Work Text:
The call from DI Swanson to Ianto about the cadaver that was unearthed at the construction site had Jack all in a twitter since the disastrous camping trip to the Beacons. Ianto guessed that this was something that would help him redeem himself in his own eyes for the failure to protect his people and having to depend on others to get him out. That must have been the reason for him gathering up Owen, Tosh, and Gwen and roaring out of the Hub like a herd of elephants. Although it did leave Ianto nonplussed over being left behind again with a request to have the coffee ready when they got back. Gwen seemed to have enjoyed hearing Jack give those orders because she had a smug smirk on her face when she went out the door. Ianto sighed; at least he didn’t have to carry the equipment from the car to the dig site. He just wondered if he should call Nick, Tim, or Steve to see if they could talk to the Earth around the body to see if it would tell them anything interesting.
Ianto kept that thought for later. He might need it.
He wasn't sure what to think when they came back with a skeleton and what they were calling a giant alien stapler. Ianto did know that it was going to bring grief from the faint glimpse of the future he caught. Tony, Danny, or Harry would have been able to tell him more because they were the future seers. Too bad he told Harry to go home and keep the wizards from destroying the Non-Magicals in another stupid power trip by a megalomaniac.
He had gone down to work in the archives for a couple of hours after lunch, but when he came back up he caught the tenseness of an unknown situation that seemed to revolve around Tosh. A private look at the internal CCTV showed why the air was just crackling and why Tosh looked ready to commit murder and/or break down and cry. Gwen and Owen were acting childish again and were bringing their affair into the workplace. Ianto figured that the grief was just starting with that action. Well, he couldn't do much with the program that Tosh lost, but he could subtly punish the pair that started the whole mess. Decaf wasn't good enough for the pair of them; they were getting the cheap instant stuff. Too bad one of his American siblings couldn't send him some of the worst stuff they had over there. It might make more of a point with Owen. Ianto wasn't sure about Gwen; she had worked as a cop for a while.
Ianto was grateful that Jack had let Tosh go home early so she could relieve the frustration over the loss of the program. Ianto wasn’t a computer whiz, but he could look to see if there was anything salvageable from the program. He just wished that Jack would have done more than remind the erring pair that they had work to do. Ianto decided that subtlety was done. He was bringing out the big guns. Tosh would get the good stuff; Jack would get the decaf. Owen and Gwen could fend for themselves- On everything.
Ianto tried to go over to see Tosh after work, but she wasn’t at her flat. He wasn’t sure if looking for her on the wind would be a breach of her privacy and decided to let her know that he had stopped around in the morning when she came in. Ianto went home and treated himself to a warm shower and a warmed bed. He blessed his sister for telling him to put a blanket in the dryer before going to bed. He wrapped it around his shoulders and let it ease the pain of the day while he waited for the pain meds to kick in.
The next day was strange. Tosh came in just as he was going into the office to work in the Tourist shop again and she seemed nervous. She didn't seem to want to talk about something with the way that she stuttered and practically escaped down the hidden hallway to the Hub. That worried Ianto. After what happened yesterday, she was acting even more strange than he would have thought. And there was a sense of off world about her that wasn't there when she left last night. A quick consult with the breezes blowing around Cardiff told him that a strange alien/human mix was in town. It was funny because he could swear that he remembered smelling that scent before, but he couldn’t remember when. Sooner or later he would remember why that smell was associated with the faint feeling of terror and anger and the alien/human would show up. Ianto would just have to be patient and he hoped that he would be able to help Tosh before she was hurt worse than yesterday.
Jack’s call for the coffee request was of no surprise an hour later. Ianto sighed and descended down the stairs, trying not to jar his bruises and ribs again, to fill the request. He was not impressed with the sight of Tosh hiding behind her monitor and Owen and Gwen fooling around again in the autopsy area. He narrowed his eyes and started the coffee machine for Tosh and Jack. Ianto guessed that Owen and Gwen were too distracted by their playing around to realize that he was pushing his drug of coffee (and caffeine for Tosh).
After delivering the coffee, Ianto went down to the Archives to try to wrestle them into some sort of order once again. He wasn’t even down there for fifteen minutes when Ianto received a call over the comms from Owen and Jack demanding answers to questions about their coffees. Ianto mused about “accidentally” not hearing them, but thought better of it. Jack might think that he had a secret down there and come tromping down; Owen would complain on his comm until Ianto was ready to commit homicide himself. Jack wouldn’t appreciate the mess and Ianto didn’t think that his CSI brothers would be that impressed with hiding a body or two.
“I’m on my way up,” he sighed into the comm. Ianto rolled his eyes as he left the dank Archives. He really needed to talk to Jack about the ventilation in the area and the drainage. It was one thing if there was an accidental flood due to a long storm, but it was another when the normal weather made the Archives stink of damp and mold. It wasn’t good for the paperwork and some of the pieces.
