Missing
Title: Missing
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Gwen, Tosh
Rating/Warnings: 15? References to violence and vigilantism
Prompt: Written Promts R Us daily prompt 140: Missing.
Word count: 1,365
Spoilers: None
Summary: Jack has been missing for so long
AN: This was meant to be all about Jack, but Owen and Ianto bro-ship ended up creeping in and taking up more than I intended....
Jack stood leaning against the doorway to his office, looking around the Hub. Tosh was out, gone to collect some computer hardware from a very discrete contact, Gwen was sitting at her desk looking at pictures on Facebook while pretending to work and Owen and Ianto were bickering. Loudly.
“Oi. You two,” he called over to them, “what’s going on?”
“He started it.” said Owen, earning himself an extra glare from Ianto. Gwen’s mobile rang and the others all studiously ignored it, not wishing to listen to another soppy phone call with Rhys.
“I merely pointed out that…” Ianto started.
“…can’t let a single thing go…” Owen spoke over him.
“…unhygienic, unsanitary…”
“...always bloody something with him…”
“…were not designed to hold that sort of matter…”
“…like having a bloody mother hen…”
“…it’s sticky, the stains never come out…”
“…like annoying the fuck out of everyone is in his job description…”
“Will you shut up!” Gwen’s voice travelled across the Hub and had the desired effect. All three men turned to her as she continued to speak, the amused grin falling off Jack’s face immediately.
“Tosh, calm down love and tell me where you are. We’ll come and get you.” She listened while Jack hovered next to her; Owen and Ianto started moving without waiting to hear any more. Owen was stripping off his white coat and heading towards the weapon store while Ianto ran to Jack’s office to retrieve his greatcoat and Webley.
“We’ll be right there Tosh. Just stay where you are sweetheart.” Gwen closed her phone and turned to the others.
“Tosh’s been mugged. A couple of us need to go and pick her up.”
Jack looked around him; at Ianto coming from his office, Webley and greatcoat in his arms, his own jacket on; at Owen pausing over selecting weapons, then shrugging and picking up handguns; at Gwen pulling her coat on with a look on her face that was a mix of concern for Tosh and the clear desire to kill whoever had hurt her.
“We’ll all go.” Jack decided shrugging on his coat and taking his gun from Ianto. Owen tossed the other two a gun each, followed by a loaded magazine. Gwen grabbed the SUV keys and passed them to Jack as he strode past her towards the underground garage.
Blue lights flashing on the SUV, they reached Toshiko’s side in minutes. She was sitting on a low wall at the end of an ally. She looked dejected and held a hand to the back of her head. Jack brought the SUV to a screeching stop and four doors flew open as the other Torchwood members ran to her.
Owen went to kneel in front of Tosh, but she batted him away.
“I’m fine really. I feel silly more than anything. They took me by surprise, two of them came from behind me.”
“I’ve got the CCTV.” Ianto said, looking up from the PDA he was holding. “Got a good visual on them both. They went that way.” he added, pointing. “Can’t have got far.”
Owen looked at Ianto and they exchanged a silent, grim look. Without a word, and with nothing more than a brief nod towards Jack they ran off in the direction Ianto had pointed. Jack watched them go before being brought back by Tosh’s small voice.
“I’m sorry Jack.” Tosh said, looking up at him.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” he said gently. He was still standing back because Gwen was now sitting next to her. Gwen had slipped an arm round her shoulder and Jack could see her surreptitiously lean back to look the back of Tosh’s head where her hand had been. Apparently satisfied that Tosh was as okay as she had claimed to Owen, she leant forward and put her face close to the other woman’s.
“Let’s get you back to the Hub eh, and you can tell us what happened.”
“Yeah.” Tosh allowed herself to be helped up and over to the front seat of the SUV. Jack stepped into the driver’s seat and Gwen climbed into the back. Jack looked at Tosh’s hands clasped together in her lap and gave them a squeeze before putting the vehicle into drive and pulling away.
Back at the Hub Gwen took Tosh downstairs to get changed out of clothes that had been ripped and muddied from being pushed to the ground. They came back to the main Hub and Gwen sat Tosh down on the saggy sofa and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before going to make her a cup of sweet tea.
Jack leant back against the wall, arms folded across his chest. He regarded Tosh quietly. She looked at him and hurriedly looked way again lowering her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” she said again.
“Tosh.” he said, trying to inject a warning tone into his voice.
She gave him a small smile. “Sorry.” she repeated, the response automatic. This time they locked eyes and both smiled.
Gwen came back and sat next to Tosh, handing her a steaming mug of tea.
“Come on love. Tell us what happened.” Gwen rubbed small comforting circles on Tosh’s back as she started to talk.
“I was walking through town, taking a shortcut to get back. I was on the phone to Michael the computer guy, and I guess I just didn’t hear them coming up behind me. The next thing I know something’s hit me on the back of the head. I fell down and then they were both on me. I didn’t have time to call out or fight or do anything. They just grabbed my bag, hit me again and ran off. I managed to hold onto my phone though. I feel so foolish.”
“These things happen, Tosh. I got mugged while I was in police training. I just completely froze.”
Tosh smiled gratefully at her and sipped at her tea as the cog door opened and Owen and Ianto strode through.
Jack looked up. “Well?”
“We found them.” Ianto said.
“And they now know not to go around attacking friends of ours.”
“Afterwards we hand delivered them to the police station and on the way back sent the police evidence implicating them in a selection of unsolved crimes in the area.”
“And some that we made up.”
Jack looked at them, he watched the way they looked over at Tosh, the way she returned their look, a quiet gratitude in her eyes. He turned and saw Gwen, a hard expression on her face as she nodded towards the two men in acknowledgement and acceptance of their actions.
As he looked he saw many things. He saw the ready acceptance of violence and revenge, he saw dysfunctionality. He saw two women who would run to each others’ aid in a heartbeat. He saw two men who fought like children then fought side by side in the defence of one of their own. He saw a team. He saw so much more than that.
Something stirred in Jack. Something that had been missing for a long time. Something he hadn’t been sure he would ever find again. Pride and love mingled in his heart, swelling in his chest as he watched his team move together.
Ianto had headed straight to his coffee maker while Owen had handed Tosh’s reclaimed bag back to her. He was now perched on the table opposite her, where Gwen still sat with her arm stroking the woman’s back.
Jack took a deep breath as Ianto headed back towards them with a tray of steaming coffees and a bottle of whiskey tucked under one arm. The young man smiled as he got near the sofa and all three returned it with varying exclamations of gratitude.
Ianto looked up and caught Jack’s gaze, and an unspoken question flittered across his eyes.
“Coffee?” he asked instead.
Jack smiled and nodded. He walked over to the sofa. Gwen and Tosh smiled up at him; he took an offered coffee from Ianto and rested a hand on Owen’s shoulder. He had been lost for such a long time. But now he was found. He was home; home with his family.