Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Ianto, Jack, Tosh

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 1,002 words

Content notes: Spoilers for episode 1.11 - Combat 

Author notes: Written for Challenge 268 - Take the wheel

Summary: Ianto's excitement at being out on an assignment is short-lived.


Driving around the city at night with a weevil in the back of the SUV. Could it get any more Torchwood than that? Ianto wondered.

He’d hardly been out on jobs at all of late. He'd hoped that with Owen out of contact for the moment that this was his opportunity to strike. Weevils he could handle, and people kidnapping weevils, well, that sounded just like the kind of assignment he could sink his teeth into. With Tosh and her gadgets, and him with his local knowledge, Jack really didn't need anyone else on the case, much to Gwen's chagrin it seemed. He’d even managed to snag the front seat, Tosh happy to work in the back with her computers. Strictly speaking, even knowing that the cage in the boot of that SUV was sturdy, he didn't want to be that close to a live weevil. Janet didn't seem to like car rides, but then again, she also didn't know she was about to get a free pass for the night. Ianto tried to be excited on her behalf. For both of them, it was an excuse to get out of the hub.

He’d hoped that being in the front seat would get him that much closer to the action. It turned out all it did was get him that much closer to the steering wheel when Jack decided to run off and be dashing, hightailing it after Janet who'd chosen the one laneway that a car the size of the SUV was never going to get down, not even the way Jack drove it.

Ianto grunted in annoyance. It was all well and good to suggest he take over driving whilst Jack and Tosh pursued on foot, but getting from the passengers side to the driver's side was a lot trickier than it looked. It would have been quicker to get out and go around, but now with his butt slid over the gearstick and one knee up against his chin trying to transfer his leg from one footwell to the other, he was just going to have to commit to the endeavour.

He’d lost sight of Jack and Tosh by the time he’d gotten himself seated and strapped in. He hit the accelerator and let his brain do the navigating for him. They went down Smithies Lane. That backed onto Merthyr Road, took a sharp ninety degree turn and hit a T junction. At the corner was a now closed restaurant. Six months ago it had been a tapas bar with overpriced jugs of sangria made with cheap bottles of fizz. No wonder they went bust.

He whipped the SUV into a tight turn, cursing the one way street. If Jack had been here, he’d have gone down it anyway, but it’d be just Ianto’s luck to come up against a rubbish truck doing late night rounds, blocking him in. He calculated possible routes for the weevil to take. The other end of the lane was sealed off by cyclone fencing, and there was an industrial park full of factories backing onto it and the street directly across from it. Could weevils climb? It had been smart enough to dive down a pedestrian access laneway so who knew what else it was capable of. One thing he knew for certain though was that weevils moved fast when they wanted to, and Jack and Tosh would have a job of keeping up with it.

He banked the car right, then right again, following the mental map in his head. It was all down to an element of probability, of course. He was assuming the direction of the weevil. It didn't know it was being followed, which meant it was making decisions based on the path of least resistance in all likelihood. He only hoped that meant he was on the right track, even if Jack and Tosh lost its trail.

Jack had been right about one thing at least. There wasn't another soul to be found around here. No one who might cross paths with an emancipated weevil. He stopped at the corner, about to take a left when a white van cut across his path. Could just be a coincidence, he thought. A thousand white panel vans in a city this size. All the same he held back. If they thought they were being followed, they might turn tail. The weevil had a tracker on it. It was important that they be allowed to capture it, even if it didn't sit well with him. His job wasn't to like Jack's plans, only to go along with them.

'The weevil has landed,' came the comment from his Bluetooth headset. It wasn't necessarily meant for him as a call to action but he took Jack's meaning. He gunned the engine, taking the corner. Not fifty meters up ahead he could see the tiny red taillights of the van, making its getaway. Jack and Tosh came out into the open from behind the factory fencing just as Ianto brought the SUV to a screeching halt in front of them. As dramatic entrances went, he thought he'd nailed it, pleased with his perfect navigation and timely arrival. He might have been left behind to babysit the car, but he was right where he needed to be when it counted. If he was lucky, he thought, Jack might let him keep the driver's seat. A car chase across the city might be fun.

That was until Jack threw open the door and began forcing his way into the driver's seat, forcing Ianto to shuffle awkwardly back into the passenger seat before Jack sat on top of him. 'Which way, Tosh?' Jack didn't bother to buckle in, or let anyone else for that matter. Ianto bit back a sigh as he grabbed the side of the door hard, avoiding being thrown across the SUV from Jack's sharp left turn. It seemed the only one who was going to be doing any breakneck driving tonight was Jack.