Singing For Mittens (1/3)
Title: Singing for Mittens(1/3)
Author: faynia
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, OC/Jack
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Action/Adventure, Serious!Crack
Warnings: Highlight for warnings * A Mary Sue! Yes, an intentional Mary Sue*
Summary When Ianto Jones was invited home, he learned that families can't keep secrets forever.
A/N: Written for windout's birthday, which was yesterday! Cause she's my bestest best best friend.
Beta'd by topazmusings
Toshiko Sato prided herself on her knowledge. She was smart--brilliant, in fact--and she didn't care that her colleagues knew it. But there was one thing, however, that she took special pride in, and that was her knowledge of the personal relationships inside Torchwood. No matter how much some of them hurt her, or how peculiar they seemed, she knew about them. She knew, for example, that when Jack died, Owen holed himself up in the infirmary and sobbed for fifteen minutes exactly before he stopped and pretended he was unaffected. She knew that Gwen sat by Jack's side to the point of obsession, her only concession was her stilted phone conversations with Rhys. And, she knew that Ianto was close enough to bringing a gun to his head and following Jack into the afterlife. Ianto worried her. He had no one, and no one noticed his suffering but her. Tosh had fretted over the idea of attempting to comfort him, the only thing stopping her was the memory of her chance encounter with his thoughts. She couldn't battle that.
When Jack had come back to life, it shocked her in ways very few things did in her field. Dead people didn't come back to life without any aid. She was not idiotic enough to believe that it was impossible, having seen it many times before. Jack was the exception, had always been the exception, and for that reason alone, she didn't push him to answer her questions.
That had been over two months before, before Jack had vanished, and Gwen had almost driven herself insane with worry and guilt.
Tosh was glad to have Jack back, she realized as she watched him come down the stairs towards her. He kept them together and safe. She appreciated that quality in him.
"Anything happening, Tosh?"
"The rift is stable, sir," she responded.
Jack appeared put out by that. "There's nothing strange on the radar, nothing at all?"
"Nothing," Tosh agreed, swiveling in her chair so she was facing the multiple screens again. "It's quiet."
Jack scratched the back of his neck and leaned against her chair. "How are you holding up?"
The question confused her. "I'm fine, Jack."
"Uh huh." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Tell me you're happy."
"Of course I am," she stated, glancing up at his reflection in the monitors. "I love being here."
Jack's smile lit up his face, and she thanked whoever was listening that his sojourn had gone well. That he came back to them happy in a way that none of the team had ever seen him. He looked lighter, and younger, and the effect left her feeling lightheaded.
"Good." He stood there still and Tosh wondered what else he had to say. Usually this was around the time where he went to his office or went off to find Gwen and Owen and made sure they weren't fighting.
"Is everything all right?" she asked, skimming the numbers the computer generated before her. The sequence was stable, alarms weren't blaring in her head, and the satellites weren't picking anything up. She pushed her glasses up her nose with her thumb and squinted at the screen tracking the SUV, content to find it where they'd parked it last. There had been an incident just the week before where someone had stolen it and now she kept a wary eye on the screen to make sure it didn't happen again.
"Where's Ianto?"
"He said something about family business, Jack."
He frowned, she could feel it in the way his body tensed. "Family business?"
"Is that a problem?" Tosh snapped. "He will be in by noon."
Jack pushed off her chair and leaned against the console, arms folded across his chest. "I can't get the coffee maker to work," Jack admitted with a sheepish smile.
Tosh sighed. "You really ought to learn."
He shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?"
"You won't have to rely on other's to get you your caffeine fix." She stood and headed towards the kitchen area, knowing he was dogging her steps. "You still take it black?"
"You mean some people don't?"
Tosh rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long morning. "Really, Jack, do you want your coffee or not?"
"Yes."
She grimaced. "Go get your mug."
Jack saluted and ducked out of the small room, leaving Tosh to the coffee making. She went through the motions with mindless precision, measuring out two tablespoons of the black powder. How Jack could stand this stuff was too far beyond her. As she filled the machine with water, she mused over the reasons for Jack's confusion about Ianto's family. Surely he had to have known. Tosh knew how close the two men were and knew that since Jack's death there were very few secrets held between them. So, why didn't Jack know Ianto was visiting family? It wasn't like none of the crew had ever visited relatives or mentioned them at the least.
"Hello? Tosh? Jack?"
