Fic: The Sea After a Storm (26/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 26
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just don’t feel like changing the rating :)
Spoilers: Season Two thru Sleeper (2x02)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to James Moran for situations and dialogue borrowed from Sleeper. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Beth is put into hibernation and everything is fine… for now…
Notes: Damn! If I'd known the note on my last chapter would be so prophetic, I would have put in a bit about winning the lottery too!! More as soon as I can swing it - thanks as always for reading!! Previous chapters found here. 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!
Previously on The Sea After a Storm, the team decided that freezing Beth would be the best solution and Ianto ordered pizza...
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Twenty-Six
After he'd finished the paperwork on Beth, Ianto headed up to the Tourist Office to see if the pizza had arrived. The counter was bare of anything but flyers, so he took a seat to wait. His hand strayed to his mouth again as he sat there, his thoughts straying just as surely to Jack. The last few weeks had been a bit of a revelation for Ianto. After Jack had admitted that he needed Ianto's assistance, he'd accepted it wholeheartedly and with gratitude. Ianto couldn't help but compare the situation with the past Christmas when Jack was so obviously hurting about his inability to send the rift victims from 1953 back to their own time. That time, Jack had buried himself in his pain, pushed Ianto away. More than that, he'd used Ianto as his emotional whipping boy. On the whole, Ianto decided he'd much rather deal with the occasional and unintentionally inflicted bruises than face that kind of coldness from Jack ever again.
The bell over the Tourist Office door rang then, jolting Ianto out of his reverie. He asked the delivery boy if he would be willing to leave the food in its insulated carrier since he had no idea how long the others would be occupied with freezing Beth. Since the "Tourist Office" was a good customer, and Ianto an excellent tipper, the boy was easily convinced. Ianto promised to return the carrier to the restaurant as he had done a few times in the past when similar situations arose. After the boy had left, Ianto locked up the office and headed down to the Hub. He put the salads in the fridge along with the drinks, leaving the pizzas in their warm carrier which he perched on top of the fridge.
Ianto paused at the top of the stairs to the med bay and, from what he could hear, it sounded like Owen was just about finished with Beth. Instead of interrupting, Ianto just headed down to the morgue to get ready for his end of the procedure. He set the transport table near the dumbwaiter and unlocked the receiving bay in the morgue wall. No matter how much he dug in the archives, Ianto had never been able to discover which enterprising Torchwood employee had designed the morgue or even when it had gone through its overhaul. Probably got a patent for high density storage systems and retired at thirty, he thought with admiration. The centre two units of the lower level were now the only active compartments. The wall of doors was as much of a façade as the Tourist Office upstairs, the yellowing cards in the holders as relevant as a decade-old stamped due date in a library book. Originally, each door led to one compartment. Now, however, every berth could be shifted behind the wall to either Door 006 or 007, all Ianto had to do was punch in the code for the next available compartment. He did just that, opening Door 007 as he heard the dumbwaiter motor grind to life.
He efficiently recorded all the pertinent information on the forms and then used the transport table to move the heavy containment unit to the wall. Gwen joined him as he locked the unit in place and slid the table free. After a few more notations, he left his clipboard on the table and returned to the wall.
"Everything all right?" he asked Gwen softly.
She tore her eyes from Beth's still face and looked up at him. "She's all right, like this, right? Jack didn't… trick her?"
Ianto shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that. And there's quite a few people in here, just sleeping," he added, resting his hand on a wooden door.
Gwen took a deep breath and nodded.
Ianto pushed the containment unit into the wall, hearing the hiss of the system engage as he closed and locked the door. He gave Gwen a small smile and offered his arm as they walked back to the Hub.
"I saw your note on my magazine," Gwen said as she dropped his arm so she could climb the narrow stairs. "Did you really like the dress?"
Ianto chuckled. "Yes, it's very pretty."
"Do think I'll be able to carry it off? I mean, it's not really the kind of thing I wear much." Gwen blushed prettily as Ianto chuckled. "Well, you know what I mean! I wore a uniform for years. And then this job, I've just never worn many dresses."
"Well, it's true - a wedding dress is not practical garb for stopping riots or fighting off dangerous aliens, but I can't imagine you'll need to worry about that."
"God, no! We're getting as far away from the rift as I can manage. Nothing will spoil my wedding day," Gwen said determinedly.
Ianto chuckled again and patted her on the shoulder. "The universe wouldn't dare," he reassured her.
