Title: Out and proud

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 1,334 words

Content notes: None

Author notes: Written for Challenge 409 - Show Off

Summary: Today marks a big day for Torchwood and its place in the world.

‘You look nervous,’ Jack remarked, watching Ianto undo and attempt his tie for the third time.

Ianto didn't reply until he'd draped it back around his neck and tried yet again to twist the silk into that impossibly perfect knot that Jack was always slightly jealous of. He wasn't one for wearing ties - hated the things - but he was nevertheless impressed by anyone who had mastered them. And Ianto was a master. Just not this morning when he wanted it more than anything.

Jack moved across to help him, not even receiving a slapped away hand for his efforts. Ianto blew out a breath and let Jack take over, whilst watching the whole thing with a judicial eye, ready to offer instruction. ‘I am,’ he finally confessed.

Jack paused just long enough to arch an eyebrow. ‘Really? Last night you couldn't even sleep, you were so excited.’

‘And now that lack of sleep is catching up with me.’

Jack snorted. Ianto might have taken a while to fall asleep but once he'd gotten there he hadn't moved. Jack should know. He'd been awake even longer than his husband, thinking things over.

Torchwood was about to become a matter for the public eye. Not that it wasn't already. People had officially known about Torchwood for six months, but this was the actual first time anyone would see what Torchwood was. Their new facilities in London, plus the somewhat renovated Cardiff Hub had been completed for a little while now. This however, would be the first time anyone outside of Torchwood saw them. Ianto didn't want to show off shiny new facilities that hadn't ever been used. He wanted people to see what their place looked like when it was bustling with people working to protect and advance planet Earth. Shiny buildings were all well and good, but what they wanted to demonstrate was what it took to do the work they did.

Having Torchwood out in the open hadn't strictly been their choice. They might have kept the world in the dark even through the events of the 456 incursion, but last year's even more deadly and dangerous threat had made it all but impossible to keep themselves secret any longer. Without the world knowing who and what they were, they never would have stood a chance. Now they owed it to the people of planet Earth to provide full disclosure. Well, maybe not full disclosure, but at least a decent tour of their facilities, explaining exactly what it was they did and how long they'd been doing it in the shadows without any recognition or appreciation.

Thus had begun the tricky negotiations of who would make the shortlist of journalists to be invited to participate. Every writer had been carefully vetted, much to the chagrin of their respective agencies, and even more to those that didn’t receive an invitation at all. There’d be no hack jobs from the Daily Mail or The Sun on this occasion. Only the best of the best from the globe’s biggest and most reputable news corporations were invited guests. Each had already received a carefully curated information pack two weeks ago that would cover a lot of the basics. Three hours was far too short a time to explain everything, so a lot of the groundwork had already been covered, allowing them to digest the information, and hopefully not waste anyone’s time with stupid questions.

Ianto tried to peer over Jack’s shoulder at the mirror he was now blocking to inspect Jack’s handiwork, but Jack only shifted very slightly to the left so that his focus was on Jack alone.

Once Jack was happy that Ianto's tie was just as perfect as the man himself would have done on another day when he wasn't a nervous wreck, he rested his hands on Ianto's shoulders. ‘I'm so proud of you,’ he said, meaning every word. If Jack had still been in charge, they'd have still been making do with a grubby Torchwood Three hub, a hatful of staff running things, and no view to doing it any differently anytime soon. He cupped Ianto’s face and kissed him, trying to eke out some of that unwarranted nervous tension.

‘This is the right thing to do, isn't it?’

‘Don't second guess yourself now,’ Jack teased. ‘You've got a gaggle of journalists from every major world news corporation arriving in a few hours. Too late to back out now.’ That was the truth of it. This had been their idea, to give the world the truth of it. If anyone could convince the sceptics that what they did was for the good of everyone, it was his husband.

‘True,’ Ianto finally replied, heaving out a heavy breath. ‘Torchwood laid bare to the world. Never thought I'd live to see that.’

‘And hopefully a lot better than the last time we tried to give someone a tour,’ Jack said. When Queen Victoria had come to inspect their London Headquarters back in 1901, it had been a raging disaster. Their alien corpse had turned out to be not as dead as everyone thought, had attacked Archie and stripped fifty years off him, before escaping, leaving Jack to try and apprehend it, all with the royal monarch on his heels the entire way, still threatening to shut down their whole operation. He hadn't even been in charge at the time, but it had soundly put him off the idea of ever giving another VIP a tour of Torchwood’s facilities.

Jack brushed down Ianto’s shoulders and lapels, adjudging everything to be in order. ‘You’re good to go,’ he announced. ‘Prepped, primped and perfect. Time to show off Torchwood to the world.’


Whatever fears Ianto held for the tour turned out to be completely unfounded, just as Jack had expected. He'd taken a back seat to the whole proceeding, following in step with Ianto the whole time, but remaining silent for the most part, letting Ianto talk through everything around them, answering questions with a practised ease that Jack never would have pulled off. It was too easy to get defensive to a probing question and snap back a response that was unhelpful. Ianto though had the patience of a saint, taking great pains to explain everything within the realms of what they'd agreed was appropriate disclosure and what wasn't in the interest of the public.

If Jack hadn't already been convinced that what they did was the most important job on Earth, he was by the time he'd spent two and a half hours listening to Ianto. He projected the utmost confidence, without coming across as arrogant. He was delighted to show off all the progress Torchwood had made, and the things it planned still to do, whilst still busily keeping the planet safe, engaging with species from other worlds, being ambassadors and putting planet Earth on the map to promote their little corner of the galaxy as progressing, but defensible against threats.

It all sounded far more reassuring coming from Ianto’s lips than it ever would have by Jack telling people they had nothing to worry about. They did enough worrying on behalf of seven billion people. They didn’t want recognition or glory, nor power or influence. Most government heads and large corporation bosses earned far more than they ever would. Most would say they weren't paid nearly enough for the work they did, but they did it out of a love of the job, knowing just how important what they were doing was.

The press could spin the story any which way they liked, but Jack didn’t think they’d have a bad word to say tomorrow when he spread out the papers on the table over breakfast. Torchwood was impressive, and the man who ran it even more so. Even without the front page headline and the exclusive photographs, Jack knew they had the best man for the job and that the results of their work spoke for themselves. Torchwood would be out and proud.