Fic: The Sea After a Storm (3/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 3
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just don’t feel like changing the rating :)
Spoilers: Season Two thru Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2x01)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©’s to Chris Chibnall for dialogue borrowed from Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which the team meets John Hart…
Notes: Sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thrace_adams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Three
Previously on The Sea After a Storm:
Jack took a deep breath and said, "Stay here. Don't come after me." He turned and threw himself into the SUV, giving them one last look as he drove off and left them.
Ianto took a few steps backward as Jack peeled away from the curb. He could hardly believe his eyes. Jack was gone.
Again.
Not this time, Captain, Ianto thought fervently. He was running for the street before the others even had time to react. He whistled sharply as he spotted a cab. "Taxi!" he yelled, waving his arm.
The cab rolled up the street at a leisurely pace. As soon as it was close, Ianto ran over and hopped in the back, sitting in the jump seat.
"Around the corner," he directed with a nod. "Three more to pick up."
The cabbie nodded and crept forward.
"A little speed would be most appreciated," Ianto said tightly.
The driver grunted, but he did hurry it along. Ianto opened the door as soon as the locks disengaged and motioned to his teammates, noting that Tosh was furiously tapping her scanner. Owen climbed in first, followed by Gwen and then Tosh who gave the driver a destination as she settled on the seat.
They rode in silence for a long moment until Tosh reported that the police had just gotten a call about a bar disturbance at the same location they were speeding towards themselves.
"Tell the police we're dealing with it," Gwen ordered.
Owen finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "Okay, so who the hell was the bloke in the hologram?
"Looked like Jack recognized him," Ianto muttered.
Tosh glanced up from her scanner. "Why didn’t he let us go with him?"
"'Cause it’s typical Jack, isn't it?" Gwen complained. "He disappears, he comes back, then he runs away again. Shuts us out. We don’t even know his real name."
"Or which time he comes from," Tosh added quietly.
Ianto glanced at her in surprise but she was looking at her scanner again. Apparently they’ve decided I was making things up when I told them Jack’s from the 51st Century, Ianto thought, surprised at how much it hurt. He pressed his mouth into a thin line. Or they just forgot. Typical, he thought, I’m just the tea-boy, right? Why should anyone listen to me? He stared out the window as Gwen continued her tirade.
"It drives me crazy!" she hissed.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the cab for a moment after she finished.
"It is more fun when he’s around, though," Ianto observed, laughing to himself as the other three fell over one another to agree.
When the cab stopped, Ianto paid the driver and they all piled out. The streets were deserted; apparently the police had listened for once.
"Bar Reunion," Ianto read with a little laugh.
"Tosh and Owen, you take the back. Ianto and I will go in the front. Keep it quiet until we know what’s going on," Gwen ordered.
Tosh and Owen took off through the alley. Ianto drew out his weapon, snapping off the safety and chambering a round while he chuckled.
"What’s so funny?" Gwen asked as she pulled out her own gun.
Ianto nodded to the sign.
"What?" Gwen asked again.
"Never mind," Ianto said with a small sigh. He really didn't feel like explaining the joke to Gwen. "Just struck me as amusing. Come on."
They made their way cautiously through the open front door, taking turns covering one another as they crept through the entryway. Ianto could hear voices and then Jack’s laugh ringing out through the empty bar. Gwen and Ianto exchanged a look. They paused outside a set of double doors, just listening for a moment. The voices were muted, but Ianto could follow the conversation - well, he could have if it had made any sense.
"Time Agency?" Gwen mouthed at Ianto.
He shrugged and shook his head, just as lost. He risked a glance through the window in the door and saw Jack lean close to the man from the hologram, almost as if he were going to kiss him. Ianto felt his heart clench but then the other man exclaimed and pulled away. He was just about to nod to Gwen that he was going in when the glass exploded. They both stepped back from the door when a second shot sounded, but it seemed to be fired towards the rear of the bar.
