m-findlow.livejournal.com

Title: Love triangles
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Owen
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,273 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 195 - Amnesty & Challenge 2 - Triangle
Summary: Ianto to is learning that through most complicated thing about Torchwood are the people who work there.

It was unusual to see Owen working so late. Even though Ianto had only been here just over six months, he'd quickly learned and committed to memory all of the various habits and schedules of his coworkers. He'd had to out of necessity rather than actual interest. Any one of them could have uncovered what he was hiding from them. His biggest concern of course was Jack, who never seemed to leave the hub, except when he was choosing to brood out on some rooftop, the locations of which, Ianto had also sussed out rather rapidly, noting favoured spots depending on his mood. That Owen was voluntarily here this late suggested he'd have to add a new habit to the growing list in his head.

He quietly leaned across the desk to retrieve the empty mug, adding it to a collection of crockery and other rubbish on his tray. He was skilled in the art of moving around without being seen or heard, but every so often, he felt compelled to say something, if only to remind himself that he too still existed.

'Late one,' he said, adding the cup to the balancing act in his left hand.

'Yeah, well no one else is going to sort out all the paperwork that goes with dead bodies, are they? Newbie couldn't have killed a few more on her first day if she'd tried.'

Ianto didn't say anything in response. He'd already heard plenty about it. Whether it was bad luck or bad planning, Gwen's first day hadn't gone down particularly well.

'Worse for her than you, I imagine,' he said, trying to be sympathetic.

'I wouldn't say that,' Owen replied, leaning back in his chair. 'She seems to have hit it off with the boss pretty good, despite. One day and she's already had a snog. More than one if you count the make out session down in the cells. All her talk about this stupid boyfriend of hers, but it's obvious she's got a thing for Jack. Wouldn't be surprised if he had a thing for her as well. Looked a bit surprised that she even tried it on.'

Ianto tried to hold his expression neutral, but this latest news was like a punch in the gut. Jack had a thing for Gwen? Why did that surprise him so much?

'You think so?' He had to force the words out, being careful to keep his voice level, praying it didn't betray him.

Owen just shrugged. 'Could be. I mean, she's alright. Nothing special, though.'  

Ianto held his smirk to himself and felt like reminding Owen how he'd drooled when he'd been re-watching the footage of Gwen down in the cells, going at it hammer and tong with the poor girl who'd been harboring the sex crazed alien gas. It was certainly one hell of an induction.

Owen was another one who struggled with monogamy and long term relationships. He didn't think he'd seen either Jack or Owen with the same person more than once. Most he'd never seen at all, but his pre-employment stalking of Torchwood Three's infamous captain had only confirmed their leader's promiscuity. Why he should have expected anything less was still a mystery to him.

He loved Lisa with all his heart, but he was beginning to feel something for Jack as well. The problem was that he didn't know how Jack felt. Sometimes he was convinced that there was a tiny spark between them, but then again, Jack had a habit of flirting with everyone. And now Jack had apparently expressed an interest in Gwen, who'd been here a whole five minutes, and who was supposedly head over heels in love with her boyfriend. It was well more than a love triangle. He wasn't even sure what shape it was, apart from being a completely tangled mess of hearts that didn't know what they wanted.

He shouldn't want Jack, that much he knew absolutely. His whole reason for being here was to save Lisa. Nothing else mattered. So why did he find himself wanting to cherish those tiny moments alone with Jack? Moments like the ones he might be sharing right now if Owen hadn't been here working late.

'I reckon give it two weeks and she'll have dumped that boyfriend of hers and be shacked up with the boss,' Owen said, interrupting his thoughts. 'They all fall for Jack sooner or later.'

Maybe that was it. What was it Jack had said to him all those months ago, something about fifty-first century pheromones? Was he just one in a long line of people who'd fallen for them? No, it couldn't be. He didn't fancy other men. He was straight, and he had a girlfriend; one who needed him, and he needed her. No one else had ever made him feel so wanted and validated.

Jack barely noticed him most of the time. Sure, he accepted his coffee, even raved of over it, made lewd and suggestive comments about his attire and how he looked in it, often loudly in front of that rest of the team, despite Ianto's blushes, let Ianto offer him his coat, take his laundry, and a hundred other things. But the one thing he rarely ever did was actually stop to see Ianto. The real Ianto. He was always so busy flitting here, there and everywhere, whipping past him on his way to the next exciting thing, that Ianto half wondered if he wasn't invisible. He'd wanted to be, at the beginning; it made things so much easier to hide, but the longer things with Lisa dragged on with no improvement and no solution, the more he'd begun to crave the attention of other human beings. He'd felt so alone sometimes, down there in the darkest corners of the hub, Lisa barely able to open her eyes, let alone know or acknowledge he was there. Those fleeting moments when Jack took notice of him were like precious little jewels.

That had been before Gwen, though. Now it seemed Jack had someone shiny and new to direct his attention to, someone who could talk with him, laugh at his jokes and stories, and openly reciprocate his flirtations without consequences. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, Gwen still did have that boyfriend of hers. By rights she shouldn't fancy Jack at all, but he got the feeling that having Gwen here was going to change the whole dynamic around the place. He'd get forgotten and pushed aside. For reasons he couldn't explain to himself, that made him feel sad. Then again, what was he supposed to do if Jack did have some sort of interest in him? He was with Lisa, would continue to be with Lisa. Jack shouldn't fancy him any more than Gwen should fancy Jack. It was all just getting way too complicated in his head, and that was all it was for the moment - in his head.

'Makes you glad you're a bloke, doesn't it?' Owen said. 'Unless of course, you fancy Gwen?'

Ianto wasn't sure if Owen had meant it as a genuine question or merely a joke. Instead he cleared his throat, and picked up another mug, setting it on the ever growing tray of items.

'Night, Owen,' he said, making his exit.

'With Jack around you don't stand a chance, mate,' Owen yelled after him, inwardly grinning that the poor kid had though he was in with a shot.

He was dead right, too, Ianto thought, glad Owen couldn't see his face. With Jack around, he was utterly done for, no matter what shape you wanted to call it.