Meeting the In-Laws
“…Owen, I want that autopsy finished today. Tosh, keep running that translation program. We don’t want to open that artifact and find the writing next to the lid said ‘warning, contents lethal to humans,’” Jack said as Ianto held out his great coat.
“Gwen,” he continued as he slid his arms in the sleeves of his coat, “I’ll have my mobile on, but don’t call unless the world is ending.” She opened her mouth. “I mean it, anything short of planet annihilation, you three deal with it.”
“Right,” Owen said, waving a gloved hand and heading down to the autopsy bay.
“No problem, Jack,” Tosh said. “Enjoy.”
“Always,” Jack said with a quick grin and turned to Ianto. The younger man was nervous, but if you didn’t know him as well as Jack did you wouldn’t know it by his calm face and still body. “Ready?”
Ianto nodded and they headed for the exit.
“But Jack, where are you going?” Gwen demanded.
“Weevil hunting,” Jack called over his shoulder.
“In the daylight?” she asked, surprised.
“They’re in the sewers,” Jack said, “they don’t care what time of day it is.”
“But don’t you need help?” she insisted. “I could go with you -“
“No!” Ianto said forcefully just as Tosh blurted “Gwen!”
Jack chuckled and pulled Ianto down the corridor toward the garage.
Gwen turned to Tosh in exasperation. “But what if they get hurt? It’s dangerous to hunt weevils with only two people.”
“Gwen, think!” Tosh exclaimed, shaking her head.
“ ---?”
“Gwen, girl,” Owen said, the alien version of a stomach in his gloved hands, “when Jack said they were going weevil hunting -“
“ - he didn’t mean they were actually going weevil hunting,” Tosh finished
“Then what - oh. OH! In the middle of the afternoon?
Tosh just looked at her over the top of her glasses.
“Apparently you and Rhys have been a couple too long,” Owen smirked.
Gwen felt her face flush. “But - but it’s the middle of a work day!”
“One of the benefits of being the boss,” Owen said cheerfully. “You can shag the help any time you want.”
“I think it’s romantic,” Tosh said, turning back to her computer.
“I think I’d rather have them gone than flinging themselves at each other all over the hub,” Owen said acerbically. He shuddered. “Now that’s a visual I didn’t need.”
Gwen plopped down on the sofa and wondered what Rhys would say if she’d asked him to leave work so they could have a quick shag.
She sighed. She knew what he’d say. Bollocks.
Must be nice to have the boss for your lover …
“ ‘Weevil hunting’?” Ianto asked as he tightened his seat belt. “You had to say weevil hunting. You know what they’re all thinking now, don’t you?”
Jack backed the SUV onto the street. “Yeah, they’re thinking ‘that Ianto Jones is one lucky guy!’ “
Ianto rolled his eyes and refused to give Jack the satisfaction of looking at him.
“Let’s keep this out of the nav system,” Jack said. “You just tell me where to turn.”
“Right on Denham then left on Eider,” Ianto told him. “And Jack, thank you.”
Jack smiled softly. “They don’t have to know everything.” He looked sideways at Ianto. “Of course, I was thinking that when we’re done we really could go weevil hunting...” He squeezed Ianto’s thigh suggestively.
“Jack!”
While they waited for a light to change, Jack glanced at Ianto, who was nibbling at his thumbnail. “Nervous?”
Ianto blinked and his eyes refocused. He looked at his thumbnail in annoyance and brought his hand down. “Yeah. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen her and I’ve changed so much since then.”
Jack lifted Ianto’s hand and brought it to his lips. “With all the things you’ve been through, you were bound to change.”
The light changed and they drove down the street. “Your family does know you work for Torchwood, don’t they?”
Ianto nodded. “I told them it was a special ops part of the government.”
“Special ops - so they expect secrets.”
“They do. And Cadis has lived in the States for these last 4 years so Canary Wharf -“ his voice caught and he swallowed hard - “Canary Wharf means nothing to her.”
I wish Canary Wharf meant nothing to all of us, Jack thought, but didn’t voice the thought.
“I wonder how she’s changed since you last saw her,” he said instead.
“Biggest change is that she’s had a baby. Cadis a mother. Hard to picture.”
“Uncle Ianto,” Jack teased.
“Uncle Ianto with presents,” Ianto said, pulling a teething ring and small rag bear from his pocket.
