Ficlet: Torchwood.
Nov. 20th, 2006 04:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fangrrl_squeesSo, er... Jack and Ianto just had a shouting match in my head. And they didn't even end up making out at the end of it, damn them.
It's a bit rough, as it's another bashed out at work bit, but whatever, it helped killed the end-of-the-day doldrums.
***
The fight had been brewing for weeks, but that didn’t make it any easier when the words were finally said – shouted, in fact – across the boardroom’s table.
“Why couldn’t you help her? Save her the way you did me?”
Shit. He remembered. Jack counted the human mind’s ability to blank out what it didn’t understand in the midst of trauma. Of all the times for that to fail…
“It doesn’t work like that.” The words tasted unpleasant, as white lies often did.
“Are you sure?”
Jack didn’t like the look Ianto was giving him, but he knew he could brazen it out. But why should I? Doesn’t he at least deserve the truth – even if he wouldn’t do the same for us?
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I didn’t think to try.”
Ianto didn’t buy it, “Why not?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. “You kill monsters. You didn’t try to save them. There’s nothing to save. There certainly wasn’t of Lisa.”
Ianto head sank into his hands, trying to hide. Anger he could share, could take out on someone, but not this. “Go away,” he muttered, blinking fiercely. “Go away and leave me alone like you always do.”
Jack almost did as Ianto asked, but thought better of it. “No.”
“What?” Surprise jarred him out of his misery.
“I said no. I’m not going to let you blame me for what happened, for not ‘saving’ Lisa, when you could have done it yourself.”
Ianto stared at Jack, words not quite coming as they should.
“All you had to do was tell us about her. You bitch at me for not knowing a damn thing about you or anyone else on the team, but you never bothered to do anything about that, yourself. But if you could have just told us. Told me…” It hurt Jack more than he could say that Ianto didn’t or couldn’t confide in him.
Ianto looked disgusted. “Why? So you could kill the monster that much sooner?”
Jack shook his head, regretting his earlier choice of words. “She only went over the edge when you… released her.” Jack insisted. “You admitted that much yourself - that she changed at the end. Freedom for her in that state was too much.” At least, that’s my theory. “But before then. God only knows what we could have done. You’ve got two brilliant physicians out there,” Jack waved a hand in the general direction of the Hub’s central workspace, “and I’m a pretty good engineer. Clearly you’ve got some talent in that area, too, or else you wouldn’t have been able to keep her alive as long as you did. But for whatever reason, you decided to keep her a secret and now she’s dead. Your choice. Your consequences.”
“That’s not-”
“Not true? Bullshit. You kept your girlfriend locked up like Sleeping Beauty and why?” Ianto looked dejected and said nothing. “That wasn’t a goddamn rhetorical question!” Now it was Jack’s turn to shout. “After all the shit we’ve been through, after all the times we’ve had to save each other’s asses, you still decided to keep something that big, that important to yourself, and I want to know why, damn it! Did you really think we’d try to kill her on sight? Or did you just like having your girl in a bell jar, safe and sound from all other men? Nice relationship you musta had.”
That did it. Ianto jumped to his feet. “Like you know sod all about happy relationships.” he snapped. “Living in a fucking hole in the ground and shagging your way through every bar in Cardiff.”
Jack winced. Perhaps making it personal wasn’t such a good idea. He’d forgotten that Ianto was the most observant member of the team, given the chance. He sagged back in his chair and looked into a cup of coffee, long since cold. “Point.” He conceded, the irritation seeping away like rain on dry ground. “But that doesn’t answer the question.”
Ianto glared, bristling at Jack’s insistence. “I didn’t trust you, alright? Happy?” Anything but, Jack thought. “I didn’t trust you, Owen, Tosh or even Suzie. I couldn’t trust you not to see Lisa and immediately think of her as a thing.” Ianto shuddered at the memory of the Japanese expert who hadn’t done much better. “Based on what you’ve done in the past, are you really surprised? You’d want to study her,” derision dripped from the word. “Probably dissect her. Or keep her locked up and miserable forever.”
Jack thought about this, eyes still on the cup of coffee. “You’re right.” He sighed. “We would have, and it would have been the wrong thing to do – to you and Lisa.” Jack shoved the cup away and forced himself to look at Ianto, who was doing his best to stay on his feet and furious – but the façade was cracking. “But you should have asked us for help. Given us a chance to try what you wanted.” Even if it killed her, which it almost certainly would have. Jack ignored the little voice that reminded him how many people he’d saved from the brink of death.
“So it’s all my fault, is it?” Ianto asked, bitterly.