Tosh squared her shoulders, turning on the coffee maker and leaving it alone. Gwen had been arriving earlier in the mornings recently, and Tosh wondered if she was fighting with Rhys again.
"I'm in here, Gwen." She waited until Gwen appeared, hair mussed and clothing in disarray. Tosh could only gape as Gwen slunk into the room and sat at the small table. The heavy lines under her eyes were visible even under the layer of concealer on Gwen's face. "Are you all right?"
Gwen waved her off with a limp wrist. "I'm fine."
Tosh didn't ask again.
By the time the coffee finished brewing, Jack hadn't returned, leaving Tosh with the annoying job of having to find the captain. She could face a number of things, but a brain dead Jack was not someone she had signed on to work with. Tosh hurried through the halls towards Jack's office, her heels clicking against the concrete flooring as she went. She knocked on the door and stepped back. If Jack wasn't in there, she'd have to look for him through the cameras.
She sighed in irritation when the door opened and Jack popped his head around the corner. "My coffee's ready?"
"Yes, Jack, and Gwen's here."
"So early?" Jack questioned, brows furrowing in thought. "Did she tell you why? Is she all right?"
"She looks like death."
"That can't be good. We need her in fine working order," Jack muttered. Tosh gave him a sceptical stare and he added, "You certain she didn't say what was wrong?"
"I'm not exactly her best friend," Tosh pointed out. "You ask her. She might actually talk to you."
"Tosh," Jack warned.
Tosh crossed her arms in a defensive pose. She knew this would be a losing battle. It always was when it came to Gwen. Jack would never give up on her no matter how bad the blunder was. He knew something she didn't about the other woman, and no amount of questioning got the answers Tosh wanted. "Your coffee's getting cold, sir. Will that be all?"
"Send Ianto up here when he gets in. I need to talk to him."
"Jack, you can't begrudge him the chance to speak to family, especially since he looked excited about it."
Jack glared. "Not about that."
Tosh flushed. "I'll send him up then."
"Also, Tosh, when Owen gets in tell him to find me a pair of tweezers."
"Tweezers?" Tosh lifted her hands up to her ponytail and pulled on it, tightening the elastic band. "What for?" Jack held up his thumb and Tosh winced. "I'll tell him to find you tweezers."
Jack smiled and squeezed her upper arm. "You're a life saver."
"It's only tweezers."
"And coffee."
Tosh sighed. "And coffee."
"Life. Saver," Jack repeated, punctuating each word.
"Just go get your coffee. I'll pass along the messages, but I really need to get back to work now."
"If you find something--"
"Jack," Tosh snapped. "I've been doing this job for more than a year. I know procedure."
Jack laughed. "Better than anyone else here I suspect."
Tosh gave him a wry smile and left him to whatever he had been doing. Mentally she revised her earlier thought, this was going to be a very long morning.
Ianto Jones knew his family hated him, but he didn't know they hated him this much. They ridiculed him, they tossed him about like a dirty gym sock, and they made it a point to tell him he would never amount to anything, but they had never done this. They'd never outright lied to him. At least not about something like this. He squirmed in his seat at his mother's kitchen table. His brother snorted into his plate of toast, and made a series of rude gestures towards Ianto that made his blood boil. He should have known better.
"Ianto, why don't you tell us about this job of yours," Dylan Jones said. Ianto stared at his father impassively. They knew what he did. His gaze shot across the table, before settling back on his father. "You're what exactly?"
"I'm a secretary."
"You hear that, Mary? Our son's a secretary."
Ianto felt his skin crawl. The oily bastard could mock him all he wanted in private, but they had a guest that morning. He caught her eyes, and jerked in surprise at the purple irises. Contacts, his mind supplied as he watched her blink. He caught the briefest flicker of hazel behind them. She smiled at him. He wracked his brain for her name, he knew he'd been introduced early that morning when he'd first shown up, but they hadn't been able to say more than a greeting since then.
"Of course he is dad," Thomas sneered. "Flaming pouf that he is. It's the perfect girly job for him."
Ianto felt his jaw slowly drop. "Wha--"
"Mr. Jones," the girl interrupted, turning to face Dylan, "Did you know your son is a pretentious asshole?"
