Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Jack, Gwen, Ianto, OCs

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 2,072 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 363 - Amnesty & Challenge 29 - Interruptions

Summary: All Jack's wants is some peace and quiet for a very important task.


Jack tapped at the empty notebook page with the end of his pen, trying to force divine inspiration to strike him. There was no rhythm to his tapping, just a constant metronomic beat that tried to force his brain to order its thoughts into the same regimented pattern. He reached across the desk with his left hand, fingers wrapping around the mug handle without any visual assistance as he brought it to his lips, sipping the still warm contents whilst continuing to stare at the blank page. He knew that if he could just get started the rest would be easy. Starting was always the hardest part. Nothing left you with nowhere to go.

He set the coffee back down and resumed his tapping. This shouldn't be as hard as it seemed, he decided. Most of the time he had all kinds of opinions and thoughts to share, and some of his team would even say there was a pout at which it was considered that he talked too much and shared more than was socially acceptable. This morning however, his words failed him.

His phone buzzed on the desk next to him. The screen read Gwen Cooper. She should be halfway to Swansea by now, off to sort out an alien spacecraft which seemed incapable of reading a map, ending up in Port Talbot when they should have docked in Penarth. She was going to board and make sure they followed her directions properly this time around - preferably before anyone at the large steelworks noticed that there was a new building next door that didn't quite look like it matched.

'Gwen Cooper. How is traffic on the M4 this morning?' Hellish, he expected. It usually was. One of the main reasons he avoided it at all costs.

'Yeah, about that…' Gwen replied, her tone intimating that what came next wouldn't be good. 'Any chance you might head there to sort it out?'

His hand paused over the notepad. 'Why?'

Gwen heaved a sigh. 'Because Rhys has got a case of the man flu, tucked up in the sofa and complaining that he's never felt so sick in his entire life. Which is bollocks,' she added loudly, as if for Rhys' benefit more than Jack's. 'So, I'm stuck here looking after Anwen now.'

Jack grimaced at the news. 'Can't your folks take her? They were in Swansea, after all.'

'Oh, sure. I'll just drop by their place and say, sorry, got to go sort out a lost spaceship in Port Talbot. Couldn't keep an eye on her until I get back, could you?'

Jack shrugged. It sounded perfectly reasonable from where he was standing. 'I mean, you don't have to tell them everything.'

'No, Jack. They've got lives too, you know.'

He grunted in concessionary disagreement.

'You don't have anything else on this morning so stop your bloody whinging and just do it,' Gwen snapped at him, hanging up the phone.

Jack sighed, looking down at his empty notepad and the morning he'd pencilled out to fill it. He flipped it back over and shoved it in his coat pocket. Maybe inspiration would strike whilst he was trapped in bumper to bumper commuter traffic.



Jack didn't find any inspiration on the road, only headaches and frustration, which were exacerbated by the lengthy time it took to relocate the alien ship after their captain had wanted to argue the point that one part of Welsh coastline looked much the same as any other. He'd missed lunch and got stuck behind a large lorry all the way home that he was certain had a Harwoods logo splashed on the side of it.

He arrived back at the hub and raided the biscuit tin, having found most of the team gone, including Ianto. If he'd made Jack a sandwich and left it on his desk, someone else must have come along and stolen it. He doubted it though. Ianto was far too busy these days to be worrying about whether Jack was suffering from low blood sugar.

He collapsed back behind his desk, checked his emails whilst munched on four digestive biscuits and satisfied that there was nothing nuclear in there that needed his attention,went back to his task from this morning. The small notebook that had been in his pocket was vastly slimmer than It had been when he'd pocketed it this morning, having wasted a few dozen pages trying to spell out very clear instructions that would get the alien vessel out of their solar system without crashing into the asteroid belt or any one of a hundred international observation satellites that might snap a few pictures of it before it entered deep space.

With a flourish he uncapped his pen and jotted down a few sentences, feeling good now that he was finally committing pen to paper and rushing through the words. He didn't stop until he stumbled for the right word, then reread the entire thing, grimaced at it and tore the page out, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it in the bin. What had seemed so promising was actually awful. He tore out a fresh page and began again, but three lines in and he was already appalled with it, adding it to the discarded first draft.

He ripped out a fresh page and this time paused to consider it before writing something new down. He thought about it a bit more and then very slowly and purposefully, poised to start writing. Then there was a knock on his door. Adelaide was standing there, looking at him expectantly.

'You said you were going to give me advanced weapons training sometime soon.'

Jack set his own down, remembering the promise he'd made to his newest recruit. It was standard protocol these days. Jack would much rather his team know how to identify a base four plasma gun and use it before they found themselves staring down the barrel of one. 'I did.'

'And we've postponed half a dozen times, but hey, you're here, I'm here, and this afternoon looks quiet…'

He cast an eye out through the window at the near empty hub. 'So it does.'