Jack nodded and sighed as Ianto stalked out of the boardroom, radiating fury and resentment. That could have gone better, he thought with an inward sigh. I miss Suzie.
It's a bit rough, as it's another bashed out at work bit, but whatever, it helped killed the end-of-the-day doldrums.
***
The fight had been brewing for weeks, but that didn’t make it any easier when the words were finally said – shouted, in fact – across the boardroom’s table.
“Why couldn’t you help her? Save her the way you did me?”
Shit. He remembered. Jack counted the human mind’s ability to blank out what it didn’t understand in the midst of trauma. Of all the times for that to fail…
“It doesn’t work like that.” The words tasted unpleasant, as white lies often did.
“Are you sure?”
Jack didn’t like the look Ianto was giving him, but he knew he could brazen it out. But why should I? Doesn’t he at least deserve the truth – even if he wouldn’t do the same for us?
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I didn’t think to try.”
Ianto didn’t buy it, “Why not?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. “You kill monsters. You didn’t try to save them. There’s nothing to save. There certainly wasn’t of Lisa.”
Ianto head sank into his hands, trying to hide. Anger he could share, could take out on someone, but not this. “Go away,” he muttered, blinking fiercely. “Go away and leave me alone like you always do.”
Jack almost did as Ianto asked, but thought better of it. “No.”
“What?” Surprise jarred him out of his misery.
“I said no. I’m not going to let you blame me for what happened, for not ‘saving’ Lisa, when you could have done it yourself.”
Ianto stared at Jack, words not quite coming as they should.
“All you had to do was tell us about her. You bitch at me for not knowing a damn thing about you or anyone else on the team, but you never bothered to do anything about that, yourself. But if you could have just told us. Told me…” It hurt Jack more than he could say that Ianto didn’t or couldn’t confide in him.
Ianto looked disgusted. “Why? So you could kill the monster that much sooner?”
Jack shook his head, regretting his earlier choice of words. “She only went over the edge when you… released her.” Jack insisted. “You admitted that much yourself - that she changed at the end. Freedom for her in that state was too much.” At least, that’s my theory. “But before then. God only knows what we could have done. You’ve got two brilliant physicians out there,” Jack waved a hand in the general direction of the Hub’s central workspace, “and I’m a pretty good engineer. Clearly you’ve got some talent in that area, too, or else you wouldn’t have been able to keep her alive as long as you did. But for whatever reason, you decided to keep her a secret and now she’s dead. Your choice. Your consequences.”
“That’s not-”
“Not true? Bullshit. You kept your girlfriend locked up like Sleeping Beauty and why?” Ianto looked dejected and said nothing. “That wasn’t a goddamn rhetorical question!” Now it was Jack’s turn to shout. “After all the shit we’ve been through, after all the times we’ve had to save each other’s asses, you still decided to keep something that big, that important to yourself, and I want to know why, damn it! Did you really think we’d try to kill her on sight? Or did you just like having your girl in a bell jar, safe and sound from all other men? Nice relationship you musta had.”
That did it. Ianto jumped to his feet. “Like you know sod all about happy relationships.” he snapped. “Living in a fucking hole in the ground and shagging your way through every bar in Cardiff.”
Jack winced. Perhaps making it personal wasn’t such a good idea. He’d forgotten that Ianto was the most observant member of the team, given the chance. He sagged back in his chair and looked into a cup of coffee, long since cold. “Point.” He conceded, the irritation seeping away like rain on dry ground. “But that doesn’t answer the question.”
Ianto glared, bristling at Jack’s insistence. “I didn’t trust you, alright? Happy?” Anything but, Jack thought. “I didn’t trust you, Owen, Tosh or even Suzie. I couldn’t trust you not to see Lisa and immediately think of her as a thing.” Ianto shuddered at the memory of the Japanese expert who hadn’t done much better. “Based on what you’ve done in the past, are you really surprised? You’d want to study her,” derision dripped from the word. “Probably dissect her. Or keep her locked up and miserable forever.”
Jack thought about this, eyes still on the cup of coffee. “You’re right.” He sighed. “We would have, and it would have been the wrong thing to do – to you and Lisa.” Jack shoved the cup away and forced himself to look at Ianto, who was doing his best to stay on his feet and furious – but the façade was cracking. “But you should have asked us for help. Given us a chance to try what you wanted.” Even if it killed her, which it almost certainly would have. Jack ignored the little voice that reminded him how many people he’d saved from the brink of death.
“So it’s all my fault, is it?” Ianto asked, bitterly.