The entire room fell silent and Ianto's stomach twisted. She didn't even look apologetic about what she had said, but then, Ianto hadn't really expected her to look apologetic. Actually, she looked rather pleased.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I'm sure you do," she quipped. Ianto wondered in how many ways that was going to come back and bite him later. It would. Even if it took his father and brother a whole week to process the fact that they'd been insulted. "Ianto, please pass the juice." He did so with numb detachment. No one had ever stuck up for him in front of his family. No one knew he needed to be stuck up for. Jack would do it in a heartbeat if he knew what Ianto's home life was like, and that was exactly why Jack didn't know.
"Anyone want more eggs?"
Ianto's head snapped up to see his mother holding a frying pan. When her eyes met his he shook his head. He had to get to work soon, not that they'd miss him if he didn't show. He draped his napkin over his plate and pushed back from the table. Gently he kissed his mother's wrinkling cheek and bowed out of the room.
His mind reeled as he picked up his jacket off the chair he had left it laying on, and pulled out his car keys. His entire family lied to him for years. Years. Even his brother had known, and that stung more than anything.
"Ianto, wait up!" He paused, and glanced up to see the short girl--his half-sister--walking up to him. Her curly brown hair hung messily down to her chin, framing her round face. Her purple eyes glittered in the low hall light, and her quirky smile did little to assure him of her intentions. "You okay?"
"Yes," he answered uneasily. "I'm sorry Miss--"
"Kaleigh, my name's Kaleigh. You sure you're okay?"
"Kaleigh then," Ianto amended, "I've got to get to work. My boss won't appreciate me being any later than I need to be."
Her eyes lit up and that uneasy feeling came back. "Can I go with you?"
"I'm not sure that's a g--"
"Please get me out of this house."
Ianto nodded. He was going to be in trouble with Jack for this, but one look at her pleading expression and another at the kitchen they'd just left solidified his decision. "Fine. You may come with me. It's a very boring job though."
"I'm sure it's not."
Ianto didn't reply to that. He moved to open the door, but she got to it first, and opened it widely. He stared at her, attempting to piece her together. She was an enigma, a bad one in his opinion. He didn't want more family. He had enough as it was. As they got into the car, he realized something odd that he hadn't been able to put into words.
"You're American, aren't you?"
She laughed. "I would have thought that was obvious."
"So would I."
Kaleigh arched a brow, a small smile quirking her lips. “So, where do you work exactly?”
Tosh squinted at the small radar screen. It didn’t make sense. She touched the bluetooth against her ear, switching it on. “Jack?” There was quiet static. Tosh continued to track the object which was gaining speed. “Jack!”
“Yeah, Tosh?”
And then it vanished. “You best get down here.”
“Find something?”
He had to sound excited. She tried to find the foreign object on other screens and froze. “Yes. Something familiar.”
“Familiar how?” Jack asked, and Tosh nearly jumped in her chair when Jack placed his hands on the back of it.
"It's flight pattern was similar to another from two years ago." She turned around in her chair. "Downing Street."
"But that's not possible."
"That's what I thought too, but that is clearly the same creature." Tosh pointed at the screen before her, and waited for Jack's verdict. His pallor sallowed as he looked at the screen. The camera's situated around Britain captured perfectly the devestation. The large ship had crashed into the side of a building and the police were already there blocking off the streets.
"That is not possible," Jack repeated, slamming his palms against the desktop. Tosh did jump this time. "Damn it."
"Do you know what they are?"
Jack's shaky laughter left a bad taste in her mouth. "Oh, I know what they are."
The sound of the door opening caused both of them to look up at the landing. Gwen stepped forward and gripped the railing with both her hands. “What’s going on?”
“Where have you been?”
Gwen pursed her lips. “Watching the telly, what’s it to you, Jack?”
“Is it your job to watch television?”
“Jack,” Tosh chided softly. “You know what this creature is and how to defeat it?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then focus on that.” Tosh glanced up at Gwen. “Was the news on?”
“Something crashed into a residential area,” Gwen said, answering the unasked question. “The police are being dodgy on the details. Not very surprising really.”
Jack began pacing. “Has Ianto shown yet?”
Tosh shook her head. “He called not even two minutes ago saying he was on his way.”
“Good, good,” Jack muttered distractedly. “We need someone to mind the base.”
“What about Owen?” Gwen suggested almost too practically.
Jack eyed her. “We need him with us.”
“Just a thought.”
“He’s here,” Tosh said, disrupting their argument. The three of them watched on the monitor as Ianto stepped out of his car.
The sharp inhale behind her could only be Jack, and this was confirmed when he asked, “Who is that with him?”