"Ianto!" Owen called as soon as they'd cleared the top of the stairs. "God, tell me there's something to eat around here."
"Of course," Ianto said smoothly. He pulled the pizzas from their carrier, glad to find them still warm. "There's salad and drinks in the fridge as well."
Owen nodded and stacked three pieces of the meat feast pizza on a napkin and retired to the corner of Jack's office where the Alien Hunter's video game still sat. He crammed half a piece of pizza in his mouth and proceeded to lose himself in the game. Jack glared at him from his desk and fled the office when Owen turned up the volume a bit. Ianto chuckled and handed Jack a plate as he neared the table where Ianto had set the food.
"All the things Gwen tidied up and rearranged while I was gone, she couldn't have gotten rid of that damn game?" Jack asked as he flipped the empty plate in his hands.
"I thought you liked it," Ianto observed.
Jack had the grace to look abashed. "I like playing it, listening to it is another matter."
"We all have our ways of coping," Ianto said around a mouthful of salad. He glanced up and almost choked. Jack was staring down at him with such desire that Ianto could practically feel the heat pouring off of him.
"True," Jack said, not lowering his gaze. "I'd like to find a dark corner and do a little 'coping' of my own."
Ianto swallowed carefully. He set down his salad and leaned back in his chair, looking up at Jack. He licked at a stray dot of dressing off the corner of his mouth with the tip of his tongue and Jack moaned softly.
"You okay, Jack?" Tosh asked, joining them. "Nothing wrong with the pizza, is there?"
Ianto grinned as Jack closed his eyes and furtively adjusted his trousers.
"No, it's fine, Tosh," Ianto said, amusement colouring his voice. "There's a plain Margherita in the bottom box."
"Oh, good. Thanks." Tosh opened the box and offered it to Jack after she'd taken a piece. "Oh, wait. Sorry, you probably want some meat, don't you," she said, reaching for the other box.
Ianto laughed out loud at Jack's startled expression and waved Tosh off when she raised an eyebrow at him. "Sit down, Jack, and eat your pizza. Gwen! Come get something to eat before it's gone," Ianto called across the Hub.
Gwen came over and dropped into a chair next to Ianto. She took the plate he passed her with a smile and they all relaxed. The hard part of the day was finally over.
TBC in Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rating: R
Warnings: None really, just don’t feel like changing the rating :)
Spoilers: Season Two thru Sleeper (2x02)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to James Moran for situations and dialogue borrowed from Sleeper. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: In which Beth is put into hibernation and everything is fine… for now…
Notes: Damn! If I'd known the note on my last chapter would be so prophetic, I would have put in a bit about winning the lottery too!! More as soon as I can swing it - thanks as always for reading!! Previous chapters found here. 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!
Previously on The Sea After a Storm, the team decided that freezing Beth would be the best solution and Ianto ordered pizza...
The Sea After a Storm: Chapter Twenty-Six
After he'd finished the paperwork on Beth, Ianto headed up to the Tourist Office to see if the pizza had arrived. The counter was bare of anything but flyers, so he took a seat to wait. His hand strayed to his mouth again as he sat there, his thoughts straying just as surely to Jack. The last few weeks had been a bit of a revelation for Ianto. After Jack had admitted that he needed Ianto's assistance, he'd accepted it wholeheartedly and with gratitude. Ianto couldn't help but compare the situation with the past Christmas when Jack was so obviously hurting about his inability to send the rift victims from 1953 back to their own time. That time, Jack had buried himself in his pain, pushed Ianto away. More than that, he'd used Ianto as his emotional whipping boy. On the whole, Ianto decided he'd much rather deal with the occasional and unintentionally inflicted bruises than face that kind of coldness from Jack ever again.
The bell over the Tourist Office door rang then, jolting Ianto out of his reverie. He asked the delivery boy if he would be willing to leave the food in its insulated carrier since he had no idea how long the others would be occupied with freezing Beth. Since the "Tourist Office" was a good customer, and Ianto an excellent tipper, the boy was easily convinced. Ianto promised to return the carrier to the restaurant as he had done a few times in the past when similar situations arose. After the boy had left, Ianto locked up the office and headed down to the Hub. He put the salads in the fridge along with the drinks, leaving the pizzas in their warm carrier which he perched on top of the fridge.