After explaining to Owen and Gwen why they weren’t getting any of Ianto’s coffee, Ianto figured that he should clean up the boardroom from last night’s fiasco of a meeting between Jack and the coupling pair. He figured he must have pulled something while he was down in the Archives because when he went to clean up the cups in the boardroom, it felt like he was in agonizing pain. The stray thought of being nothing but the pain and having a stomach full of rats ran through his mind before he noticed that Tosh was sitting near him. He smiled and said, “I’m about to brew some of Jack’s industrial strength coffee; do you want any?” Tosh declined (good idea it was decaf again); Ianto wanted to talk to her some more, but she just shut down and pulled away. That was even more worrisome in Ianto’s book.
Jack was looking over some reports from the Prime Minister’s office when Ianto turned up with the less than stellar coffee Jack was being punished with. He didn’t look up when Ianto set down the coffee and said almost absently, “Owen and Gwen haven’t been getting their coffees lately. Any reason why?”
Ianto studied his boss to see where this was going. “They have been fooling around in more ways than one and have let their affair bleed over into their work. I haven’t said anything because it wasn’t my business, but when we lose a program Tosh has designed to help us with translating alien scrip and then I get a bit testy. There was no good reason for them to be playing when I know that Owen has files that can be finished from his previous autopsies and Gwen still needs to finish her reports correctly. I have seen her moon about Owen while he actually does something before I see them leave to the darker parts of the Hub for a little tête-à-tête. If they have that much time, then they can get their own files and coffees.” By the end of Ianto’s statement his anger over the situation was bleeding into his words.
“Tosh is worried about you,” said Jack off handedly. “It seems that you feel like pain is the only thing you feel now.” He finally looked up at Ianto. “Am I going to need to get a hold of your family to keep you from trying to kill yourself?”
Ianto scowled. “No. And they would know better than you would on what I need. The only one better would be my human Partner, but mine is being a jackass at the moment.”
Jack sat back in his chair and tented his fingers. “Tell me who he is and I’ll talk to him.”
Ianto walked over to Jack’s desk and leaned over it to look the Captain in the eye. “Look in a mirror.” Then the Welsh Guardian straightened and did a military perfect about face before leaving the office. Ianto had an international phone call to make and he figured that since it was Torchwood related, then they could foot the cost of the call. Spencer would have to make his own arrangements for his transportation though.
The next morning Gwen was absolutely a fright as she pranced around the autopsy and sang a child’s song about the bones. Ianto wondered if she really knew the whole verses or if she was just using what she had heard as a child. He was so tempted to ask the Welsh earth clinging to the bones to help them walk around just to get the smug Gwen to shut up. Jack didn’t help with him just standing there and grinning at the lot’s antics. And Tosh was once again relegated to the fringes of the group after Gwen used her questions to tease Owen some more. Ianto could see the hurt in her eyes as it seemed to her that she was being pushed aside. He sighed and wished that he could do more for her, but she needed to meet him halfway if she wanted any help.
Ianto wanted to say something to Tosh as she left early for the day again. He even started to say something, but the otherworldliness flowed around her and seemed to make him unwelcome and unnoticed. Ianto was getting concerned. Before he didn’t want to interfere with her life, but this was getting out of hand. He followed her on the breezes around Cardiff until she went home. Then he saw her; the smell was unmistakable and the blood smell had grown thicker and newer. This was what he had smelled in early Cardiff when the English had made an outpost nearby and a young officer had been lost. The smell had lingered for a few weeks, but then it faded and Ianto hadn’t caught the smell again. Now it was back and targeting one of his friends. This had to stop.
Ianto marched down to Captain Harkness’ office and entered without knocking. “Tosh is in trouble.”
Jack looked up at Ianto from the alien stapler. “I know. Get Owen and Gwen here. Now.”
Ianto nodded and left the office. He pulled out his phone to text Owen and Gwen to get back to the Hub- Emergency. Ianto pulled a face; knowing them though, they were probably together and Gwen was ignoring her loving and patient boyfriend.
Jack set the stage for when Tosh brought the alien/human into their Hub. Ianto was impressed with the knowledge of the quote, but it didn’t make him feel any good will to the visitor. He could not Judge her and ask for his sister to mete out the punishment, but he could see that she was making no effort to curb her more lethal tendencies. Ianto decided to let Jack deal with the menace. He would put Tosh back together.
When the alien Mary moved, Ianto wondered if anyone else could follow her movements or if he was the only one. He could plot how she moved from Owen and could see her goal was Tosh. What surprised and scared him was the knife that the alien Mary held to Tosh’s throat. Owen had tried to talk her down, but the threat to his lover kept him from acting on the heroic attempt. Ianto was going to open his mouth to try, but alien Mary started to coo in Tosh’s ear before Jack gave the Tech master an inscrutable look. Then he offered the alien device to the threatening alien and Ianto pulled Tosh away from danger. He kept a hand on her back and wished he could pull her behind him, but he knew that her pride wouldn’t let him. Ianto would just have to help her in a different way.