Author: faynia
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, OC/Jack
Rating: R
Genre: Romance, Action/Adventure, Serious!Crack
Warnings: Highlight for warnings * A Mary Sue! Yes, an intentional Mary Sue*
Summary When Ianto Jones was invited home, he learned that families can't keep secrets forever.
A/N: Written for windout's birthday, which was yesterday! Cause she's my bestest best best friend.
Beta'd by topazmusings
Toshiko Sato prided herself on her knowledge. She was smart--brilliant, in fact--and she didn't care that her colleagues knew it. But there was one thing, however, that she took special pride in, and that was her knowledge of the personal relationships inside Torchwood. No matter how much some of them hurt her, or how peculiar they seemed, she knew about them. She knew, for example, that when Jack died, Owen holed himself up in the infirmary and sobbed for fifteen minutes exactly before he stopped and pretended he was unaffected. She knew that Gwen sat by Jack's side to the point of obsession, her only concession was her stilted phone conversations with Rhys. And, she knew that Ianto was close enough to bringing a gun to his head and following Jack into the afterlife. Ianto worried her. He had no one, and no one noticed his suffering but her. Tosh had fretted over the idea of attempting to comfort him, the only thing stopping her was the memory of her chance encounter with his thoughts. She couldn't battle that.
When Jack had come back to life, it shocked her in ways very few things did in her field. Dead people didn't come back to life without any aid. She was not idiotic enough to believe that it was impossible, having seen it many times before. Jack was the exception, had always been the exception, and for that reason alone, she didn't push him to answer her questions.
That had been over two months before, before Jack had vanished, and Gwen had almost driven herself insane with worry and guilt.
Tosh was glad to have Jack back, she realized as she watched him come down the stairs towards her. He kept them together and safe. She appreciated that quality in him.
"Anything happening, Tosh?"
"The rift is stable, sir," she responded.
Jack appeared put out by that. "There's nothing strange on the radar, nothing at all?"
"Nothing," Tosh agreed, swiveling in her chair so she was facing the multiple screens again. "It's quiet."
Jack scratched the back of his neck and leaned against her chair. "How are you holding up?"
The question confused her. "I'm fine, Jack."
"Uh huh." He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Tell me you're happy."
"Of course I am," she stated, glancing up at his reflection in the monitors. "I love being here."
Jack's smile lit up his face, and she thanked whoever was listening that his sojourn had gone well. That he came back to them happy in a way that none of the team had ever seen him. He looked lighter, and younger, and the effect left her feeling lightheaded.
"Good." He stood there still and Tosh wondered what else he had to say. Usually this was around the time where he went to his office or went off to find Gwen and Owen and made sure they weren't fighting.
"Is everything all right?" she asked, skimming the numbers the computer generated before her. The sequence was stable, alarms weren't blaring in her head, and the satellites weren't picking anything up. She pushed her glasses up her nose with her thumb and squinted at the screen tracking the SUV, content to find it where they'd parked it last. There had been an incident just the week before where someone had stolen it and now she kept a wary eye on the screen to make sure it didn't happen again.
"Where's Ianto?"
"He said something about family business, Jack."
He frowned, she could feel it in the way his body tensed. "Family business?"
"Is that a problem?" Tosh snapped. "He will be in by noon."
Jack pushed off her chair and leaned against the console, arms folded across his chest. "I can't get the coffee maker to work," Jack admitted with a sheepish smile.
Tosh sighed. "You really ought to learn."
He shrugged. "Where's the fun in that?"
"You won't have to rely on other's to get you your caffeine fix." She stood and headed towards the kitchen area, knowing he was dogging her steps. "You still take it black?"
"You mean some people don't?"
Tosh rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long morning. "Really, Jack, do you want your coffee or not?"
"Yes."
She grimaced. "Go get your mug."
Jack saluted and ducked out of the small room, leaving Tosh to the coffee making. She went through the motions with mindless precision, measuring out two tablespoons of the black powder. How Jack could stand this stuff was too far beyond her. As she filled the machine with water, she mused over the reasons for Jack's confusion about Ianto's family. Surely he had to have known. Tosh knew how close the two men were and knew that since Jack's death there were very few secrets held between them. So, why didn't Jack know Ianto was visiting family? It wasn't like none of the crew had ever visited relatives or mentioned them at the least.
"Hello? Tosh? Jack?"
