Blue Roses
Title: Blue Roses
Author: crystalshard
Rating: G
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen
Warnings: None
Synopsis: Not everything that slips through the rift is dangerous.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of the characters, it belongs to the BBC.
A/N: Written for jadesfire2808, who wanted fluff and gave me the prompt 'Blue'.
The bell in the tourist office rang, rousing Ianto out of his contemplation of Owen's most recent expenses claim. He frowned slightly as he went to open the door. Nobody had ordered takeaway, as far as he knew, and it was unusual in the extreme for any other unexpected visitors to ring the bell.
He opened the door, only to be faced with a large bouquet of flowers. "Delivery for a Miss Gwen Cooper from a Mr. Rhys Williams. Note says 'Happy Birthday'," the bouquet said in the voice of a young woman. The flowers shifted sideways sufficiently so that Ianto could see short brown curly hair and one brown eye past the spray of blooms. A clipboard was waved at him. "Sign here, please."
Ianto did as requested, taking the clipboard and signing it neatly. "I'll see that they're taken to her," Ianto promised as he exchanged the clipboard for the bunch of flowers. Gwen wouldn't get them yet, of course - standard Torchwood protocol meant that all unexpected deliveries had to be scanned first.
"Ta. Bye," the delivery girl said, turning away and trotting back towards the Plas. The back of her t-shirt had the logo of a local florist's on the back.
Ianto kicked the door shut with one foot and laid the flowers on his desk, then rummaged for the bit of alien technology that looked more like a microphone than an alien atmospheric detector. The detector worked only at very short range, but had proved time and again to be useful at sniffing out toxins, drugs and other things hazardous to human physiology. As Ianto waved it over the flowers, he was relieved to find that it gave off not one chirp of warning. The sonoscanner failed to find anything dangerous under the surface, and the micro-life sensor found no bacteria or viruses that would interfere with a human. There weren't even any insects. Ianto would have cheerfully classified the bunch as harmless, except for one thing.
Ianto picked up the phone and dialled Jack's office. For a wonder, his boss was actually there. Jack had been spending more time in his office since his return from his jaunt with the Doctor, possibly in order to familiarise himself with everything he'd missed. "Jack? We've just had a flower delivery for Gwen. I'd say they were harmless, but . . ."
"What's bothering you, Ianto?"
"Some of the flowers are blue roses."
There was a short silence on the other end of the line. When Jack finally spoke up, he sounded puzzled. "Do roses not come in blue?"
"No sir," Ianto said firmly.
There was a sigh. "Did you notice which florist they came from?"
"Of course."
"Good. Lock up the tourist office, Ianto. We're going on a flower hunt."
* * *
Jack leaned over the counter and flashed his brilliant smile at the woman on the other side. Ianto could see the moment that Jack's grin hooked her in as the woman returned the smile. It was the same person who'd delivered the flowers, which Ianto was quite relieved about. The idea that the delivery girl might have worn false livery had been on his mind ever since he, Jack and Gwen had climbed into the SUV. He looked up and shared a brief smile with Gwen, who was standing on the other side of Jack.
"Hi," Jack said, not letting the wattage dip even a fraction. "You delivered a bouquet for a Miss Gwen Cooper earlier today, didn't you?"
"Is there something wrong with it?" the woman asked, looking slightly worried.
"No, not at all," Jack reassured her. "I just wondered if you could tell me where you get your flowers from?"
* * *
Half an hour later, the three of them were staring at a row of rosebushes with an edgy gardener standing behind them. On either side were normal bushes with white flowers, but these ones had somehow turned bright blue.
"I don't know how it happened, I really don't," the gardener said in annoyance. "These bushes were white two days ago. Then I come in here yesterday, and suddenly they're blue!"
"They're pretty, though," Gwen volunteered.
"Yeah, they're pretty," the gardener conceded grudgingly. "You ask me, someone's pulling a prank."
Jack had moved up closer to the bushed, fingering the petals of the nearest blue rose. "Here - what's your name again?"
"Luke. Luke Johnston," the gardener said. Ianto was perhaps the only one who spotted the momentary flash of recognition in Jack's eyes. Moving closer, Ianto bent his head to inspect the roses that the other three were examining.
"Luke. Do you see how these are already getting paler at the centre? I think they'll turn back to white fairly soon anyway. Nothing to worry about."
The gardener nodded in relief. "Thank you - Captain Harkness, was it?"
"Call me Jack," the Captain said easily as he deftly herded the group away from the rose bushes. Ianto looked across at Gwen, noticing the frustration on her face. He knew Gwen was Torchwood enough not to ask her questions in the presence of a civilian, but that didn't mean that her need for answers had lessened.
