m_findlow

Title Home for Christmas - Part 25
Author/Artist m_findlow
Length/Size of work 571 words
Summary Ianto wanted Jack home for Christmas, but got Jack’s home instead.
Rating PG
Warnings None
Other content notes Using Prompt #25 - Hand made
Fandom Torchwood
Pairing Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer Torchwood sadly doesn’t belong to me, but I treat it better.

‘Are you in the habit of cutting up the floorboards in your house and hiding things underneath them?’ Ianto asked, part teasing and part – it sounded, at least to Jack’s mind – genuinely serious. ‘I only ask because you have a habit of doing that at the hub, with mixed results.’ Okay, so not teasing then.

Jack pointed empathically at the obvious join in the floor. ‘That was not here when I was here,’ he argued.

Ianto quirked an eyebrow at him as he raised the torch to illuminate Jack’s face momentarily. ‘Are you sure? You'd never used the fireplace or checked that the backup generator had spare fuel. I’m starting to wonder if you ever lived here at all. Then again, one could believe you never lived at the hub either. A camp bed and a shower are hardly all the modern conveniences and comfort of home. Perhaps you simply never noticed it before.’

Jack resisted the urge to be baited so easily. ‘Trust me, I’d know. You should've seen the carpet in this hallway. It was in bad shape, rotted in places and smelled funky.’

‘Funky?’

‘Not to mention the most hideous shade of green. It may have been the eighties but even I have my limits. So I ripped it all up and polished the boards back myself. I think I did a pretty good job, too, even if I do say so myself.’

‘Captain Jack Harkness, secret DIY handyman. Shirtless and sweaty as he wields his massive tool.’ Ianto beamed at him. ‘That’s quite an image.’

‘Hey, I was sexy. You don’t know what you were missing.’

‘Maybe you can re-enact it for me later.’

‘Now there’s a Christmas present!’ Jack cleared his throat and did his level best to return to the problem at hand. ‘There was no secret hole in the floor. Yes, there’s a cavity beneath the floor and the basement, but it was completely sealed when I redid the floors.’

‘Someone else must have been squatting in your house then. This hardly looks like a professional job. More like someone made it by hand in a bit of a hurry.’

‘When?’ Jack felt affronted that someone had come in and messed with his stuff. Just because he hadn't bothered with the place in decades didn’t mean he wanted other people pawing through his meagre effects and thinking that they could just treat the place as their own.

‘I don’t know. Some time in the last thirty years. Doesn’t exactly narrow it down, does it? Although, we didn’t see any signs of forced entry. The door was locked and no broken windows as far as I could tell. Not that someone couldn't have just picked the lock to let themselves in,’ he added.

‘I hate it when people go through my stuff,’ Jack said, verbalising his earlier indignation.

‘If we ever find out who they are, I promise to give them a stern talking to. Why bother though? Why here? There must be dozens of places to hide something around here if you wanted to. And why your house?’

‘Maybe it needed a cool, dry place, Jack offered. And somewhere that didn’t look like it was being used and whoever they were might get rumbled.’

‘Whatever it might be. Shall we find out?’

Jack grinned, some of his old Torchwood good mood returning and sensing the same in his companion. ‘I thought you’d never ask.’