Title: How you play the game
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Torchwood team
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,794 words
Content notes: Set in my T4 future verse.
Author notes: Written for Challenge 253 - Throw and Challenge 17 - Win or Lose (Bingo square)
Summary: It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
When UNIT's general had been speaking with Ianto on the phone one night and jokingly suggested that their two organisation's take part in a friendly corporate games competition, Ianto had readily agreed. His team however had taken a lot more convincing. None of them wanted a bar of of it. They knew they were good and didn't see the need in having to prove it. No matter what he did, there was just no getting them to buy in, so in the end, he'd simply told them they were doing it for the good of inter-agency relations. They didn't have to like it, but as their boss, they did have to do what he said, mostly.
The drive across to the agreed field of competition, one of UNIT's military training facilities was fairly subdued. Even on the day of the event, there was little enthusiasm, even having twisted Jack's arm to help him spur on the troops. They were convinced it was going to be a pointless day of egg and spoon races, orienteering and musical chairs. Only Ianto knew just how wrong they were.
He wasn't allowed to tell them in advance what the challenges would be, only to have nominated members of the team to undertake them, which UNIT had done as well, picking their best people suited to each task. Whilst the general himself wouldn't be taking part in the events and had given Ianto the same right to watch on rather than partake, Ianto stoutly refused. Their team was small enough as it was, and each of them had skills to contribute. Plus, he figured the best kind of leadership was by way of example. He was ready to muck in with the rest of them.
Despite their reluctance, it didn't take long for things to get underway, and for the natural competitive streak in each of them to make itself apparent. When they saw just how brutal the challenges were and how hard UNIT's team were trying, they gave it their all, and surprised many by coming out on top in every single challenge.
There was one specifically for sharpshooting and marksmanship which Jack and Johnson excelled at. Gwen was meant to make up the three of their team, but she insisted that Ianto take her spot, arguing that he was a better shot. Fortunately, he didn't disappoint, striking a near perfect hit to match Johnson's own bare millimeters away on the target.
Gwen made up for it in the next challenge. She and Jez were set to memorise a complex map of underground tunnels, before being sent into the pitch dark maze to collect tokens in a race against their opposing team. They almost made it look easy, being experts on navigating city streets and sewer tunnels at night, collecting all their token and finding the exit a full six minutes before the UNIT team.
The next one seemed to be by far the hardest challenge, and Ianto had thought long and hard about who should tackle it. It was a task in three parts, firstly to hack into a complex computer system to download schematics for a device, translating those instructions into English, and then building the device from scratch. Jack for all his many computer issues, was actually quite adept at accessing systems, while their archivist Penny was becoming their resident genius when it came to languages and being able to translate information with scant reference material. With a little bit of futuristic assistance from Jack, they were able to translate the plans quicker than the other team and build the small machine with minimum fuss.
There was a short break for lunch late in the afternoon, and the Torchwood team were basking in the fact they they had so far won every challenge, leaving the score Torchwood 6, UNIT nil. A win in the final event of the afternoon would be the icing in the cake knowing that there was no way UNIT could catch them.
The final event would need all of them to participate as it was a brutal relay race on UNIT's infamous course where they tested all their recruits. It would be both physically and mentally demanding, including a high wire ropes course, narrow tunnels crisscrossed with chains and padlocks blocking their way, a thirty foot high rock climb wall, half a dozen puzzles that opened up gates or doorways to the next part of the course, waterways to paddle across, and ground dotted with ankle breaking potholes and triggers that were set to blow up mounds of dirt if they got too close.
At the second to last leg an out breath Adelaide, covered in mud, managed to just keep hold of the relay baton and pass it to Ianto for the final dash to the finish line. They were at least thirty seconds in front and failing some disaster, they were dead certainties to win.
Adelaide stumbled back to the rest of the team, all in various states of filth, watching as they cheered Ianto on through the last of the course. It was a long perspex tunnel with a foot of water in the bottom of it, but as soon as he entered valves overhead began gushing out water, beginning to flood the tunnel. Both competitors would have to reach four separate wheels situated overhead, turning them to shut off the valves that were pouring water into the tunnels. If they didn't they were likely to be completely flooded out and trapped underwater.
