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Bedroom Factotum	By : RowenRaven Category: S through Z > Torchwood Views: 4859 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood as it belongs to BBC, nor do I make any profit out of this or any story.

Chapter List
- 6
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Bedroom Factotum 7

The next day, much to Jack’s dismay, Ianto seems hesitant; a bit unsure and nervous around the captain. He hopes Ianto doesn’t doubt his motives last night. So he decides to check on the tea boy, if there are any doubts or misunderstandings brewing in the young man’s mind it’d be best to clear them as soon as possible.
As he comes out of his office he frowns and looks around. Tosh is at her station typing away eyes glued to her numerous screens and monitors. Owen is down at the autopsy bay. He spots Ianto coming out of the archives, but…
“Where is Gwen?” he asks aloud, to their credit all three stop in their tracks and look around as if only noticing her absence now that he pointed it out.
“She hasn’t come in yet,” Tosh informs him.
That really puzzles Jack he expected Gwen to stump into his office first thing in the morning to have another head-butting match with him about the people missing in the rift. Tosh and Owen go back to their tasks. However the captain notices Ianto falters, eyes shifting nervously, the way they do when he knows more than he is letting on. The 51^st century man gives him a meaningful look in askance. The Welshman bites his lips and shrugs a shoulder guiltily, meeting Jack’s gaze sheepishly.
And it dawns on Jack. He glares furiously at the younger man. Ianto seems to internally flinch and shrink back into himself, but returns the ex-time agent’s glare with a determined look of his own. Jack’s jaw tenses and he grits his teeth, he points a menacing finger at Ianto promising repercussions. Then he pushes past him to his office, dons his coat and storms out of the Hub.
Ianto runs a hand through his hair as he watches Jack leave and he lets out a defeated sigh. He becomes aware of Tosh and Owen staring at him brows raise in expectation, reminding him the silent exchange didn’t go unnoticed. The tea boy shakes his head dismissing their curiosity and turns on his heels retreating back to the archives.
At his return, Jack decides he is not going to interfere. He’ll let Gwen do as she wants and he’ll wait for what he knows is the obvious outcome before he confronts Ianto. He’ll let him stew in uncertainty before taking actions for his blatant disregard of Jack’s orders concerning Gwen and Flat Holm Island.
When Gwen returns with a defeated air around her, and starts to pack all her research; despondence marking her every move, Jack knows things went as he feared.
“Ianto!” he booms loudly, beckoning the younger man to his office.
The Welshman gives Gwen a sympathetic, worried glance, then squaring his shoulders he fallows the captain. Closing the door behind him he faces Jack, resigned to accept his fate for disobeying orders; wondering if it would remain at a professional level or extent to a personal one. Jack sits behind his desk, arms resting on the top, hands clasps. Ianto remains standing.
“She seems to have found resolution, thought there is a lot to be said about peace of mind wouldn’t you agree?” Jack says in a deceivingly conversational tone; throwing Ianto’s words back at him.
Ianto doesn’t bother to dignify the sarcasm with an answer. Jack doesn’t offer him a sit, so he doesn’t take one. They stare stone still, unmoving. Jack rigidly tense, exuding angry dominance; nose drills flaring, arms now crossed over his massive chest, bright eyes glaring. Ianto stands calm, face blank, hands claps loosely before him. His pose is open, unchallenging; but not exactly submissive, he refuses to be intimidated.
“Are you satisfied now?! Did it go as planned?” Jack finally says his tone deliberate and accusing.
Ianto looks at him disappointedly, three sentences since he walked through the door and Jack has already made it personal.
“That’s not fair Jack, don’t make it out like I have something personal against Gwen,” he interjects trying to appease the storm before it hits, thought it might be too late.
“Then what should I make it out to be? Why else did you send her there, when I specifically ordered you not to?” the captain demands through gritted teeth.
“Exactly, you ordered me. I challenged your authority as the commanding officer. You should focus in that and not if I wanted or not to cause her harm. This is strictly a professional matter between you and me, not a personal one between her and me,” Ianto clarifies irritably, trying to put things in the proper perspective for the affronted American.
“Fine then, what made you think you could outrank me?” Jack challenges. “Outrank everyone and demine my decisions,” he adds with a little spite.
