up the steps.
The next day, Owen returned to work. He was obviously still angry about whatever had transpired at the hospital. Ianto could feel the hostility radiating off of him and the look that passed between Owen and Jack as he walked into the Hub gave Ianto chills.
Ianto kept an eye on Owen all morning and when he casually wandered towards the vaults, Ianto followed.
“What are you doing down here, Owen?” he asked mildly, his quiet voice surprising Owen.
“And just how is that any of your fucking business?” he replied in hostile tones.
“The vaults are my responsibility, therefore anything that happens down here is my business.”
Owen sighed. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Ianto. I just need to see… something.”
Ianto looked at him for a long moment. “I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner, Owen, but you can’t blame that on Jack.”
“Sooner?” Owen laughed. “I didn’t want you lot there at all. But Jack had to be the fucking hero and save the day, didn’t he?”
“What are you talking about?” Ianto asked. “If we hadn’t -”
“Forget it. Just… just get out of my way.”
After another long look, Ianto opened the door to the vaults and let Owen pass. “You sure you’ll be alright?” he asked.
Owen held up his hand to wave Ianto off without taking his eyes off the weevil. “Give us a moment alone, yeah?”
Ianto looked from Owen to the weevil and back again, wondering if he was making the right decision. He sighed quietly and left, closing the door behind him. He headed back up to the Hub wondering just how far Owen’s sorrow over losing Diane was going to push him. And if Jack kept pushing back, just how soon it would be before they came to blows.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The next week was pretty quiet around the Hub. Everyone seemed affected by the bad blood between Owen and Jack; a situation aggravated by Jack’s coldness and Owen’s continual lateness, rudeness and, Ianto suspected, heavier-than-usual drinking. After one particularly nasty row with Jack about his tardiness, Owen had taken to sleeping at the Hub. Passing out more likely, Ianto thought. He’d come in several mornings in a row to find Owen sound asleep on the sofa in the Hub, reeking of beer and whiskey and other less pleasant odors. He could usually manage to wake him up with a gentle nudge and get him to the showers before Jack was up and about.
This particular morning, however, Owen wouldn’t budge. Jack came out of his office and looked at the huddled form on the sofa with an expression of pure disgust on his face. He let sleeping dogs lie, however, and just kissed Ianto good morning and asked if there was coffee. Owen slept on, snoring through Gwen oooing over Tosh’s new dress, Jack calling a team meeting and even Jack yelling for Tosh to accompany him to a haunted dancehall. Gwen left at the same time, a task of her own to complete elsewhere.
So when the rift monitor alarm began to sound, Ianto and Owen were the only ones in the Hub to hear.
Not that Owen is listening, Ianto thought wondering how Owen could sleep through the annoying beeping of the alarm. He stood in front of Tosh’s computer trying to work out exactly what was happening. There had been a flare of rift activity near the dancehall, but he couldn’t determine exactly where or what magnitude from the monitors. Wishing Tosh had stayed behind, Ianto kept trying to make sense of the readings.
“What the hell is that?” a disgruntled voice asked from behind him.
It lives! Ianto thought, but his actual response was civil. “Tosh’s rift monitor program. She set it to alert me if there were any further movements.” Ianto stared at the wave pattern on one screen while thoughts of the rift victims flowed through this mind. Ianto choked back his fury and simply murmured, “The rift’s been opening more and more recently.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve noticed that,” Owen said defensively. “Doesn’t take a genius.” He joined Ianto at Tosh’s workstation and peered blearily at the monitors.
“Tosh reckons the equations are forming a pattern. I should call her,” Ianto said, picking up his comm and shutting off the audible for the alarm. “She may have readings her end and this is a bit over my head,” he admitted with a glance at Owen.
Owen nodded and then shook his head slightly, obviously still trying to wake up. “Um… why wasn’t I told about this?”
Are you kidding me? Ianto thought. He looked at Owen in complete surprise. Christ, what do I say? He tried to put it as gently as possible. “Well… you’ve been off, haven’t you?”