"All right! Everybody out!" they heard an unfamiliar voice shout.
Ianto glanced at Gwen. She frowned and nodded, kicking open the door and covering centre while Ianto took left.
"Everything all right, Jack?" she called.
Jack hollered that everything was okay as the team crept closer to the two men, checking the room and not dropping their weapons for an instant. Ianto wondered briefly if they were just making fools of themselves since Jack didn’t seem to be concerned about the man at all. As Jack and the man in the red jacket bantered a bit about the name Torchwood, Gwen, Owen and Tosh relaxed, dropping their weapons when Jack introduced them all to Captain John Hart.
Probably as fake as Jack’s name, Ianto thought. He kept his gun trained on Hart not trusting him for a second. Before he could ask for clarification on just exactly who John Hart was, Jack summed it up in three words.
"We go back," he said, obviously irritated by Hart’s very presence.
"Excuse me! We more than go back." Hart shifted his glance from Jack towards Ianto. "We were partners."
"In what way?" The words were out of Ianto’s mouth before he could stop himself.
Hart smiled and darted his tongue out to soothe the cut on his lip. "In every way," he said caressingly, still looking right at Ianto. "And then some."
"It was two weeks," Jack clarified.
Hart rolled his eyes. "Except that two weeks was trapped in a time loop, so we were together for five years." Hart darted his glance back to Ianto. "It was like having a wife," he said in confiding tones.
Ianto thought he might be sick.
He finally lowered his gun while Jack and John were debating just who had been the wife in their relationship. He felt silly still holding it when even Tosh was joining in the witty banter. Finally it seemed that Jack had had enough.
"What are you doing here?" he asked Hart.
Hart sighed. "I was wondering when we’d get to that." He flipped open a brown leather wriststrap, identical to the one Jack always wore.
"That’s the same as yours," Tosh pointed out.
Jack gave Tosh a look. "A little smaller."
"But lasts much longer," Hart added. It was obviously a longstanding argument.
Jack smirked and stepped away from Hart, darting a quick, concerned glance at Ianto as he crossed the narrow room.
Hart was still talking. "Get two Time Agents in the same room together, it’s always about the size of the wriststrap."
"Uh, yeah, sorry. What’s a Time Agent?" Owen asked.
Ianto realized Tosh and Owen must have overheard the conversation Jack and John had been having when they first arrived as well. Well, Ianto thought philosophically, at least I'm not the only one the dark.
Hart looked honestly shocked. "What? He never told you about his past?" he asked incredulously.
"No, he hasn’t," Gwen said coldly.
Hart shot Jack a speaking look and then shrugged. "Anyway…"
He went on to explain that he’d followed some radiation cluster bombs which had fallen through the rift and landed somewhere in Cardiff. They sounded particularly nasty, but Ianto could tell from Jack’s expression that he wasn’t really buying the entire story. However, Jack must have decided there was enough truth in it to warrant a look, because before he knew it, Ianto was outside the club, hailing another taxi.
"I gave the keys to Owen," Jack said as he walked up behind Ianto. "You go with them in the SUV, I’ll take… John in the cab."
"Are you sure you don’t want a little backup, sir?" Ianto asked quietly. Hart and the rest of the team had joined them outside the bar.
Jack shook his head. "I can handle him better alone. But - " That odd, uncharacteristic uncertainty seemed to creep over him again. He tentatively reached out and put his hand on Ianto’s shoulder. "Thank you," he murmured.
Ianto nodded, not trusting himself to speak, not with Jack touching him for the first time in months. He opened the door of the cab, and stepped back.
"A taxi? Are you joking?" Hart protested. "Why don’t we just telep- "
"Get in," Jack ordered, grabbing Hart by the back of the neck and basically shoving him into the cab. He followed after giving Ianto another smile and gathering his coat around himself like a shield.
"Ianto!" Owen yelled from the SUV. "Waiting on you, mate."
TBC in Chapter Four