Jack’s decision to kill the alien Mary upset Tosh and bewildered Gwen again; Ianto could tell her disapproval of the move on her face. Personally Ianto was thrilled that the alien was dealt with and he wouldn’t have to have his sister come just to kill the alien murderess. Ianto put his arm around Tosh’s waist and drew her into the boardroom. Jack was in no state to debrief Tosh and Owen and Gwen were too wrapped up in their anger over what had transpired to be objective.
“They’re angry with me,” Tosh whispered. She slunk down in her chair as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
Ianto looked at her with sadness in his eyes and sighed. “Yes, but they don’t have the moral high ground either. You could say that I don’t neither as I followed you when you left earlier.”
Tosh sat up at that. “How? How did you follow me?”
Ianto blushed as he looked down. “I followed you on the breezes. What they saw, I saw. When I saw Mary in your flat, it reminded me of a time long ago of a strange alien smell and a missing English officer. There had been a few more bodies, but the English didn’t care because they were Welsh and poor. Then one day the smell was gone. Now I know why I couldn’t find the alien; she had melded with a human.”
Tosh smiled weakly at Ianto. “Why did you follow me?”
Ianto looked up to look Tosh in the eye. “Because I was worried about you. I have been since Owen and Gwen decided to start their affair.” Ianto gathered some papers together. “Now, I need to get your statement and then, when we’re done and ready to go home, you and I will go to my flat. We will gorge on ice cream and talk to Spencer about what has been going on in our heads. Then I’ll make popcorn and we’ll watch whatever movies catch our fancy and sleep in late. Jack has decided to give us the day off so you can recover and I can make sure you recover.”
Ianto readied his pen and waited for Tosh to start her statement. He was professional about it and handed Tosh a box of tissue when she started to breakdown from the better memories. He didn’t push or pry into her relationship with alien Mary, but kept it to the facts only. When they were done, Ianto put his hand on Tosh’s to keep her from leaving too fast. “Two things; first, not matter what, you loved her. Hold on to the memories of that love. It will get you through to someone who really deserves you. Second, they will be waiting for you. Don’t let Owen and Gwen upset you. In a way, their parts in the loss of your program lead us to this unfortunate circumstance.” Ianto shrugged. “Who knows, maybe if they had been more circumspect, then we wouldn’t have had the trouble we did.” He smiled sadly at Tosh. “But then, you wouldn’t have had the love of a person who was interested in only you. So, I guess that it wasn’t all bad; just most of it. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Your flat?” Tosh asked timidly.
Ianto smiled. “My flat; you’re welcome to stay a few nights until you’re ready to go home if you want. You’ll just have to fight Spencer for the coffee in the morning.”
Tosh’s smile brightened. “I’d like that,” she said. She left the room with a straightened back and more confidence to face her accusers. Jack slipped into the boardroom after she left.
“Your brother going to talk to her?”
Ianto nodded as he watched the confrontation between Owen, Gwen, and Tosh. “Yes. He can help her with the mind reading more than I will. Mine is more of the feelings that people wear on their sleeves. I’m not as good as my brother and sister, but I can get a feel for what is needed.”
Jack nodded. “Thanks.” He turned to leave the room.
“You should still talk to her. It would do you both some good.”
Jack stopped. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He silently left the room and disappeared into the Hub. Ianto shrugged and started to gather the paperwork for the file. He wanted to get as much done before leaving to get the ice cream for his little party. They needed to unwind.
When Tosh arrived at his door, Ianto was in comfortable clothes and had Spencer mellowing out in a comfortable chair next to couch. Ianto smiled at Tosh and waved her into his flat in a grandiose motion that had her giggling. “Welcome to my abode,” he intoned. “I have tea, beer, ice cream, and sandwich fixings. What can I get you?”
Tosh giggled out her order and followed his instructions to get comfortable in the living room. She looked curiously at Spencer and seemed to remember him from a time of complete terror and a lot of blood. He just smiled at her, but he didn’t say anything. Ianto came in with the food and tea, setting it down on the table in front of the couch and chair.
Spencer started out with, “Why don’t you tell me about what you heard when you could read minds? Then I’ll help you explore more of what you heard as compared to what you probably should have heard.”
The discussion lasted until after midnight and there was much crying and raging on Tosh’s part. Ianto held her through the painful parts and encouraged her when it looked like her spirit was flagging. By the time the trio was ready to sleep, Tosh was feeling a bit better about what she had been through and Ianto was able to explain what she had heard. Spencer had added that he was going to talk to Ianto about what had happened at Torchwood 1 and at Brecon Beacons. That seemed to lie to rest any fears Tosh had and she slept the night peacefully. Ianto was just happy that his brother was going to help him in the morning. The load he was carrying around was getting heavy and he needed to let some of it go.
Too bad the call from DI Swanson a week later made his feeling of lightness disappear when she told him of the bodies and the grisly message.