Owen huffed and rubbed his shoulder where Ianto knew the weevil bite was slowly healing. He was relieved when Owen didn’t press the subject but that emotion was short-lived when he realized Tosh’s comm line was dead as was Jack’s.
“Wait. Did you say a pattern?” Owen asked, completely ignoring Ianto’s comment about the comms.
“Yeah, why?”
“A pattern like before. Like when D-” Owen cleared his throat. “Like when it opened last month?”
“I don’t know,” Ianto said. “Like I said it’s a bit over my head.”
“Well it would be, wouldn’t it? S’got nothing to do with making coffee,” Owen said with a cruel smile. “Call Gwen,” he ordered. “Get her over to the dancehall now!”
Ianto bristled at Owen’s tone but placed the call nonetheless. Once Jack and Tosh were accounted for, he might be tempted to give Owen a smack, but right now they all needed to work together.
TBC in Chapter Eighty-Six
Rating: R
Warnings: Just some bad language
Spoilers: Season One thru Captain Jack Harkness (1x12)
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Noel Clarke for dialogue and situations borrowed from Combat and to Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Captain Jack Harkness - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Ianto deals with a cranky Owen, a cranky Jack and a cranky rift…
Notes: This chapter is the bridge between Combat and Captain Jack Harkness. CJH was a Ianto-heavy episode so there’s a quite a bit of borrowed dialogue. Hopefully it’s not boring!! Angst ahoy! :)
Additional Note: Big thanks to cowboyhd for the fabulous mood theme I snagged! :D
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Eighty-Five
While Ianto didn’t end up sleeping for three days straight, he did manage a good thirteen hours, a new record for actual sleep in Jack’s bed. And the most amazing part was that Jack was still curled around him when he finally woke up. The rest of the team didn’t bother to put in an appearance at the Hub for several days. Owen was still in hospital, Tosh was resting and checking in on Owen, and Gwen was spending some quality time with her boyfriend (“Her words, Yan, not mine,” Jack claimed) so Jack and Ianto had some ‘quality time’ of their own for a few days which they put to good use.
Between rounds of naked hide and seek with Jack’s new stopwatch, they actually got quite a bit of work done. Over the past few months, Jack had slowly been letting Ianto in on most of Torchwood’s secrets and exactly what his job entailed. It was as if finding out about Flat Holm had opened the floodgates of information. Between Jack’s current policies and responsibilities, and his own investigations into the archives, Ianto liked to believe that no one knew more about Torchwood than he did. They had to deal with one negative rift spike in the days following Owen’s injuries, but when they arrived at the field the coordinates directed them to, the only thing they found was a terrified rabbit. It stared at them for several minutes, shaking from ears to fluffy tail and then hopped off into the brush.
“You don’t think…?” Ianto asked hesitantly, unable to imagine what falling through the rift would do to a helpless bunny.
Jack just shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”
Jack went to visit Owen at the hospital for the first time on the day he was cleared to go home. Jack didn’t share what was said between them, but Ianto knew it couldn’t have been good. When Jack returned to the Hub, he spent the better part of the afternoon down in the shooting range. Ianto checked on him to offer some dinner and distraction, but Jack was still out of sorts and uninterested in either. As Ianto was turning to head back upstairs to go home, he noticed that Jack had replaced the usual snarling weevil targets with some plain circle targets. Still feeling guilty about Janet, Ianto thought on his way up the steps.
The next day, Owen returned to work. He was obviously still angry about whatever had transpired at the hospital. Ianto could feel the hostility radiating off of him and the look that passed between Owen and Jack as he walked into the Hub gave Ianto chills.
Ianto kept an eye on Owen all morning and when he casually wandered towards the vaults, Ianto followed.
“What are you doing down here, Owen?” he asked mildly, his quiet voice surprising Owen.
“And just how is that any of your fucking business?” he replied in hostile tones.
“The vaults are my responsibility, therefore anything that happens down here is my business.”
Owen sighed. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Ianto. I just need to see… something.”
Ianto looked at him for a long moment. “I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner, Owen, but you can’t blame that on Jack.”
“Sooner?” Owen laughed. “I didn’t want you lot there at all. But Jack had to be the fucking hero and save the day, didn’t he?”