Tosh squared her shoulders, turning on the coffee maker and leaving it alone. Gwen had been arriving earlier in the mornings recently, and Tosh wondered if she was fighting with Rhys again.
"I'm in here, Gwen." She waited until Gwen appeared, hair mussed and clothing in disarray. Tosh could only gape as Gwen slunk into the room and sat at the small table. The heavy lines under her eyes were visible even under the layer of concealer on Gwen's face. "Are you all right?"
Gwen waved her off with a limp wrist. "I'm fine."
Tosh didn't ask again.
By the time the coffee finished brewing, Jack hadn't returned, leaving Tosh with the annoying job of having to find the captain. She could face a number of things, but a brain dead Jack was not someone she had signed on to work with. Tosh hurried through the halls towards Jack's office, her heels clicking against the concrete flooring as she went. She knocked on the door and stepped back. If Jack wasn't in there, she'd have to look for him through the cameras.
She sighed in irritation when the door opened and Jack popped his head around the corner. "My coffee's ready?"
"Yes, Jack, and Gwen's here."
"So early?" Jack questioned, brows furrowing in thought. "Did she tell you why? Is she all right?"
"She looks like death."
"That can't be good. We need her in fine working order," Jack muttered. Tosh gave him a sceptical stare and he added, "You certain she didn't say what was wrong?"
"I'm not exactly her best friend," Tosh pointed out. "You ask her. She might actually talk to you."
"Tosh," Jack warned.
Tosh crossed her arms in a defensive pose. She knew this would be a losing battle. It always was when it came to Gwen. Jack would never give up on her no matter how bad the blunder was. He knew something she didn't about the other woman, and no amount of questioning got the answers Tosh wanted. "Your coffee's getting cold, sir. Will that be all?"
"Send Ianto up here when he gets in. I need to talk to him."
"Jack, you can't begrudge him the chance to speak to family, especially since he looked excited about it."
Jack glared. "Not about that."
Tosh flushed. "I'll send him up then."
"Also, Tosh, when Owen gets in tell him to find me a pair of tweezers."
"Tweezers?" Tosh lifted her hands up to her ponytail and pulled on it, tightening the elastic band. "What for?" Jack held up his thumb and Tosh winced. "I'll tell him to find you tweezers."
Jack smiled and squeezed her upper arm. "You're a life saver."
"It's only tweezers."
"And coffee."
Tosh sighed. "And coffee."
"Life. Saver," Jack repeated, punctuating each word.
"Just go get your coffee. I'll pass along the messages, but I really need to get back to work now."
"If you find something--"
"Jack," Tosh snapped. "I've been doing this job for more than a year. I know procedure."
Jack laughed. "Better than anyone else here I suspect."
Tosh gave him a wry smile and left him to whatever he had been doing. Mentally she revised her earlier thought, this was going to be a very long morning.
Ianto Jones knew his family hated him, but he didn't know they hated him this much. They ridiculed him, they tossed him about like a dirty gym sock, and they made it a point to tell him he would never amount to anything, but they had never done this. They'd never outright lied to him. At least not about something like this. He squirmed in his seat at his mother's kitchen table. His brother snorted into his plate of toast, and made a series of rude gestures towards Ianto that made his blood boil. He should have known better.
"Ianto, why don't you tell us about this job of yours," Dylan Jones said. Ianto stared at his father impassively. They knew what he did. His gaze shot across the table, before settling back on his father. "You're what exactly?"
"I'm a secretary."
"You hear that, Mary? Our son's a secretary."
Ianto felt his skin crawl. The oily bastard could mock him all he wanted in private, but they had a guest that morning. He caught her eyes, and jerked in surprise at the purple irises. Contacts, his mind supplied as he watched her blink. He caught the briefest flicker of hazel behind them. She smiled at him. He wracked his brain for her name, he knew he'd been introduced early that morning when he'd first shown up, but they hadn't been able to say more than a greeting since then.
"Of course he is dad," Thomas sneered. "Flaming pouf that he is. It's the perfect girly job for him."
Ianto felt his jaw slowly drop. "Wha--"
"Mr. Jones," the girl interrupted, turning to face Dylan, "Did you know your son is a pretentious asshole?"