Ianto paused at the top of the stairs to the med bay and, from what he could hear, it sounded like Owen was just about finished with Beth. Instead of interrupting, Ianto just headed down to the morgue to get ready for his end of the procedure. He set the transport table near the dumbwaiter and unlocked the receiving bay in the morgue wall. No matter how much he dug in the archives, Ianto had never been able to discover which enterprising Torchwood employee had designed the morgue or even when it had gone through its overhaul. Probably got a patent for high density storage systems and retired at thirty, he thought with admiration. The centre two units of the lower level were now the only active compartments. The wall of doors was as much of a façade as the Tourist Office upstairs, the yellowing cards in the holders as relevant as a decade-old stamped due date in a library book. Originally, each door led to one compartment. Now, however, every berth could be shifted behind the wall to either Door 006 or 007, all Ianto had to do was punch in the code for the next available compartment. He did just that, opening Door 007 as he heard the dumbwaiter motor grind to life.
He efficiently recorded all the pertinent information on the forms and then used the transport table to move the heavy containment unit to the wall. Gwen joined him as he locked the unit in place and slid the table free. After a few more notations, he left his clipboard on the table and returned to the wall.
"Everything all right?" he asked Gwen softly.
She tore her eyes from Beth's still face and looked up at him. "She's all right, like this, right? Jack didn't… trick her?"
Ianto shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that. And there's quite a few people in here, just sleeping," he added, resting his hand on a wooden door.
Gwen took a deep breath and nodded.
Ianto pushed the containment unit into the wall, hearing the hiss of the system engage as he closed and locked the door. He gave Gwen a small smile and offered his arm as they walked back to the Hub.
"I saw your note on my magazine," Gwen said as she dropped his arm so she could climb the narrow stairs. "Did you really like the dress?"
Ianto chuckled. "Yes, it's very pretty."
"Do think I'll be able to carry it off? I mean, it's not really the kind of thing I wear much." Gwen blushed prettily as Ianto chuckled. "Well, you know what I mean! I wore a uniform for years. And then this job, I've just never worn many dresses."
"Well, it's true - a wedding dress is not practical garb for stopping riots or fighting off dangerous aliens, but I can't imagine you'll need to worry about that."
"God, no! We're getting as far away from the rift as I can manage. Nothing will spoil my wedding day," Gwen said determinedly.
Ianto chuckled again and patted her on the shoulder. "The universe wouldn't dare," he reassured her.
"Ianto!" Owen called as soon as they'd cleared the top of the stairs. "God, tell me there's something to eat around here."
"Of course," Ianto said smoothly. He pulled the pizzas from their carrier, glad to find them still warm. "There's salad and drinks in the fridge as well."
Owen nodded and stacked three pieces of the meat feast pizza on a napkin and retired to the corner of Jack's office where the Alien Hunter's video game still sat. He crammed half a piece of pizza in his mouth and proceeded to lose himself in the game. Jack glared at him from his desk and fled the office when Owen turned up the volume a bit. Ianto chuckled and handed Jack a plate as he neared the table where Ianto had set the food.
"All the things Gwen tidied up and rearranged while I was gone, she couldn't have gotten rid of that damn game?" Jack asked as he flipped the empty plate in his hands.
"I thought you liked it," Ianto observed.
Jack had the grace to look abashed. "I like playing it, listening to it is another matter."
"We all have our ways of coping," Ianto said around a mouthful of salad. He glanced up and almost choked. Jack was staring down at him with such desire that Ianto could practically feel the heat pouring off of him.
"True," Jack said, not lowering his gaze. "I'd like to find a dark corner and do a little 'coping' of my own."
Ianto swallowed carefully. He set down his salad and leaned back in his chair, looking up at Jack. He licked at a stray dot of dressing off the corner of his mouth with the tip of his tongue and Jack moaned softly.
"You okay, Jack?" Tosh asked, joining them. "Nothing wrong with the pizza, is there?"
Ianto grinned as Jack closed his eyes and furtively adjusted his trousers.
"No, it's fine, Tosh," Ianto said, amusement colouring his voice. "There's a plain Margherita in the bottom box."
"Oh, good. Thanks." Tosh opened the box and offered it to Jack after she'd taken a piece. "Oh, wait. Sorry, you probably want some meat, don't you," she said, reaching for the other box.
Ianto laughed out loud at Jack's startled expression and waved Tosh off when she raised an eyebrow at him. "Sit down, Jack, and eat your pizza. Gwen! Come get something to eat before it's gone," Ianto called across the Hub.
Gwen came over and dropped into a chair next to Ianto. She took the plate he passed her with a smile and they all relaxed. The hard part of the day was finally over.
TBC in Chapter Twenty-Seven