“Spoiling the baby already!” Jack laughed.
“It’s my avuncular duty,” Ianto said primly.
He looked at the house numbers, then at the directions his sister had sent him. “Should be the second house down.”
Ianto adjusted his tie and rang the bell. A tall dark haired woman answered and asked them in. and then, to Jack’s amusement and Ianto’s chagrin, smothered Ianto in a hug.
“Look at you!” she exclaimed, “my baby brother looking all grown up!” She brushed his lapels and ran her hands over his shoulders. “Good quality,” she said approvingly. “Da would be proud.” She hugged him again, with an intensity Jack found touching.
“Cadis, you are wrinkling my shirt!” Ianto complained, pulling away from her.
He tugged at his suit coat and smoothed his shirt. “Cadis, this is Jack. Jack, this is Cadis, the best big sister a lad could have.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she grinned, holding her hand out to Jack.
“Captain Jack Harkness, ma’am, very pleased to meet you.” He made a conscious effort not to hold her hand any longer than was absolutely proper. From the narrowing of Ianto’s eyes, even that might have been too long. He gave the younger man his most innocent look, to which Ianto rolled his eyes.
Cadis rolled her own eyes at the two of them - Jack laughing inside at what was apparently a family trait - and ushered them toward the back of the house. “I have lunch ready on the terrace. It isn’t much, I’m afraid, just sandwiches and fruit. Between the moving and the baby I haven’t had much time lately.”
Ianto brushed her hair affectionately. “Whatever you’ve fixed will be wonderful, Cad’. Where is Bronwyn, anyway?”
“Naptime. She’ll be up soon.” She gestured to the back yard. “Go on out, I’ll bring the drinks. Jack, your pleasure?”
“ Just water ma’am.”
“Ianto?”
“A beer if you have it.”
“A beer while working?”
“I have a very understanding boss,” he answered with a grin.
“And I have an employee who deserves treats,” Jack said softly.
Cadis watched as they went outside, Jack’s hand lingering on Ianto’s back.
The food was good. Jack was on his second sandwich and Ianto had virtually claimed the fruit for himself.
“I’m going to have to bring Ianto over more often,” Jack said, watching Ianto spear another strawberry. “I can never get him to stop working long enough to get him to eat.”
Cadis laughed. “I’m having trouble picturing that! Had a knack of being gone when there were chores to be done, he did.”
“I always did have the ability to analyze the situation and know when to make a strategic retreat,” Ianto grinned.
She ruffled his hair.
He ducked away. “Cad’!”
Jack sipped his water and grinned. There were a thousand questions he wanted to ask Cadis about their childhood, but he refrained. This visit was for Cadis and Ianto. There would be other visits where he could dig for information. He paused with the glass inches above the table. Slowly he set the glass down. ‘Other visits.’ He loved the permanence in that thought.
He didn’t realize it, but he was grinning so widely Ianto was getting suspicious.
“Jack, how did you ever convince Ianto to wear suits?” Cadis asked. “We could never get him out of jeans and trainers.”
Funny, I have no trouble getting him out of his jeans and trainers, Jack thought.
Uh-oh, Ianto was giving him that look again. How did the man always know what he was thinking? Jack cleared his throat. “As far as I’m concerned, he could come to work in his birth -” Ianto kicked his ankle - “bathing suit, but he insists on suits. He does look good in a suit, doesn’t he?” And out of his suit, with the suit puddled around his ankles, with the suit scattered across the Hub, with the suit crumpled on his bed -
Ianto kicked him again.
Good thing he didn’t bruise.
A soft cry came from the baby monitor Cadis had put on the table. “Ah, her majesty’s awake. I’ll be right back.”
Ianto waited till she was inside, then turned to Jack. “You said you’d behave yourself!” he hissed.
“Hey, I didn’t actually say anything. You can’t fault me for what you think I was thinking!”
“You keep thinking those thoughts, you’ll find yourself alone in the Hub tonight,” Ianto warned darkly.
Jack wasn’t worried. He’d swiped Ianto’s car keys that morning, just in case.
Cadis came back, holding a chubby baby dressed in a yellow sundress. “Here,” she said, handing the baby to Ianto, “meet your niece.”
Ianto cradled Bronywn as if he held babies every day. “She’s beautiful, Cadis!” Bronywn grabbed his finger and pulled it to her mouth. Ianto laughed in awe when she began gumming his finger.
