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Fandomweekly Challenge 165 - Remorseless
Title: Remorseless
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Gwen, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG.
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 165 - Apology at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly
Summary: Ianto will stand his ground when he knows Jack is wrong.
Ianto watched from the dock as the small fishing trawler steamed into port. There'd been no word all day so he came mentally prepared for anything.
Gwen was the first off the boat, walking up the dock with a worn but gritty look about her. She barely blinked as she walked right past him, heading for her car without a word. She very clearly wouldn't be accompanying them back to the hub for further debriefing.
Several yards behind her was Jack who looked straight at him with a similar worn look. He'd known Ianto would be here waiting for them, just as he always was when Jack headed out to Flat Holm. It wasn't thunderous rage for what he'd done – not yet in any case. He waited until Jack was level with him before falling into step, turning back towards the car as they both got in without a word.
He'd nearly confessed earlier that morning that he'd given Gwen the coordinates for Flat Holm Island. It had been on his mind to admit it but somehow it hadn't felt right to say something whilst they'd still been tangled up in the sheets and each other. He'd made a professional work decision to defy his boss, not a decision to betray his lover. They needed that distinction in their lives. On a personal level, he would never betray Jack.
Instead he'd waited until they were both showered and dressed, switching into work mode. He placed the mug on the desk and kept things professional. 'You've got your bi-monthly inspection of Flat Holm today,' he said, having surreptitiously moved it forward a few days in Jack's calendar. 'Boat's ready to go.' He gave it a beat before continuing nonchalantly. 'Oh, and Gwen texted to say she's not feeling well and taking the day off.'
Jack snorted. 'Like we believe that,' he said, knowing full well Gwen was persisting with her investigations into the people stolen by the rift. 'Text her to say she'd better be back tomorrow or she's fired.'
Fired. Jack used the word occasionally but he never made good on that threat. He needed them because they were good at what they did, and no one was perfect. Even now in the car, Jack was sullen and broody, teetering on edge of wanting to deliver a vitriolic lashing.
'I'm not going to apologise,' Ianto said, getting in first and cutting off any speech from Jack about loyalty to Torchwood. 'I simply needed to make sure you were there when she finally did find out the truth. Gwen was never going to stop until she found out. We both know that, and I for one am glad she wouldn't let it go. I gave you a chance to come clean to the team and you rejected it. They already knew half of it. Why not admit the rest? Admit that we're trying to help these people rather than just covering it up because you find it unpleasant.'
Ianto gave a mirth-filled chuckle at the rhetorical question.' I know why. The twenty-first century isn't ready to know.' He snorted. 'Yes, we've heard that before. That's your default excuse, isn't it? That we're too stupid and backwards to understand anything. But we're not. This isn't about protecting the future or messing with the causality of time or whatever bollocks you choose to spew.' Ianto didn't even glance sideways to see if his blunt assessment was causing hurt. 'This is simple and straightforward, Jack. The rift takes people. Sometimes it dumps them back again. Horribly, brutally. I know because I've seen it. They're damaged physically and let's not even talk about the psychological impact. Not like any of them have ever come back and said "oh yes, the random trip to an island paradise was lovely, thanks. Thinking of booking my daughter's wedding there next year." You dragged me into this secret so it's no longer just yours. Now, if you still feel like ranting at me and firing me, go right ahead. I'm just going to keep driving us round the block until you're done, but you won't get any satisfaction out of me. I've spoken my peace and that's all I have to say on the matter.'
Jack was silent for a long while. Despite not having said anything, Ianto kept driving in a circuitous route, knowing Jack would eventually speak and that as soon as they reached the hub he'd go back into captain mode, silent and brooding, and that would be the end of their conversation. Ianto didn't want it to be the end. Not yet. He needed Jack to acknowledge that he wasn't always right; that their opinions mattered.
'Gwen wants to take Nikki Bevan out there to see Jonah.'
Ianto shook his head. 'No.' It was one thing for Gwen to know the truth, but showing a mother what the rift had done to her son was torture. There were a lot of things that he and Jack didn't agree on when it came to how they dealt with the victims of the rift, but dragging their families into it was too much, even for him. He knew first hand the emotional toll of caring for someone you loved who'd been maimed by something Torchwood was meant to protect them from.
'I told her yes.'
Ianto's hands subconsciously wrapped around the wheel in a white knuckle grip. 'You did what?' He was about to start raging at Jack but fell silent as he realised why he'd done it. This was punishment for Gwen – and for him, he supposed. Jack wanted them both to see what it would do to someone, knowing that their loved one had been damaged beyond repair. There was a cruel spitefulness to it that was just so characteristically Jack.
