Torchwood: Fanfic: Bad news

[m_findlow]

Title: Bad news
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 820 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316’s prompt "any, any, the pen is mightier than the sword" at fic_promptly
Summary: Torchwood finds enemies in the most unlikely of places

There's one type of creature Jack hates above all others. It's not the aliens hell bent on coming here and taking over, slash killing or enslaving, slash destroying the entire planet. It's not the police force who hinder more than they help. It's not even the politicians and the beaurecrats that make life difficult for him by constantly being on the phone, complaining about how this situation was dealt with or that one, and who's going to pay for it all. No, if there's one species of individual that really gets up Jack's nose, it's journalists.

The Official Secrets Act doesn't apply to people outside of government owned departments, and even if it did, you couldn't trust any journalist who signed it to ever keep their end of the bargain, no matter how serious the prison sentence for defying the law. They're snakes who are only out to look after themselves.

One in particular has always had it in for Jack. Samuel Jordan. He's the biggest snake of them all in Jack's books. He's been retconned so may times it's a wonder that he can even remember how to put his socks on in the morning, and that stupid bow tie that he always wears.

They're still not quite sure how he manages it, but he's often found lurking at the scene when the police first arrive, and still there after they've left. You know when he's there because he's always dressed the same. Long black overcoat, polished brogues, waistcoat, bow tie. He's taken to repeatedly turning up in and around areas where Torchwood are investigating, even when the police aren't involved. He even had the gumption to turn up one night when Jack and Ianto were doing nothing more than waiting to pick up a pizza and have a quiet night in. It was only luck that Ianto prevented a thoroughly incensed Jack from getting into yet another altercation with the insufferable man. A public assault charge would be just the sort of ammunition Jordan was probably hoping for.

A background check hasn't revealed anything about how he knows where to find them, and also confirms he's not alien himself. He did move here from London though three years ago, so Jack suspects he was hassling Torchwood One before their untimely downfall, and may have possibly looted the site for classified documents and other items. Jack and Owen ransacked his flat one day when he was out, to see if he was hiding anything, but turned up nothing. They'd been hoping for a rift activity locator or something similar that might explain how he knew where to find them.

The worst part is Jack just can't get rid of him. Sometimes Jack yearns for the old days when Torchwood could just make people they didn't like, just disappear. No questions asked. Therein lies the problem.

If he were publicly known as a bit of a quack, a geek, or a conspiracy theorist, they could probably have shut him down. The problem is that, admittedly, he's good at his job, and well known. His editor doesn't care for his stalking adventures, and the explanation that he's following a story that will rock the city's foundations, but so long as all his other assignments and submitted on time and to the requisite standard, he'll let Jordan have his eccentricities. Who knows, one day maybe they'll pay dividends, and the more credibility he earns in the mean time, the better. Anything to help sales of newspapers.

He's somehow managed to suss out the names of all of the members of the team, much to Jack's annoyance. He uses it as leverage whenever they go head to head, which is often considering Jack's naturally antagonistic method of dealing with people. Jordan threatens to release their names in the media if Jack doesn't give him what he wants by the end of their argument. Somehow, someway, retcon always finds its way to Jordan's mouth by the end of such a day's argument, and he forgets all about his threatening remarks.

Jack knows that he could release the names any time he wanted, but he likes holding that card close to his chest to keep Jack in line, or so he thinks. Nothing might come from their names being released, but Jack's not prepared to take the chance. Torchwood is dangerous enough as it is. The last thing they need is some nutter reading Jordan's article, tracking down their address and coming after them. They're his team, and he'll protect them at any cost.

He's a weasel of a man and he gets under of the skin of everyone on the team, but Jack most of all. He's obnoxious and persistent, irritating and conniving, but for now, there's not much Jack can do about it. All he can do is keep a careful watch on him, which shouldn't be hard since he's never far away.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Journalists, the worst of the worst! Some are ethical, most are not and don't care how much harm they do as long as they get the scoops. It's a miracle this one hasn't got himself killed yet.