Jack nodded and sighed as Ianto stalked out of the boardroom, radiating fury and resentment. That could have gone better, he thought with an inward sigh. I miss Suzie.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 03:02 pm (UTC)And besides, I hate doing the obvious thing - even tho' it is very, very tempting. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:39 am (UTC)Aha! I like the sex as much as anyone but I love a good bellowing match too. This should've happened on screen.
(if this somehow appears twice now, I apologize)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 03:36 am (UTC)That ficlet is going somewhere, but I'm not sure *where* - or when I'll figure it out. My entire creative process got derailed by two other characters on my commute home, and I think I'll need to take care of them before I can get back to Jack & Ianto...
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 04:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 04:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 01:01 pm (UTC)And well done for resisting the hot sex temptation...it wouldn't have been the way to resolve this one, not yet anyway.
Loved it. You know it's funny Ianto doesn't talk to me at all (apart from wanting to be principal boy and bitching about the pterodactyl) and Jack's been very quiet recently. (Of course that could be Owen Bloody Harper's fault...and I bet that's how Gwen refers to him too....)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 03:07 pm (UTC)I was pretty surprised by the entire ficlet, too, but seems to be how Ianto likes to communicate - "Surprise! Here's a ficlet!"
Hmm... Principle boy Ianto.
I must admit, it's so very tempting to write him as a catty, whiny little bitch ('specially given his behavior in recent episodes) which leads directly to the thought that *someone* needs a good spanking, but I just can't do it. Well, not yet. Wait 'til I've had a bottle of wine over T'Giving dinner... :)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 06:59 pm (UTC)BTW, did I mention that I'm thinking about trying to get some of my Xmas guests to perform an excerpt of Torchwood: The Panto! - assuming I can get a camera to record it for you, of course. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 08:54 pm (UTC)I was going to say "how do you know based on a little smut in the last Owen fic?"
And then I remembered what I did to Owen in A Night on the Town. And how I always get him a little hot under the collar in a evert fic I write. And then I wondered if you'd been over to
Or are we challenging each other to finish our respective bits?
Yeah if you want to do the set-up, I'll do the smut, why the hell not?
I'm thinking about trying to get some of my Xmas guests to perform an excerpt of Torchwood: The Panto! - assuming I can get a camera to record it for you, of course. ;)
Ok, yeah, that's an incentive to write more!!! :D
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:07 pm (UTC)ROTFL. Actually, I meant that as in "encouraging each other to finish our own projects that are languishing", although I'll cheerfully send you the draft of my Gwen/Owen PWP if you're having a dull evening. ;)
I haven't been over to
Doing the panto depends on finding enough folks who are a) into Torchwood and b) willing to give up the time and I doubt it'll be anything particularly sterling - like we might all have scripts in our hands and do it more like a live reading. But time will tell and all that. :) and, oh yeah, I'd have to borrow a camera from someone...
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:13 pm (UTC)Do you know, I thought that was what you meant, and then I wondered if I was being dense...it's obviously been a harder day than I thought...
There is stuff I keep meaning to write for that, but Owen Bloody Harper and the rest of them keep distracting me...
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:31 pm (UTC)No worries re: hard day. I know the feeling. Having Owen tugging on my sleeve and saying "Er, hello? Coitus interruptus over here!" hasn't helped me focus, eithier.
*chortle* I've adopted the policy that, when a character EATS MY BRAIN like that, I let them. I write all of it down - regardless of whether or not I think it's publishable - and I find that the fits pass easier (and quicker) that way, rather than trying to fend them off with a stick and telling them to leave me alone. So let Owen Bloody Harper run joyous and free through your noggin, luv. The sooner he wears himself out, the sooner you can return to other projects.
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:52 pm (UTC)Wait, what am I saying? That's complete BS. My characters give me as much grief as real people ever did.
*headdesk* We can't win!!
I'm toddling off to a two hour meeting now, so I s'pect I won't 'see' you 'til you're up again in the morning. ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:20 pm (UTC)I liked this very much, especially with Jack forcing some of that blame back onto Ianto.
Peace,
CS WhiteWolf
no subject
Date: 2006-11-21 09:34 pm (UTC)The ficlet fell pretty much wholesale into my head and, yeah, I *do* think that a large part of the blame for the Lisa fiasco - pretty much all of it, in fact - lies with Ianto, and I'm a bit vexed that that didn't have a chance to come up during the eps. Fingers are crossed for the future, and if those *looks* that are passing between Ianto and Jack are anything to go by, the possibility of angsty/angry making-out surely isn't beyond the realm of possibility just yet.
...and there goes my concentration for the next half an hour... *Mmm. Jack/Ianto...*