Ianto bristles. He knows Jack is doing it deliberately reminding Ianto that regardless to all of his uses and responsibilities, he is the Torchwood member of lowest rank, fallowed only by Mayfawn and Janet. But as much as the barb stings he is not falling for it, he is determined to keep this at a laboral level.
“I believe it was the best course of action. She wanted to know, it would take more than your clamming up or physical intimidation to make her drop the disappearance cases even before she learned the rift was involved. Once she made that connection it was a losing battle against her crusade, nothing short of Retcon would have worked. And her single mindedness beats even that,” Ianto tries to sound calm and reasonable.
“You don’t know that. It was my problem to deal with, not something for you to get your manipulative hands in to,” Jack snarls menacingly.
“Actually I believe I should have a say in it,” the archivist insists.
“Why!”
“Because I run Flat Holms Jack,” he says dead serious while Jack looks outraged. Ianto stops him before he can object to the claim. “It may be under your name, your signatures in the checks, but tell me when was the last time you checked the books, the resident files, and the supply inventory. Apart from your occasional visits and weekly reports from Helen, you have nothing to do with the place if you can help it. You dumped it on me, so I do have a say,” even in saying this there is no accusation in his tone, he simply state the facts in that bland but smart way of his.
“Why show her?” Jack asks again, though the feral temper is toned down a few notches by the young man’s prior argument.
“If Gwen truly is your SIC, I believe she should know. Or is that position limited to barking orders in the field and antagonizing you at every turn? Shouldn’t it also apply to administrative matters?” he states matter-of-factly, returning the ranks jab at the captain.
          “There is no need with me here to handle it,” Jack counters.
“Right, because you’ve never got stuck in 1940’s chasing after you name sake. You never died and stayed dead for almost a week, nor have you ever disappeared for months a time,” he doesn’t manage to keep the resentment completely out on this one, sarcasm dripping from his lilting accent daring Jack to deny all the occasions that the tea boy had to take reigns of Torchwood’s administration.
“She was not ready!” Jack shout- hisses jumping to his feet and banging a fist on his desk. He’s running out of reasons to defend his stance.
“And I was?!” Ianto spat back unable to contain the flare of his temper, it makes the older man pause, not knowing what to say. “At least she had you there with her, I didn’t have that comfort,” he adds in a placating tone.
“The effect it had on you is not the same as it has on her,” Jack knows it’s the wrong thing to say but he can’t back down.
“You weren’t here, so don’t presume to know,” he says darkly. “I couldn’t sleep for weeks after going there for the first time. Not only for the state of the patients, but with worry on how to keep the place running when you upped and left. There were no records, no files, no found source I could trace,” his tone is pleading, willing the obtuse immortal to understand him.
“Still you managed and you didn’t tell Gwen back then, you didn’t tell any of them,” this time it is not a demand or an accusation, there might be even a little remorse in it.
“They were pissed off as it was; they all had enough shit to deal with. Imagine what they would’ve thought of you, if they found out you left those poor people as stranded as you left us,” another bland but smart fact.
It made Jack shiver, that would have knocked him down from his subordinates’ ‘fearless leader and hero’ pedestal. Thank god Gwen had yet to make that particular connection; she thought badly enough of him at the moment.
“Besides Gwen has created an illusion of control, I was not going to shatter it,” Ianto elaborates. “She really believed she had taken charge and kept cohesion within the team, I am not so cruel as to take that small comfort from her. In truth her bossing around was only a formality. Owen, Tosh and I have been at this long enough to know our duties with no need to be told what to do to work as a team, nor to keep Torchwood functional to optimum capability,”
Jack listens carefully; he thinks this is the most he has heard Ianto talk about anything at a single time. If their situation would have been other, he would be transfixed by the fluctuating character of the younger man, he could tell you something with true emotion exposing his true self; and the next line would be delivered with impersonal formality, the butler persona taking over his mannerism and tone. The 51^st century man remains quiet; if he just listens he might learn something today.