Gwen frowned and stopped cheering. 'What the hell is he doing?'
Jack watched on carefully as Ianto crawled through the narrow tunnel of rising water.
The UNIT guy had caught up and was now inside the tunnel and turning his wheel like it was well oiled, spinning quickly round and round and shutting off the water gushing out of a pipe nearby. Ianto however seemed to be taking an age, gripping his wheel with both hands and turning it as if it were slow as stiff.
'It could be jammed,' Penny suggested.
'Or the UNIT guy is just really strong,' Jez offered.
'Or the course has been rigged,' Adelaide seethed, watching as the UNIT officer moved from the third wheel to the fourth, whilst Ianto was still working on the second.
Jack squinted, trying to focus on his husband's face. It didn't look at all like he was straining against a tight wheel that wouldn't budge, nor that the water pouring in was hindering him. He finally managed to turn off the second valve, before turning over on his stomach to crawl along to the next, before flipping over on his back to reach up and turn the next one, and casting a look across at the other tunnel to check on his competitor's progress. Jack suddenly realised what was going on. There was nothing wrong with the wheel - it wasn't stiff or stuck or somehow tampered with - Ianto was trying to throw the race so that UNIT would win.
'This stinks,' Jez complained, watching as Ianto fell further behind his opponent, now struggling with the fourth wheel as the UNIT soldier crawled out of the other end of the tunnel and began the sprint across the final obstacle field ahead. No one seemed to notice however just how quickly the fourth valve was shut off, allowing Ianto to paddle out of the tunnel and make his own way across the field. No one except Jack, who could see just how close an eye Ianto kept on his opponent.
He made up ground across the obstacle course, quickly closing in, but in the last hundred yards hard sprint, UNIT crossed the line first by the narrowest of margins. They snared the last leg of the competition in the dying seconds but the overall victory for the day went to Torchwood.
Everyone gathered around the finishing line exchanging handshakes and congratulations, admiring their hard fought battle scars and the mud and grime that caked their combat gear, recounting their favourite moments of the day whilst UNIT's general came over to congratulate Ianto personally.
'Your little team are full of surprises,' he said, taking Ianto's hand with a vice like grip. 'A pity you couldn't make a full sweep of things, though it would have left us a little bit red-faced.'
'Your people were excellent,' Ianto conceded. 'It makes me glad we work on the same side every other day of the week. I've no doubt we had a little luck on our side as well.'
'I might have to insist we make it an annual event, just to give us an opportunity to even things up.'
'My team will relish the challenge,' Ianto assured him, bidding him farewell as he left the field to go back to commanding the rest of his organisation. Ianto didn't have to go anywhere. All of his team were right here.
Jack appeared out of nowhere, wrapping a thick towel around him as he continued to drip water from his crawl through the flooding tunnels, giving a little involuntary shiver as the adrenaline ebbed away and the cold feeling caught up with him.
'Can't have you getting pneumonia,' Jack lectured. 'Who'd run Torchwood then?'
'You,' Ianto replied, pulling it tighter around him.
'Exactly!' Jack chuckled. 'Gods help us.'
'Sorry I couldn't win the last leg of the competition,' he apologised.
Jack gave him a knowing look. 'You and I both know that you orchestrated the result. You might be able to fool the rest of them, but you're gonna have to do better if you think you can pull the wool over my eyes. You let UNIT win.'
'I guess you're just too clever then,' he replied, not denying the accusation. 'Pride is a fragile thing and I didn't think it would do our relations any good if we completely wiped the floor with them.'
Jack smirked. 'Even though we did.'
'Even so. And it would have been wrong of me to ask anyone else to throw it, especially when I was the one trying to get you all geared up to make a go of it.' He cast a glance back at the rest of the team, a little bedraggled looking but smiling. 'I hope they all had fun in the end.'
'Of course they did. They won. Who doesn't like winning?'
Ianto rolled his eyes. 'It's not all about winning.'
'Oh? You look quite pleased with yourself, Ianto Jones. I'd say you don't mind winning either, though I suspect it's the political game you won.'
'Quite,' he agreed, unable to stop smiling. 'But they'll come back at us twice as hard next year, and I don't think we'll have to throw anything in order to get a more balanced result.'
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Torchwood team
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1,794 words
Content notes: Set in my T4 future verse.
