Fic: Vizzini's Rule (92/105)
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 92
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: The angst beginneth
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 Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Captain Jack Harkness - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Tosh and Ianto go out for dinner and a little conversation…
Notes: First off, sorry for not posting on Wednesday - holidays play merry havoc with your life even if you’ve already celebrated!! ;) I hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving! And now, bring on the angst!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Ninety-Two
That day, unlike the next, was actually pretty quiet at the Hub. Jack and Tosh spent most of the morning poring over the information they’d gathered from Owen’s stunt with the Rift Manipulator. Gwen and Ianto went about their own tasks, answering questions about the day’s events whenever Tosh or Jack needed more details.
The rift was still hovering in the back of everyone’s mind. It spiked several times throughout the day, but they were weak spikes and didn’t seem to leave anything of danger behind, at least nothing that showed up on their scans. There was one spike that occurred around lunchtime which had the telltale signs of echoing a negative rift spike. Ianto noted the coordinates and then took lunch orders, telling everyone he was going out to grab some take-away. He didn’t want to bother Jack unless it became necessary. When he arrived at the spot, he found himself in an abandoned car park with nothing in sight. He looked around for a good half hour but didn’t see anyone or anything that had clearly been returned by the rift. Shrugging it off as good luck, he fetched lunch and returned to the Hub.
It was almost seven o’clock when Tosh and Jack called it a night. Gwen had gone home an hour or two before, leaving Ianto to his own devices. He spent most of the time in the archives, heading back upstairs only when he saw Tosh on the CCTV, finally emerging from Jack’s office.
“Long day,” he observed as Tosh crossed to her workstation.
“Yes indeed,” she said with a tired smile.
“Were you able to makes head or tails out of those reports?”
“I think so,” Tosh said. “We’ve got a scan running 24-7 now that will detect any temporal disturbances. That should help us if anything happens. Personally,” she whispered, “I think Jack’s overreacting. I think if anything really terrible was going to come out of the rift, it would have done it when Owen had it open. Why would it wait until it was closed again?”
Ianto shrugged, not wanting to discount Jack’s intuition. After all, he’s lived on this damn rift for quite a long time.
“You busy tonight?” Tosh asked as she pulled on her jacket.
“Not especially,” Ianto said. “Want to grab some dinner?”
“That would be nice. I… I kind of want to talk about everything that happened. You know, get it out so I don’t go crazy trying to piece it all together.”
“Can’t have that, now can we?” Ianto said with a little laugh. “Let me just check in with Jack and we can head to…?”
“Pub?” Tosh suggested.
“Perfect. Back in a tick.” Ianto walked into Jack’s office. He found Jack going through their files from the dancehall. Actually, he wasn’t going through them so much as staring at the photograph of him shaking hands with the handsome solider while Tosh looked on. “Jack?” Ianto said quietly.
Jack jerked out of his contemplation and slammed the file closed. He glanced up at Ianto with a distinctly guilty look on his face. “Yes?” he asked. His voice was calm, but Ianto knew him well enough to read the tension in his face and his body.
“I was just going grab some dinner with Tosh. Do you need anything else before we head out?”
“No thanks, Ianto. I’ll call your mobile if anything comes up.”
“Do you want me to bring you back some supper?” Ianto offered.
Jack smiled. “That’s okay, you two go and have fun. There’s some leftover Chinese that will do me just fine.”
“Alright then. Call if you change your mind.”
“Will do. Thanks, Yan,” Jack said in a soft voice. “Maybe I’ll see you later?” he asked quietly.
It was Ianto’s turn to smile. “Perhaps,” he teased, knowing he’d be back.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The pub was rather crowded that night. There were three rugby teams taking up most of the room, celebrating some sort of athletic achievement. They found a table on the edge of the festivities but someone had taken the chair that made up the second seat. Ianto simply turned the table so the long side was facing the booth and they sat down side by side to enjoy their pints.
“Not in the mood for a martini tonight?” Ianto asked, nodding at her beer.
“Oh, that would fall in the realm of really bad ideas,” Tosh said. “I have a feeling if started on the hard stuff tonight, I might not be able to stop.”
“Was it that bad?” Ianto asked. He covered Tosh’s bandaged hand carefully with his own hand. “I know you got hurt, but Jack didn’t say anything about you two being in any real danger.”
“Oh my hand was nothing, I did that myself. It’s not the danger, well not just that. It was…” Tosh struggled for words. “It was weird, jarring. One moment we were here and the next… It was like we stepped through a door but there wasn’t another room on the other side, it was another planet.”
Ianto didn’t say anything, just squeezed Tosh’s hand gently and waited for her to continue.
“You know that kind of queasy feeling you get when an airplane dips or you’re on a rollercoaster?”
Ianto nodded.
“Well, it was kind of like that, but all over, not just my stomach. It was like my body knew I was in the wrong place, the wrong time. And Jack…”
“What about Jack?” Ianto prompted when Tosh fell silent and took a sip of her beer.
“He was having fun!” she said bitterly.
“Fun? But -”
“Oh, I’m not explaining it right. I mean, he was having fun, but not like it sounds. He said he’d been there before, but wouldn’t explain how.”
