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Title: Keeping secrets
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Suzie
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,103 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 23 - Secrets
Summary: Suzie uncovers something Jack wanted kept hidden

Suzie stormed into Jack's office, a look of fury twisted on her otherwise attractive face. Jack had learned better than to get on her bad side in the three years they'd worked together. It was the same feisty demeanor that had convinced him to recruit her in the first place.

'I can't believe you withheld this from us, Jack!' she ranted. 'God only knows how Owen's going to react when  he finds out. Have you though about that?'

Jack felt blindsided. What on earth was Suzie talking about? He noticed the sheaf of papers in her hand and suspected that they had something to do to with this sudden outburst of temper. He sat up straight in his chair, determined to get to the bottom of it.

'Suzie, sit down and tell me what's going on.'

She smiled incredulously at him and shook her head, refusing to take up his offer to sit. 'Oh, I think you know  very well what's going on, don't you Jack?' She dropped the pile of papers unceremoniously on his desk and folded her arms in an aggressive stance.

Jack picked up the papers, turning them right way up and gleaning their contents. It was a dossier. It suddenly become very clear to him why Suzie was so outraged.

'He's Torchwood One,' she said, summarising the details in just two words. 'Tosh found out when she was setting him up with proper security clearances.' She was of course referring to their latest recruit, Ianto Jones.

'I know,' Jack replied.

'Indeed,' she seethed. 'He came up with no background, a complete blank for two years, so Tosh went digging a little further, only to discover all of his records in London had been erased. By you.'

Jack lifted up his gaze to meet Suzie's.

'Just for the record, Tosh wanted us to keep our mouths shut.'

'There was nothing of consequence in those files,' he confirmed.

'Says you. Then why delete them? What has he got to hide?'

'Protection.'

'You've got to be joking', she replied, laughing with incredulity. She turned away from him, unable to meet his eye. He couldn't possibly be serious.

'Owen's psychiatric records, Tosh's UNIT prison sentence, your slightly colorful criminal record. All wiped clean like they never existed. I did that,' Jack explained. 'When you came to work for me I gave you a fresh start. He deserves the same.'

'He's Torchwood One,' she repeated. 'You saw what they did. They were malicious, power hungry scum. Every last one of them. They deserved what happened to them.'

Jack had his own feelings about the London branch, and not all of them honorable. It was true that their higher ups had been just that, but there had been a lot of people that worked there in roles that were honest or everyday.  They genuinely thought they were helping to make the world a better place. The fate that befell them was unfortunate, even tragic.

'It all makes sense now,' Suzie continued, arms still tightly crossed as she lectured him. 'How stupid you must have thought we were, when suddenly one morning we turn up and we've inherited a pet dinosaur and a butler. I should have known that it wasn't just coincidence. And then you fed us that bullshit story about how you just happened to be flagged down on the side of the road by a guy who'd found a pterodactyl in a warehouse. I thought perhaps you'd just recruited him because he had a nice arse. Instead you've let a spy from London right through our front door. Maybe I was right. Perhaps you decided to overlook his past. We both know how much you enjoy the pretty ones, don't we Jack?'

Up until now, he'd sat there and put up with Suzie's vitriol, but now she'd crossed the line.

'Well, you would know,' he spat back, reminding her of her own efforts to wrangle his affections. 'Jealous?'

She pouted and fumed, Jack having struck a nerve.

He pushed himself up from the desk. 'Let me remind you that I'm the boss around here. I say who stays and who goes.'

'He can't be trusted Jack! You had no right to keep his history a secret from the rest of us. He could be feeding intelligence to anyone, and we were on the cusp of giving him full access.'

'I have every right. If you need to know something, I'll tell you. You need to put your trust in me. Torchwood One is gone. They're not a threat to us anymore.'

'And how hard did we have to work to keep it that way Jack?' she asked beseechingly. 'How many doctored reports, falsified polygraph tests? How many artifacts did we destroy so that they'd never be at risk of falling into Torchwood's hands? You truly believe that Torchwood One is completely gone? That he's not just a convenient sleeper agent for them?'

Jack spared a look though the window at the hub sprawled out before him. Tosh was quietly working away at her desk, trying to keep her eyes fixed on the computer screens and ignoring the conversation she knew was going on inside his office. Owen was rattling about in the autopsy bay, just out of sight. Up on one of the highest gantries, he spied the man in question. He seemed to be playing a game with their newest addition, Myfanwy, which necessitated her coming down to collect her prize from his hand, chocolate in all likelihood. He had a smile on his face, enjoying the game. He didn't smile very much, Jack had noticed, keeping to himself mainly. It was nice to catch him in such an unguarded moment. He wasn't entirely sure himself why he'd decided to take him on board. He was fairly certain it wasn't just for looks. It was a sixth sense that there was more to the intriguing young man than meets the eye. Whatever it was, he was certain Ianto Jones was no spy.  

'Do you know how many people survived Canary Wharf?' He didn't wait for Suzie to respond. 'Thirty six. He's just a kid. He's hard-working, polite, and seems well intentioned. If he needs a place fit in, then maybe it's here.' At least, he hoped it was here. Whatever secrets he held beneath that calm exterior, were Jack's to discover.

Suzie drew in a long breath and let it out slowly, before walking away and towards the door, taking her papers with her. 'Well he's here now. I just hope for all our sakes you don't live to regret it.'