“What are you talking about?” Ianto asked. “If we hadn’t -”
“Forget it. Just… just get out of my way.”
After another long look, Ianto opened the door to the vaults and let Owen pass. “You sure you’ll be alright?” he asked.
Owen held up his hand to wave Ianto off without taking his eyes off the weevil. “Give us a moment alone, yeah?”
Ianto looked from Owen to the weevil and back again, wondering if he was making the right decision. He sighed quietly and left, closing the door behind him. He headed back up to the Hub wondering just how far Owen’s sorrow over losing Diane was going to push him. And if Jack kept pushing back, just how soon it would be before they came to blows.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The next week was pretty quiet around the Hub. Everyone seemed affected by the bad blood between Owen and Jack; a situation aggravated by Jack’s coldness and Owen’s continual lateness, rudeness and, Ianto suspected, heavier-than-usual drinking. After one particularly nasty row with Jack about his tardiness, Owen had taken to sleeping at the Hub. Passing out more likely, Ianto thought. He’d come in several mornings in a row to find Owen sound asleep on the sofa in the Hub, reeking of beer and whiskey and other less pleasant odors. He could usually manage to wake him up with a gentle nudge and get him to the showers before Jack was up and about.
This particular morning, however, Owen wouldn’t budge. Jack came out of his office and looked at the huddled form on the sofa with an expression of pure disgust on his face. He let sleeping dogs lie, however, and just kissed Ianto good morning and asked if there was coffee. Owen slept on, snoring through Gwen oooing over Tosh’s new dress, Jack calling a team meeting and even Jack yelling for Tosh to accompany him to a haunted dancehall. Gwen left at the same time, a task of her own to complete elsewhere.
So when the rift monitor alarm began to sound, Ianto and Owen were the only ones in the Hub to hear.
Not that Owen is listening, Ianto thought wondering how Owen could sleep through the annoying beeping of the alarm. He stood in front of Tosh’s computer trying to work out exactly what was happening. There had been a flare of rift activity near the dancehall, but he couldn’t determine exactly where or what magnitude from the monitors. Wishing Tosh had stayed behind, Ianto kept trying to make sense of the readings.
“What the hell is that?” a disgruntled voice asked from behind him.
It lives! Ianto thought, but his actual response was civil. “Tosh’s rift monitor program. She set it to alert me if there were any further movements.” Ianto stared at the wave pattern on one screen while thoughts of the rift victims flowed through this mind. Ianto choked back his fury and simply murmured, “The rift’s been opening more and more recently.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve noticed that,” Owen said defensively. “Doesn’t take a genius.” He joined Ianto at Tosh’s workstation and peered blearily at the monitors.
“Tosh reckons the equations are forming a pattern. I should call her,” Ianto said, picking up his comm and shutting off the audible for the alarm. “She may have readings her end and this is a bit over my head,” he admitted with a glance at Owen.
Owen nodded and then shook his head slightly, obviously still trying to wake up. “Um… why wasn’t I told about this?”
Are you kidding me? Ianto thought. He looked at Owen in complete surprise. Christ, what do I say? He tried to put it as gently as possible. “Well… you’ve been off, haven’t you?”
Owen huffed and rubbed his shoulder where Ianto knew the weevil bite was slowly healing. He was relieved when Owen didn’t press the subject but that emotion was short-lived when he realized Tosh’s comm line was dead as was Jack’s.
“Wait. Did you say a pattern?” Owen asked, completely ignoring Ianto’s comment about the comms.
“Yeah, why?”
“A pattern like before. Like when D-” Owen cleared his throat. “Like when it opened last month?”
“I don’t know,” Ianto said. “Like I said it’s a bit over my head.”
“Well it would be, wouldn’t it? S’got nothing to do with making coffee,” Owen said with a cruel smile. “Call Gwen,” he ordered. “Get her over to the dancehall now!”
Ianto bristled at Owen’s tone but placed the call nonetheless. Once Jack and Tosh were accounted for, he might be tempted to give Owen a smack, but right now they all needed to work together.
TBC in Chapter Eighty-Six