The entire room fell silent and Ianto's stomach twisted. She didn't even look apologetic about what she had said, but then, Ianto hadn't really expected her to look apologetic. Actually, she looked rather pleased.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I'm sure you do," she quipped. Ianto wondered in how many ways that was going to come back and bite him later. It would. Even if it took his father and brother a whole week to process the fact that they'd been insulted. "Ianto, please pass the juice." He did so with numb detachment. No one had ever stuck up for him in front of his family. No one knew he needed to be stuck up for. Jack would do it in a heartbeat if he knew what Ianto's home life was like, and that was exactly why Jack didn't know.
"Anyone want more eggs?"
Ianto's head snapped up to see his mother holding a frying pan. When her eyes met his he shook his head. He had to get to work soon, not that they'd miss him if he didn't show. He draped his napkin over his plate and pushed back from the table. Gently he kissed his mother's wrinkling cheek and bowed out of the room.
His mind reeled as he picked up his jacket off the chair he had left it laying on, and pulled out his car keys. His entire family lied to him for years. Years. Even his brother had known, and that stung more than anything.
"Ianto, wait up!" He paused, and glanced up to see the short girl--his half-sister--walking up to him. Her curly brown hair hung messily down to her chin, framing her round face. Her purple eyes glittered in the low hall light, and her quirky smile did little to assure him of her intentions. "You okay?"
"Yes," he answered uneasily. "I'm sorry Miss--"
"Kaleigh, my name's Kaleigh. You sure you're okay?"
"Kaleigh then," Ianto amended, "I've got to get to work. My boss won't appreciate me being any later than I need to be."
Her eyes lit up and that uneasy feeling came back. "Can I go with you?"
"I'm not sure that's a g--"
"Please get me out of this house."
Ianto nodded. He was going to be in trouble with Jack for this, but one look at her pleading expression and another at the kitchen they'd just left solidified his decision. "Fine. You may come with me. It's a very boring job though."
"I'm sure it's not."
Ianto didn't reply to that. He moved to open the door, but she got to it first, and opened it widely. He stared at her, attempting to piece her together. She was an enigma, a bad one in his opinion. He didn't want more family. He had enough as it was. As they got into the car, he realized something odd that he hadn't been able to put into words.
"You're American, aren't you?"
She laughed. "I would have thought that was obvious."
"So would I."
Kaleigh arched a brow, a small smile quirking her lips. “So, where do you work exactly?”
Tosh squinted at the small radar screen. It didn’t make sense. She touched the bluetooth against her ear, switching it on. “Jack?” There was quiet static. Tosh continued to track the object which was gaining speed. “Jack!”
“Yeah, Tosh?”
And then it vanished. “You best get down here.”
“Find something?”
He had to sound excited. She tried to find the foreign object on other screens and froze. “Yes. Something familiar.”
“Familiar how?” Jack asked, and Tosh nearly jumped in her chair when Jack placed his hands on the back of it.
"It's flight pattern was similar to another from two years ago." She turned around in her chair. "Downing Street."
"But that's not possible."
"That's what I thought too, but that is clearly the same creature." Tosh pointed at the screen before her, and waited for Jack's verdict. His pallor sallowed as he looked at the screen. The camera's situated around Britain captured perfectly the devestation. The large ship had crashed into the side of a building and the police were already there blocking off the streets.
"That is not possible," Jack repeated, slamming his palms against the desktop. Tosh did jump this time. "Damn it."
"Do you know what they are?"
Jack's shaky laughter left a bad taste in her mouth. "Oh, I know what they are."
The sound of the door opening caused both of them to look up at the landing. Gwen stepped forward and gripped the railing with both her hands. “What’s going on?”
“Where have you been?”
Gwen pursed her lips. “Watching the telly, what’s it to you, Jack?”
“Is it your job to watch television?”
“Jack,” Tosh chided softly. “You know what this creature is and how to defeat it?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then focus on that.” Tosh glanced up at Gwen. “Was the news on?”
“Something crashed into a residential area,” Gwen said, answering the unasked question. “The police are being dodgy on the details. Not very surprising really.”
Jack began pacing. “Has Ianto shown yet?”
Tosh shook her head. “He called not even two minutes ago saying he was on his way.”
“Good, good,” Jack muttered distractedly. “We need someone to mind the base.”
“What about Owen?” Gwen suggested almost too practically.
Jack eyed her. “We need him with us.”
“Just a thought.”
“He’s here,” Tosh said, disrupting their argument. The three of them watched on the monitor as Ianto stepped out of his car.
The sharp inhale behind her could only be Jack, and this was confirmed when he asked, “Who is that with him?”