“Here’s a towel,” Cadis said, “in case she spits up.”
“No worry if she does,” Ianto said, his gaze never leaving the baby. “It’s just a suit. I can get it dry cleaned.”
Jack looked at him in amazement, wondering when the alien had taken possession of Ianto’s body. He realized Cadis has asked him a question. “I’m sorry?”
“What part of America are you from?” she repeated.
“Oh, I lived in a lot of places,” he said vaguely. “I understand you’ve been living in the States?”
She looked at him appraisingly then nodded slowly. “When my company offered us the temporary transfer, we jumped a the chance."
“Did you enjoy it?” He hadn’t missed the way she’d looked at him. Very much the way Ianto looked at him when he was dancing around the truth and Ianto knew it. I hope those two never gang up on me, Jack thought, I wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I did,” she said. “Winter’s were colder than here and summer’s much hotter, but it was beautiful. I hadn’t realized how big the States were till we moved there. You think you do, looking at maps, but until you get there, you can’t imagine all that space.”
You want space, Jack thought, you should see the Delta Galaxy. Nothing there but space.
"The pictures you sent were lovely," Ianto told her, grinning at Bronwyn, who was now clutching the tiny bear he'd given her.
“Someday you’ll see it for yourself,” Cadis told him.
No I won’t, Ianto thought. I’ll never be able to leave Torchwood that long. But he just smiled at Cadis.
Cadis turned to Jack. “Jack, Ianto can never say much about his work, said it’s some kind of special ops organization?”
She had the same direct way of looking at you that Ianto had. “Yes ma’am, it is, so I’m sure you understand why we can’t say more than that.”
She raised one eyebrow. Just like Ianto, Jack thought. Wonder what arguments between these two are like.
“Doesn’t special ops deal with terrorists, threats like that? Isn’t it dangerous?”
“Cadis, I’m the office administrator,” Ianto said in exasperation. “I write reports, file papers … get them places on time -“ this last with a quick grin at Jack - “hardly duties to put me in the path of danger.”
No, you have other duties that do that, Jack thought wryly.
Brownyn started fussing. “She’s hungry,” Cadis said. “Let me get her bottle.”
“You’re a natural at that,” Jack said, watching Ianto gently rock the baby.
“There are only so many ways to hold a baby,” Ianto pointed out dryly. “Even Owen could figure out how to do it.”
“But would we want him to?” Jack laughed.
Cadis returned with a warmed baby bottle. “Here ‘Yan, I’ll let you do the honors. Jack, if you wouldn’t mind helping me clean up.”
“Cadis -“ Ianto began.
She kissed the top of his head. “Hush, baby brother. Just keep Bronwyn happy for a while.”
“Jack -“ Ianto said worriedly.
Jack bent down and quickly kissed Ianto. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’ll be alright.”
Jack gathered up plates and platters and followed Cadis into the kitchen.
Cadis ran the dishwater. “I presume you expected this moment?” she asked, rinsing the dishes before sliding them into the soapy water.
“Yes ma’am I did.”
She handed him a dishtowel. “I wash, you dry.”
He took his great coat off and draped it over a kitchen chair, then rolled up his sleeves.
“Just put the plate on the counter when it’s dry.” She glanced out the window, at her brother and daughter. “ From the title and the coat, I’m guessing military background,” she said, rinsing a plate and handing it to him.
“Yes.”
“So this ‘ma’am’ business, is it military conditioning or are you being obsequious so you’ll get on my good side?”
Jack laughed in delight. “Would it surprise you if I said a little of both?” He shook his head. “You and Ianto are so alike!”
“We’ve always been close.” She handed him the platter. “You know Ianto’s not yet 25, don’t you?”
Jack nodded, knowing where this was going.
“You’re older. Older than you look, I suspect.”
If you only knew, Jack thought.
“Old enough to take advantage of him if you wanted,” she continued. “Ianto’s not had much experience with romance. And he’s never been involved with a man before. It wouldn’t be difficult for a more experienced person to use him unfairly.”
“Except I won’t,” Jack said. “I would never take advantage of him.”
“And you’re his boss,” she said as though he hadn’t spoken. She gave up all pretense of washing dishes and stared at him unblinking. “His boss. So you’re in control of both his professional life and his personal life.”