“Yes I managed,” Ianto continues softly, apparently encouraged by Jack’s reflexive silence. “And I still do alongside you, but if you are not here Flat Holms is a responsibility I can’t shoulder on my own,”
He had only managed to do so with Jack’s complete salary, half of his own and other founds readjustments, not to mention putting in more extra hours than he already did, in occasions working thirty six to forty eight hours or more at a time. It had been an extremely taxing time for him, not like the others noticed or Jack asked, no, no-one did. But even if they don’t know of that particular trial, it’s a time Ianto doesn’t care to repeat so he insist hoping Jack would now understand why he did what he did.
“Again Jack, as your SIC the time may come that I might need her help. I acknowledge I knew it would affect her, but that is not why I showed her, Jack,” he reasons.
“All I want to know, Ianto, is why?” Jack says again this time in a calm and gentle tone.
“I just… haven’t you listening to a word I said,” disbelief and irritation paint his features.
“I hear what you are saying,” Jack interjects rising his hands in a placating gesture. “But I also know you a bit more then you give me credit for Ianto,” he adds walking around his desk. Now face to face with the younger man, he hitches a hip on the desk and looks earnestly into the soft blue eyes. “For real this time Ianto, why?”
Ianto sighs shakily; he slumps in a chair running both hands down his face, then through his hair.
“She was so adamant about it, sheltering her wouldn’t have worked. Undoubtedly the experience would change her, but I know her sympathy would protect her, her empathic nature would prevent any lasting damage, prevent her from turning into someone like Owen, Tosh or me, it wouldn’t make her emotionally cold, and clinically insensible,” he gives a self-deprecating smile.
Jack reaches for Ianto’s face, lifting his chin to look the captain in the eyes.
“Ultimately it’d help her mature. It’d make her understand Torchwood operates in many levels. That we do more than catch and kill aliens. Letting her see, would teach her that with the rift comes a lot more responsibilities, that the collateral damage is greater than she think’s. It’s not contained only to our physical injuries, traumatized psyche, or personal life, not even to the poor sods that get caught in the crossfire, but much farther than,” he hesitates biting his lips.
Jack nods encouraging him to continue, “Why?”
“It would remind her that she is not the only human in the Hub, that we… that you, Jack, are in fact a caring human being and not just some cold blooded, alien killing hero, that you can’t fix everything,” he said as if disgusted by the very idea of reducing Jack to such simplistic role.
It makes Jack remember the look of fear in her eyes, her backing away from him; in that moment she had not revered him as a hero, but as an evil villain and it hurt.
“That is not for you to decide,” the immortal says harshness returning to his tone and features.
“No perhaps not, but certainly not for the sake of her sensibilities, but your own,” he knows that is what this is about; Helen had phoned him and told him about the Welshwoman hysteric reaction.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jack challenges temper rising quickly.
Ianto gives him a look that clearly says the captain knows what he meant. He stands again back straight, face blank; this is going nowhere so he might as well get it done and over with.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and their consequences. Your disciplinary measure, Sir?” his demeanor is stifling formal and professional.
Jack would’ve made a snide remark about booth camp role play, if he weren’t for pissed at Ianto’s blatant dismissal of further discussion on the subject.
“Ten day suspension effective as of now,” Jack says grudgingly. He sits behind his desk glaring at the archivist as he surrenders his Torchwood credentials, code passes and his assigned weapon with a cool calmness that only serves to piss the captain even more.
On his way to the door Ianto pauses and looks back at Jack. “I’m sorry if she hurt you,” he says with sincere remorse and left the office.
Jack slams his hand on the desk in suppressed anger and barely manages to contain the urge to throw something against the wall.
Ianto closes his eyes and breaths deeply, that didn’t go well but then again what had he expected. He moves about collecting his coat and keys. Owen calls for him as he passes the autopsy bay.
“Oi! Tea boy how about some caffeine service before your errands,” the thought of saying please or that whatever Ianto might need to do is more important that his coffee fix never passed the medic’s mind, Ianto is used to it enough that it doesn’t even warrant rolling his eyes.
“Sorry Owen, I’m afraid that will be on Jack for now, a while and then some. And frankly I wouldn’t drink anything he brews if I were you. That can only end in tears and a stomach flush, I for one won’t be making the same mistake again,” he says to loudly to Owen as he makes his way to the Clog Wheel and out of the Hub.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Bedroom Factotum