Adelaide gripped the edge of the doorway. 'So?'

Jack glanced despondently at the bank page in front of him, screaming at him to say no and make some other excuse. No one would argue if he said he had some important call or report to complete. Then again, he had promised, and it was important. He checked his watch. 'We could catch up in an hour or so.'

Adelaide gave him a troubled little expression. 'Only I've got a boxing class at five, and I know how distracted you get trying to stick to just what's essential.' She shrugged, meaning no offense by the comment. 'Just saying.'

'Nope. You're right.' He had a bad habit of getting sidetracked and showing off, taking three times as long. 'I'll meet you down there in a minute.'

'Thanks, Boss,' she said, grinning excitedly and disappearing.

Jack picked up the piece of paper and considered it. He'd been close this time. This piece of paper would be the one. He folded it in half then half again and slid it into his right hand trouser pocket for safekeeping.



True to form, Jack did take a whole lot longer to go through all of the different kinds of advanced weaponry a Torchwood agent might stumble across in their everyday jobs. The trouble was that their collection had grown considerably over the years and he didn't need to do extensive training with the others. They simply learned on the job with each new addition, sometimes the hard way, being on the receiving end before the team could take out the would-be assassin and recover their weapons from them. To go through it all in detail for the uninitiated really did take longer than Jack estimated, even with him making an effort not to attach an anecdote to each of them. Adelaide was a fast learner and in the end was happy to skip her scheduled boxing class in order to have more time actually training with the weapons.

They finally wrapped up a bit after seven and by the time the pair of them arrived back upstairs, Jack found Ianto waiting there for him. As nice as it was to see his lover, it also sent a wave of panicked guilt through Jack. The paper in his pocket was a little worse for wear after Jack had gotten over excited and made their weapons training a bit more hands on, or at least more of Jack dodging and weaving as they used some of the laser weapons on their training mode settings. He was always happiest when he was on the move but now the price of that temporary fun was burning hot by the side of his leg. Part of him had been quietly hoping Ianto wouldn't be here and that he could have an evening at the hub to himself, ostensibly on the grounds of a backlog of work.

'Two guesses what you two have been up to, Ianto said, a knowing smile on his face. 'I hope I don't have any mending to do as a result of your rough play.'

'Wouldn't dream of it, Jack replied, keeping the fingers on one hand crossed behind his back, just in case. Jack's clothes often took a battering even without him noticing it.

'I thought we could grab dinner and a movie tonight.' He took one look at the expression on Jack's face which must have read reluctance. 'We haven't had a date night in ages,' he added.

Jack shuffled from one foot to the other. 'I know, but…'

An eyebrow curved at him. 'But?' There was something in the way Ianto always said the word that implied the additional unsaid words "this should be good".

Jack decided to go for that blunt option. It wasn't like Ianto wouldn't believe him. 'I've got stuff to do.'

Or maybe not, judging by the look Ianto gave him. 'Since when? I didn't see anything in your calendar.'

Jack stood a little taller. 'Since now.'

Ianto's arms folded across his chest as he gave Jack a look. 'What's got you in such a grump today? Everyone has been complaining that you've been sulky and argumentative. Not that I think it's particularly out of character, mind you.'

Jack didn't want to argue with his lover. They were past all of that, even though Jack still wasn't great in the honesty department, which is what had made his day's task all that more important. 'You really wanna know?'

'Suppose that's my job, isn't it?' Ianto replied deadpan.

Jack shoved his hand into his pocket and thrust the crumpled piece of paper in Ianto's face.

There was the trademark look of resigned confusion at Jack's obtuseness. 'It's a blank page.'

'Exactly. I've been trying to write my vows all day and you people keep stealing whatever free time I've had. All I'm asking for is a few hours of peace and quiet so I can get these right. They have to be perfect.'

Ianto shook his head and took the crumpled paper from Jack's hand, tossing it away. 'You daft sod. I don't need fancy vows. All I want is to bloody marry you and be able to say that I'm one hundred percent committed to putting up with your nonsense no matter what.'

Jack chuckled, feeling stupid. Of course Ianto didn't care, even if Jack felt it was the most important declaration of love he needed to make on the most important day in his life, approaching faster than he imagined.' Is that what you wrote for yours?' he teased. 'I vow to put up with your nonsense no matter what?'

'No, but maybe I should have.' He grabbed Jack's head and pulled it forward, kissing him on the corner of his mouth. 'Come on. Let's go have dinner and then we can find some awful movie nobody wants to see where we can spend the whole night kissing in the back row. Maybe all that added romance will help inspire you.'

Jack knew when he was out gunned, and it was he'd to resist such an offer. 'Well, it can't hurt. A terrible movie sounds perfect. The worse the better.' At least that should be one place they wouldn't be interrupted.