Fell through time, Ianto thought, stunned. Well, he never said to where or how many times now did he? Aware that Tosh was looking at him, Ianto tried to muster up some surprise. “Been there before? What did he mean?”
“Exactly that. He said he’d served in the war in 1941, undercover for someone, maybe Torchwood, I don’t know. But he obviously felt at home there… then. I can’t get the hang of this! I mean, we’re talking about time travel. Time travel!” Tosh said, banging her glass down on the table with some force after she took a long drink. “It didn’t seem to faze Jack at all. If anything, he was more relaxed there than I’ve ever seen him. Like he didn’t feel that queasy feeling at all when we were there. Oh, God!” Tosh put her hand over her mouth and looked at Ianto.
“What?” he said as he took a drink of his own beer.
“You don’t suppose he’s from there, I mean then, do you? Do you suppose he feels like that all the time here and it finally went away when he got back there? That would be awful!”
“I don’t think he’s from 1941, no matter what he wears,” Ianto said dryly.
“God, I hope not. Although he didn’t seem upset that we might be stuck there and it would explain why he’s always so alone here. And why he connected with the real Captain Jack so quickly.”
This time Ianto didn’t have to feign surprise. In fact, he choked on his beer, coughing to clear his lungs before he could ask, “The real Captain Jack? What do you mean, Tosh?”
“Well, remember how we couldn’t ever find anything out about Jack?” When Ianto nodded, Tosh continued. “It is because Jack Harkness isn’t his real name. The real Captain Jack Harkness was an American volunteer in 1941. A pilot who was killed the… the day after we were there. Oh God, that means it was today,” Tosh said quietly.
Ianto put his arm around Toshiko’s narrow shoulders and gave her a half-hug. “It was sixty-six years ago, Tosh. And from what little I know about time travel, there was nothing you could have done if it was already a set event.”
“That’s what Jack said,” Tosh replied sadly.
“Well Jack clearly knows what he’s talking about when it comes to time travel,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m gonna go up and order. What would you like?”
“Oh, the special sounded fine. I can go up if you -”
But Ianto cut her off with a wave. “No, it’s fine. I’ll go order our dinner and get a couple more pints. Then you can tell me all about the real Captain Jack Harkness,” Ianto said. And just what you meant about his connection with Jack, he thought as he threaded his way through the rugby players to the bar, not sure he wanted to hear another word but positive that he wouldn’t be able to resist finding out exactly what had happened in 1941.
TBC in Chapter Ninety-Three
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: The angst beginneth
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 Catherine Tregenna for dialogue and situations borrowed from Captain Jack Harkness - no infringement, only worship intended.
Summary: In which Tosh and Ianto go out for dinner and a little conversation…
Notes: First off, sorry for not posting on Wednesday - holidays play merry havoc with your life even if you’ve already celebrated!! ;) I hope all my American friends had a lovely Thanksgiving! And now, bring on the angst!
Previous Chapters
Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Ninety-Two
That day, unlike the next, was actually pretty quiet at the Hub. Jack and Tosh spent most of the morning poring over the information they’d gathered from Owen’s stunt with the Rift Manipulator. Gwen and Ianto went about their own tasks, answering questions about the day’s events whenever Tosh or Jack needed more details.
The rift was still hovering in the back of everyone’s mind. It spiked several times throughout the day, but they were weak spikes and didn’t seem to leave anything of danger behind, at least nothing that showed up on their scans. There was one spike that occurred around lunchtime which had the telltale signs of echoing a negative rift spike. Ianto noted the coordinates and then took lunch orders, telling everyone he was going out to grab some take-away. He didn’t want to bother Jack unless it became necessary. When he arrived at the spot, he found himself in an abandoned car park with nothing in sight. He looked around for a good half hour but didn’t see anyone or anything that had clearly been returned by the rift. Shrugging it off as good luck, he fetched lunch and returned to the Hub.
It was almost seven o’clock when Tosh and Jack called it a night. Gwen had gone home an hour or two before, leaving Ianto to his own devices. He spent most of the time in the archives, heading back upstairs only when he saw Tosh on the CCTV, finally emerging from Jack’s office.
“Long day,” he observed as Tosh crossed to her workstation.
“Yes indeed,” she said with a tired smile.
“Were you able to makes head or tails out of those reports?”
“I think so,” Tosh said. “We’ve got a scan running 24-7 now that will detect any temporal disturbances. That should help us if anything happens. Personally,” she whispered, “I think Jack’s overreacting. I think if anything really terrible was going to come out of the rift, it would have done it when Owen had it open. Why would it wait until it was closed again?”
Ianto shrugged, not wanting to discount Jack’s intuition. After all, he’s lived on this damn rift for quite a long time.
“You busy tonight?” Tosh asked as she pulled on her jacket.
“Not especially,” Ianto said. “Want to grab some dinner?”
“That would be nice. I… I kind of want to talk about everything that happened. You know, get it out so I don’t go crazy trying to piece it all together.”
“Can’t have that, now can we?” Ianto said with a little laugh. “Let me just check in with Jack and we can head to…?”