Author notes: Written for Challenge 253 - Throw and Challenge 17 - Win or Lose (Bingo square)
Summary: It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.
When UNIT's general had been speaking with Ianto on the phone one night and jokingly suggested that their two organisation's take part in a friendly corporate games competition, Ianto had readily agreed. His team however had taken a lot more convincing. None of them wanted a bar of of it. They knew they were good and didn't see the need in having to prove it. No matter what he did, there was just no getting them to buy in, so in the end, he'd simply told them they were doing it for the good of inter-agency relations. They didn't have to like it, but as their boss, they did have to do what he said, mostly.
The drive across to the agreed field of competition, one of UNIT's military training facilities was fairly subdued. Even on the day of the event, there was little enthusiasm, even having twisted Jack's arm to help him spur on the troops. They were convinced it was going to be a pointless day of egg and spoon races, orienteering and musical chairs. Only Ianto knew just how wrong they were.
He wasn't allowed to tell them in advance what the challenges would be, only to have nominated members of the team to undertake them, which UNIT had done as well, picking their best people suited to each task. Whilst the general himself wouldn't be taking part in the events and had given Ianto the same right to watch on rather than partake, Ianto stoutly refused. Their team was small enough as it was, and each of them had skills to contribute. Plus, he figured the best kind of leadership was by way of example. He was ready to muck in with the rest of them.
Despite their reluctance, it didn't take long for things to get underway, and for the natural competitive streak in each of them to make itself apparent. When they saw just how brutal the challenges were and how hard UNIT's team were trying, they gave it their all, and surprised many by coming out on top in every single challenge.
There was one specifically for sharpshooting and marksmanship which Jack and Johnson excelled at. Gwen was meant to make up the three of their team, but she insisted that Ianto take her spot, arguing that he was a better shot. Fortunately, he didn't disappoint, striking a near perfect hit to match Johnson's own bare millimeters away on the target.
Gwen made up for it in the next challenge. She and Jez were set to memorise a complex map of underground tunnels, before being sent into the pitch dark maze to collect tokens in a race against their opposing team. They almost made it look easy, being experts on navigating city streets and sewer tunnels at night, collecting all their token and finding the exit a full six minutes before the UNIT team.
The next one seemed to be by far the hardest challenge, and Ianto had thought long and hard about who should tackle it. It was a task in three parts, firstly to hack into a complex computer system to download schematics for a device, translating those instructions into English, and then building the device from scratch. Jack for all his many computer issues, was actually quite adept at accessing systems, while their archivist Penny was becoming their resident genius when it came to languages and being able to translate information with scant reference material. With a little bit of futuristic assistance from Jack, they were able to translate the plans quicker than the other team and build the small machine with minimum fuss.
There was a short break for lunch late in the afternoon, and the Torchwood team were basking in the fact they they had so far won every challenge, leaving the score Torchwood 6, UNIT nil. A win in the final event of the afternoon would be the icing in the cake knowing that there was no way UNIT could catch them.
The final event would need all of them to participate as it was a brutal relay race on UNIT's infamous course where they tested all their recruits. It would be both physically and mentally demanding, including a high wire ropes course, narrow tunnels crisscrossed with chains and padlocks blocking their way, a thirty foot high rock climb wall, half a dozen puzzles that opened up gates or doorways to the next part of the course, waterways to paddle across, and ground dotted with ankle breaking potholes and triggers that were set to blow up mounds of dirt if they got too close.
At the second to last leg an out breath Adelaide, covered in mud, managed to just keep hold of the relay baton and pass it to Ianto for the final dash to the finish line. They were at least thirty seconds in front and failing some disaster, they were dead certainties to win.
Adelaide stumbled back to the rest of the team, all in various states of filth, watching as they cheered Ianto on through the last of the course. It was a long perspex tunnel with a foot of water in the bottom of it, but as soon as he entered valves overhead began gushing out water, beginning to flood the tunnel. Both competitors would have to reach four separate wheels situated overhead, turning them to shut off the valves that were pouring water into the tunnels. If they didn't they were likely to be completely flooded out and trapped underwater.
Gwen frowned and stopped cheering. 'What the hell is he doing?'