* * *
Back in the SUV, Gwen let loose with the expected eager questions. "So, Jack, what was it? Are they alien?"
Jack chuckled. "No. For once, they're not alien. They're Earth stock - genetically modified and fed on a special nutrient. They must have slipped through a crack in time. They'll be invented sometime early this century, I think. But without the added nutrient in the soil that they need, they'll soon fade to white. Like I told Luke, nothing to worry about."
With that, Gwen had to be content.
* * *
It was late. Gwen had taken her bouquet home, blue roses included. Tosh and Owen had vanished to their respective destinations, whatever they were, leaving only Jack and Ianto in the Hub. Ianto was half-considering heading home and having a quiet night in, but first he had to deliver Jack's last cup of coffee of the day.
As Ianto stepped through the doorway, steaming mug in hand, he noticed a change to Jack's office decorations. Sat on one corner of the desk was a crystal vase holding half a dozen blue roses, the dim lights twinkling off the cut crystal and making the petals glow.
"Those will go on the market again in your lifetime," Jack said conversationally, not looking up from his paperwork. "They'll be named after the gardener and geneticist who invents them. Luke Johnston roses."
"Luke Johnston. That was the man we met today," Ianto said in understanding.
"Yes. Same man."
Ianto smiled. "Does that mean that these roses were always going to turn up? After all, I suppose something had to give him the idea."
Jack looked up, watching Ianto as the younger man put the coffee down on his desk. "Predestination paradoxes. They happen more than you'd think, because they usually occur on a very small scale." Jack picked up the mug and took a long, indulgent sip of the hot brew.
Ianto reached out and caressed one of the flowers. The petals were silky to the touch. If he'd had his eyes closed, he would have said there was no difference between these roses and the ones that had grown in this time. "So it's not just you that's out of your time, Jack." Jack blinked at him, and Ianto unsuccessfully fought a smile. "We've known for ages, Jack. It's not as if you've tried to hide it."
Jack looked aside momentarily, then abruptly changed the subject. "Do you know what blue roses mean, Ianto?"
"I'm afraid I never made a study of flower meanings. Especially not ones that don't exist yet," Ianto teased gently.
Jack stared at the blue roses. "They mean, 'Let's try again.'" A heartbeat passed, and Jack's eyes suddenly locked onto Ianto's. Ianto swallowed, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. In the end, though, they all came around to one word.
"Let's," he agreed.
Author: crystalshard
Rating: G
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen
Warnings: None
Synopsis: Not everything that slips through the rift is dangerous.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of the characters, it belongs to the BBC.
A/N: Written for jadesfire2808, who wanted fluff and gave me the prompt 'Blue'.
The bell in the tourist office rang, rousing Ianto out of his contemplation of Owen's most recent expenses claim. He frowned slightly as he went to open the door. Nobody had ordered takeaway, as far as he knew, and it was unusual in the extreme for any other unexpected visitors to ring the bell.
He opened the door, only to be faced with a large bouquet of flowers. "Delivery for a Miss Gwen Cooper from a Mr. Rhys Williams. Note says 'Happy Birthday'," the bouquet said in the voice of a young woman. The flowers shifted sideways sufficiently so that Ianto could see short brown curly hair and one brown eye past the spray of blooms. A clipboard was waved at him. "Sign here, please."
Ianto did as requested, taking the clipboard and signing it neatly. "I'll see that they're taken to her," Ianto promised as he exchanged the clipboard for the bunch of flowers. Gwen wouldn't get them yet, of course - standard Torchwood protocol meant that all unexpected deliveries had to be scanned first.
"Ta. Bye," the delivery girl said, turning away and trotting back towards the Plas. The back of her t-shirt had the logo of a local florist's on the back.
Ianto kicked the door shut with one foot and laid the flowers on his desk, then rummaged for the bit of alien technology that looked more like a microphone than an alien atmospheric detector. The detector worked only at very short range, but had proved time and again to be useful at sniffing out toxins, drugs and other things hazardous to human physiology. As Ianto waved it over the flowers, he was relieved to find that it gave off not one chirp of warning. The sonoscanner failed to find anything dangerous under the surface, and the micro-life sensor found no bacteria or viruses that would interfere with a human. There weren't even any insects. Ianto would have cheerfully classified the bunch as harmless, except for one thing.
Ianto picked up the phone and dialled Jack's office. For a wonder, his boss was actually there. Jack had been spending more time in his office since his return from his jaunt with the Doctor, possibly in order to familiarise himself with everything he'd missed. "Jack? We've just had a flower delivery for Gwen. I'd say they were harmless, but . . ."
"What's bothering you, Ianto?"
"Some of the flowers are blue roses."