“Pub?” Tosh suggested.
“Perfect. Back in a tick.” Ianto walked into Jack’s office. He found Jack going through their files from the dancehall. Actually, he wasn’t going through them so much as staring at the photograph of him shaking hands with the handsome solider while Tosh looked on. “Jack?” Ianto said quietly.
Jack jerked out of his contemplation and slammed the file closed. He glanced up at Ianto with a distinctly guilty look on his face. “Yes?” he asked. His voice was calm, but Ianto knew him well enough to read the tension in his face and his body.
“I was just going grab some dinner with Tosh. Do you need anything else before we head out?”
“No thanks, Ianto. I’ll call your mobile if anything comes up.”
“Do you want me to bring you back some supper?” Ianto offered.
Jack smiled. “That’s okay, you two go and have fun. There’s some leftover Chinese that will do me just fine.”
“Alright then. Call if you change your mind.”
“Will do. Thanks, Yan,” Jack said in a soft voice. “Maybe I’ll see you later?” he asked quietly.
It was Ianto’s turn to smile. “Perhaps,” he teased, knowing he’d be back.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The pub was rather crowded that night. There were three rugby teams taking up most of the room, celebrating some sort of athletic achievement. They found a table on the edge of the festivities but someone had taken the chair that made up the second seat. Ianto simply turned the table so the long side was facing the booth and they sat down side by side to enjoy their pints.
“Not in the mood for a martini tonight?” Ianto asked, nodding at her beer.
“Oh, that would fall in the realm of really bad ideas,” Tosh said. “I have a feeling if started on the hard stuff tonight, I might not be able to stop.”
“Was it that bad?” Ianto asked. He covered Tosh’s bandaged hand carefully with his own hand. “I know you got hurt, but Jack didn’t say anything about you two being in any real danger.”
“Oh my hand was nothing, I did that myself. It’s not the danger, well not just that. It was…” Tosh struggled for words. “It was weird, jarring. One moment we were here and the next… It was like we stepped through a door but there wasn’t another room on the other side, it was another planet.”
Ianto didn’t say anything, just squeezed Tosh’s hand gently and waited for her to continue.
“You know that kind of queasy feeling you get when an airplane dips or you’re on a rollercoaster?”
Ianto nodded.
“Well, it was kind of like that, but all over, not just my stomach. It was like my body knew I was in the wrong place, the wrong time. And Jack…”
“What about Jack?” Ianto prompted when Tosh fell silent and took a sip of her beer.
“He was having fun!” she said bitterly.
“Fun? But -”
“Oh, I’m not explaining it right. I mean, he was having fun, but not like it sounds. He said he’d been there before, but wouldn’t explain how.”
Fell through time, Ianto thought, stunned. Well, he never said to where or how many times now did he? Aware that Tosh was looking at him, Ianto tried to muster up some surprise. “Been there before? What did he mean?”
“Exactly that. He said he’d served in the war in 1941, undercover for someone, maybe Torchwood, I don’t know. But he obviously felt at home there… then. I can’t get the hang of this! I mean, we’re talking about time travel. Time travel!” Tosh said, banging her glass down on the table with some force after she took a long drink. “It didn’t seem to faze Jack at all. If anything, he was more relaxed there than I’ve ever seen him. Like he didn’t feel that queasy feeling at all when we were there. Oh, God!” Tosh put her hand over her mouth and looked at Ianto.
“What?” he said as he took a drink of his own beer.
“You don’t suppose he’s from there, I mean then, do you? Do you suppose he feels like that all the time here and it finally went away when he got back there? That would be awful!”
“I don’t think he’s from 1941, no matter what he wears,” Ianto said dryly.
“God, I hope not. Although he didn’t seem upset that we might be stuck there and it would explain why he’s always so alone here. And why he connected with the real Captain Jack so quickly.”
This time Ianto didn’t have to feign surprise. In fact, he choked on his beer, coughing to clear his lungs before he could ask, “The real Captain Jack? What do you mean, Tosh?”
“Well, remember how we couldn’t ever find anything out about Jack?” When Ianto nodded, Tosh continued. “It is because Jack Harkness isn’t his real name. The real Captain Jack Harkness was an American volunteer in 1941. A pilot who was killed the… the day after we were there. Oh God, that means it was today,” Tosh said quietly.
Ianto put his arm around Toshiko’s narrow shoulders and gave her a half-hug. “It was sixty-six years ago, Tosh. And from what little I know about time travel, there was nothing you could have done if it was already a set event.”
“That’s what Jack said,” Tosh replied sadly.
“Well Jack clearly knows what he’s talking about when it comes to time travel,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m gonna go up and order. What would you like?”
“Oh, the special sounded fine. I can go up if you -”
But Ianto cut her off with a wave. “No, it’s fine. I’ll go order our dinner and get a couple more pints. Then you can tell me all about the real Captain Jack Harkness,” Ianto said. And just what you meant about his connection with Jack, he thought as he threaded his way through the rugby players to the bar, not sure he wanted to hear another word but positive that he wouldn’t be able to resist finding out exactly what had happened in 1941.
TBC in Chapter Ninety-Three