Jack watched on carefully as Ianto crawled through the narrow tunnel of rising water.
The UNIT guy had caught up and was now inside the tunnel and turning his wheel like it was well oiled, spinning quickly round and round and shutting off the water gushing out of a pipe nearby. Ianto however seemed to be taking an age, gripping his wheel with both hands and turning it as if it were slow as stiff.
'It could be jammed,' Penny suggested.
'Or the UNIT guy is just really strong,' Jez offered.
'Or the course has been rigged,' Adelaide seethed, watching as the UNIT officer moved from the third wheel to the fourth, whilst Ianto was still working on the second.
Jack squinted, trying to focus on his husband's face. It didn't look at all like he was straining against a tight wheel that wouldn't budge, nor that the water pouring in was hindering him. He finally managed to turn off the second valve, before turning over on his stomach to crawl along to the next, before flipping over on his back to reach up and turn the next one, and casting a look across at the other tunnel to check on his competitor's progress. Jack suddenly realised what was going on. There was nothing wrong with the wheel - it wasn't stiff or stuck or somehow tampered with - Ianto was trying to throw the race so that UNIT would win.
'This stinks,' Jez complained, watching as Ianto fell further behind his opponent, now struggling with the fourth wheel as the UNIT soldier crawled out of the other end of the tunnel and began the sprint across the final obstacle field ahead. No one seemed to notice however just how quickly the fourth valve was shut off, allowing Ianto to paddle out of the tunnel and make his own way across the field. No one except Jack, who could see just how close an eye Ianto kept on his opponent.
He made up ground across the obstacle course, quickly closing in, but in the last hundred yards hard sprint, UNIT crossed the line first by the narrowest of margins. They snared the last leg of the competition in the dying seconds but the overall victory for the day went to Torchwood.
Everyone gathered around the finishing line exchanging handshakes and congratulations, admiring their hard fought battle scars and the mud and grime that caked their combat gear, recounting their favourite moments of the day whilst UNIT's general came over to congratulate Ianto personally.
'Your little team are full of surprises,' he said, taking Ianto's hand with a vice like grip. 'A pity you couldn't make a full sweep of things, though it would have left us a little bit red-faced.'
'Your people were excellent,' Ianto conceded. 'It makes me glad we work on the same side every other day of the week. I've no doubt we had a little luck on our side as well.'
'I might have to insist we make it an annual event, just to give us an opportunity to even things up.'
'My team will relish the challenge,' Ianto assured him, bidding him farewell as he left the field to go back to commanding the rest of his organisation. Ianto didn't have to go anywhere. All of his team were right here.
Jack appeared out of nowhere, wrapping a thick towel around him as he continued to drip water from his crawl through the flooding tunnels, giving a little involuntary shiver as the adrenaline ebbed away and the cold feeling caught up with him.
'Can't have you getting pneumonia,' Jack lectured. 'Who'd run Torchwood then?'
'You,' Ianto replied, pulling it tighter around him.
'Exactly!' Jack chuckled. 'Gods help us.'
'Sorry I couldn't win the last leg of the competition,' he apologised.
Jack gave him a knowing look. 'You and I both know that you orchestrated the result. You might be able to fool the rest of them, but you're gonna have to do better if you think you can pull the wool over my eyes. You let UNIT win.'
'I guess you're just too clever then,' he replied, not denying the accusation. 'Pride is a fragile thing and I didn't think it would do our relations any good if we completely wiped the floor with them.'
Jack smirked. 'Even though we did.'
'Even so. And it would have been wrong of me to ask anyone else to throw it, especially when I was the one trying to get you all geared up to make a go of it.' He cast a glance back at the rest of the team, a little bedraggled looking but smiling. 'I hope they all had fun in the end.'
'Of course they did. They won. Who doesn't like winning?'
Ianto rolled his eyes. 'It's not all about winning.'
'Oh? You look quite pleased with yourself, Ianto Jones. I'd say you don't mind winning either, though I suspect it's the political game you won.'
'Quite,' he agreed, unable to stop smiling. 'But they'll come back at us twice as hard next year, and I don't think we'll have to throw anything in order to get a more balanced result.'
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Comments
Made me a little sad though, because Tosh could have aced that one challenge all by herself if only she'd still been alive.