“The only person in control of Ianto’s life is Ianto. Has he said something to you to indicate there’s a problem?” If Ianto were unhappy, I’d have noticed, Jack thought, wouldn’t I? I’ve tried to be more sensitive.
“No, but then he wouldn’t, would he? My brother has always kept his emotions to himself.” She took the dishtowel from Jack and dried her hands. “Truth, I haven’t seen him this happy in years. When his girlfriend died -“ she blew out a puff of air - “I thought we were going to lose him too. It was so hard not being here for him.” She touched Jack’s hand. “Ianto said you gave him reason to keep living. I will always be in your debt for that. It’s just that he is so very young, and - I worry. I worry about his relationship with you and I worry about his job”
“That’s what big sisters do.” Jack looked out the window. Ianto had the baby to his shoulder, patting her back and jiggling her as he walked around the yard. He cast increasingly anxious looks toward the house.
Children, a wife, a normal safe job - all the things Ianto could have had if he’d never joined Torchwood. All the things Ianto deserved.
But if Ianto hadn’t joined Torchwood, Jack would never have know him, and he needed Ianto the way he needed air. He was a selfish bastard, he knew, but he thanked every god there was that Ianto was in his life.
He turned back to Cadis. “If you’re as much like Ianto as I think then you want the truth straight up. With the job we have, it’s almost impossible to have the things that make up a ‘normal’ life, wife, kids, a home like this.” And he probably won’t live long enough to see your little one start middle school, he thought sadly, but quickly tamped down on that horrible thought.
“But because of the job we have, people like you and Bronwyn are safe. I know Ianto thinks that’s a more than fair trade off.” Even though he didn’t always, not where Ianto was concerned.
He’d lost all hope for himself years ago.
He was having trouble seeing because his eyes were tearing up, and wasn’t that a bit embarrassing. “As far as Ianto and me, our feelings grew from what we’d been through together. I promise you, I am not taking advantage of him. I will love him to the best of my ability and try very hard to never give him cause to regret loving me.” Even though he probably gave Ianto reason to question why he loved Jack a dozen times a day. “I will do everything in my power to keep him safe.” Which won’t be enough, Jack though, one day it won’t be enough, but by god, I’ll hold back time itself to make that day as far from now as possible.
Cadis watched him for a moment then reached up and kissed his cheek. “I believe you will,” she said softly. “And I believe I’ll hold you to it.”
The back door opened. “Jack, we should be getting back to work,” Ianto said, looking from his sister to Jack, frowning when he saw Jack’s red eyes.
“You’re right,” Jack said, reaching for his coat. “Gods know what they’ve been up to in our absence.”
Cadis wrapped up the leftovers for them and gave them to Ianto. “In case you work late,” she said, taking the baby.
She walked them out to the SUV.
Ianto hugged her goodbye, gently so he didn’t wake Bronwyn.
“Promise me you’ll come by next week for supper,” Cadis said.
“I promise. If my job allows.”
Cadis looked at Jack. “Try to make sure his job allows. Oh - and you’re invited too.” She put her hand on Ianto’s back, drew him closer. “I like him,” she said softly. “I’m happy for you.”
She felt the tension leave his body.
She stopped Jack before he could open the driver’s door and pulled him a few steps away from the car. “I believe, I do believe, that you want nothing but the best for my brother, but I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you something for future reference.”
“Yes?”
“When Ianto was younger there were boys who were cruel to him. They soon learned that if they made Ianto cry, I made them cry.” She leaned toward him to make sure she had his attention. “That tenet still applies.”
“Duly noted, ma’am.” Jack said, tipping the brim of his nonexistent hat. “And I’m glad he has a guardian angel like you.”
“What were you two talking about?” Ianto asked as they drove away.
“She said she had baby pictures of you she’ll show me next time.”
“She didn’t!” Ianto exclaimed, horrified.
“She did. Said there was one particular she wanted to show me, you naked on the kitchen table. Hey, we should reenact that tonight, I’ll get a camera -“
“Jack, you are not -“
“Come on, ‘Ianto, it’ll be fun!”
“No, it will not be fun because it will not be done!” Ianto said emphatically. He really did not like the look in Jack’s eyes.
Jack grinned evilly.
For the first time in his life, Ianto prayed for weevil sightings.