There was a short silence on the other end of the line. When Jack finally spoke up, he sounded puzzled. "Do roses not come in blue?"
"No sir," Ianto said firmly.
There was a sigh. "Did you notice which florist they came from?"
"Of course."
"Good. Lock up the tourist office, Ianto. We're going on a flower hunt."
* * *
Jack leaned over the counter and flashed his brilliant smile at the woman on the other side. Ianto could see the moment that Jack's grin hooked her in as the woman returned the smile. It was the same person who'd delivered the flowers, which Ianto was quite relieved about. The idea that the delivery girl might have worn false livery had been on his mind ever since he, Jack and Gwen had climbed into the SUV. He looked up and shared a brief smile with Gwen, who was standing on the other side of Jack.
"Hi," Jack said, not letting the wattage dip even a fraction. "You delivered a bouquet for a Miss Gwen Cooper earlier today, didn't you?"
"Is there something wrong with it?" the woman asked, looking slightly worried.
"No, not at all," Jack reassured her. "I just wondered if you could tell me where you get your flowers from?"
* * *
Half an hour later, the three of them were staring at a row of rosebushes with an edgy gardener standing behind them. On either side were normal bushes with white flowers, but these ones had somehow turned bright blue.
"I don't know how it happened, I really don't," the gardener said in annoyance. "These bushes were white two days ago. Then I come in here yesterday, and suddenly they're blue!"
"They're pretty, though," Gwen volunteered.
"Yeah, they're pretty," the gardener conceded grudgingly. "You ask me, someone's pulling a prank."
Jack had moved up closer to the bushed, fingering the petals of the nearest blue rose. "Here - what's your name again?"
"Luke. Luke Johnston," the gardener said. Ianto was perhaps the only one who spotted the momentary flash of recognition in Jack's eyes. Moving closer, Ianto bent his head to inspect the roses that the other three were examining.
"Luke. Do you see how these are already getting paler at the centre? I think they'll turn back to white fairly soon anyway. Nothing to worry about."
The gardener nodded in relief. "Thank you - Captain Harkness, was it?"
"Call me Jack," the Captain said easily as he deftly herded the group away from the rose bushes. Ianto looked across at Gwen, noticing the frustration on her face. He knew Gwen was Torchwood enough not to ask her questions in the presence of a civilian, but that didn't mean that her need for answers had lessened.
* * *
Back in the SUV, Gwen let loose with the expected eager questions. "So, Jack, what was it? Are they alien?"
Jack chuckled. "No. For once, they're not alien. They're Earth stock - genetically modified and fed on a special nutrient. They must have slipped through a crack in time. They'll be invented sometime early this century, I think. But without the added nutrient in the soil that they need, they'll soon fade to white. Like I told Luke, nothing to worry about."
With that, Gwen had to be content.
* * *
It was late. Gwen had taken her bouquet home, blue roses included. Tosh and Owen had vanished to their respective destinations, whatever they were, leaving only Jack and Ianto in the Hub. Ianto was half-considering heading home and having a quiet night in, but first he had to deliver Jack's last cup of coffee of the day.
As Ianto stepped through the doorway, steaming mug in hand, he noticed a change to Jack's office decorations. Sat on one corner of the desk was a crystal vase holding half a dozen blue roses, the dim lights twinkling off the cut crystal and making the petals glow.
"Those will go on the market again in your lifetime," Jack said conversationally, not looking up from his paperwork. "They'll be named after the gardener and geneticist who invents them. Luke Johnston roses."
"Luke Johnston. That was the man we met today," Ianto said in understanding.
"Yes. Same man."
Ianto smiled. "Does that mean that these roses were always going to turn up? After all, I suppose something had to give him the idea."
Jack looked up, watching Ianto as the younger man put the coffee down on his desk. "Predestination paradoxes. They happen more than you'd think, because they usually occur on a very small scale." Jack picked up the mug and took a long, indulgent sip of the hot brew.
Ianto reached out and caressed one of the flowers. The petals were silky to the touch. If he'd had his eyes closed, he would have said there was no difference between these roses and the ones that had grown in this time. "So it's not just you that's out of your time, Jack." Jack blinked at him, and Ianto unsuccessfully fought a smile. "We've known for ages, Jack. It's not as if you've tried to hide it."
Jack looked aside momentarily, then abruptly changed the subject. "Do you know what blue roses mean, Ianto?"
"I'm afraid I never made a study of flower meanings. Especially not ones that don't exist yet," Ianto teased gently.
Jack stared at the blue roses. "They mean, 'Let's try again.'" A heartbeat passed, and Jack's eyes suddenly locked onto Ianto's. Ianto swallowed, a thousand thoughts running through his mind. In the end, though, they all came around to one word.
"Let's," he agreed.