I hate you, he wanted to say. He was glad he hadn't apologised for what he'd done. Jack didn't want their apologies, only their contrition. In the end he always had to be right.
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Gwen, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG.
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: None
Author notes: Written for Challenge 165 - Apology at
fandomweekly Summary: Ianto will stand his ground when he knows Jack is wrong.
Ianto watched from the dock as the small fishing trawler steamed into port. There'd been no word all day so he came mentally prepared for anything.
Gwen was the first off the boat, walking up the dock with a worn but gritty look about her. She barely blinked as she walked right past him, heading for her car without a word. She very clearly wouldn't be accompanying them back to the hub for further debriefing.
Several yards behind her was Jack who looked straight at him with a similar worn look. He'd known Ianto would be here waiting for them, just as he always was when Jack headed out to Flat Holm. It wasn't thunderous rage for what he'd done – not yet in any case. He waited until Jack was level with him before falling into step, turning back towards the car as they both got in without a word.
He'd nearly confessed earlier that morning that he'd given Gwen the coordinates for Flat Holm Island. It had been on his mind to admit it but somehow it hadn't felt right to say something whilst they'd still been tangled up in the sheets and each other. He'd made a professional work decision to defy his boss, not a decision to betray his lover. They needed that distinction in their lives. On a personal level, he would never betray Jack.
Instead he'd waited until they were both showered and dressed, switching into work mode. He placed the mug on the desk and kept things professional. 'You've got your bi-monthly inspection of Flat Holm today,' he said, having surreptitiously moved it forward a few days in Jack's calendar. 'Boat's ready to go.' He gave it a beat before continuing nonchalantly. 'Oh, and Gwen texted to say she's not feeling well and taking the day off.'
Jack snorted. 'Like we believe that,' he said, knowing full well Gwen was persisting with her investigations into the people stolen by the rift. 'Text her to say she'd better be back tomorrow or she's fired.'
Fired. Jack used the word occasionally but he never made good on that threat. He needed them because they were good at what they did, and no one was perfect. Even now in the car, Jack was sullen and broody, teetering on edge of wanting to deliver a vitriolic lashing.
'I'm not going to apologise,' Ianto said, getting in first and cutting off any speech from Jack about loyalty to Torchwood. 'I simply needed to make sure you were there when she finally did find out the truth. Gwen was never going to stop until she found out. We both know that, and I for one am glad she wouldn't let it go. I gave you a chance to come clean to the team and you rejected it. They already knew half of it. Why not admit the rest? Admit that we're trying to help these people rather than just covering it up because you find it unpleasant.'
Ianto gave a mirth-filled chuckle at the rhetorical question.' I know why. The twenty-first century isn't ready to know.' He snorted. 'Yes, we've heard that before. That's your default excuse, isn't it? That we're too stupid and backwards to understand anything. But we're not. This isn't about protecting the future or messing with the causality of time or whatever bollocks you choose to spew.' Ianto didn't even glance sideways to see if his blunt assessment was causing hurt. 'This is simple and straightforward, Jack. The rift takes people. Sometimes it dumps them back again. Horribly, brutally. I know because I've seen it. They're damaged physically and let's not even talk about the psychological impact. Not like any of them have ever come back and said "oh yes, the random trip to an island paradise was lovely, thanks. Thinking of booking my daughter's wedding there next year." You dragged me into this secret so it's no longer just yours. Now, if you still feel like ranting at me and firing me, go right ahead. I'm just going to keep driving us round the block until you're done, but you won't get any satisfaction out of me. I've spoken my peace and that's all I have to say on the matter.'
Jack was silent for a long while. Despite not having said anything, Ianto kept driving in a circuitous route, knowing Jack would eventually speak and that as soon as they reached the hub he'd go back into captain mode, silent and brooding, and that would be the end of their conversation. Ianto didn't want it to be the end. Not yet. He needed Jack to acknowledge that he wasn't always right; that their opinions mattered.
'Gwen wants to take Nikki Bevan out there to see Jonah.'
Ianto shook his head. 'No.' It was one thing for Gwen to know the truth, but showing a mother what the rift had done to her son was torture. There were a lot of things that he and Jack didn't agree on when it came to how they dealt with the victims of the rift, but dragging their families into it was too much, even for him. He knew first hand the emotional toll of caring for someone you loved who'd been maimed by something Torchwood was meant to protect them from.
'I told her yes.'
Ianto's hands subconsciously wrapped around the wheel in a white knuckle grip. 'You did what?' He was about to start raging at Jack but fell silent as he realised why he'd done it. This was punishment for Gwen – and for him, he supposed. Jack wanted them both to see what it would do to someone, knowing that their loved one had been damaged beyond repair. There was a cruel spitefulness to it that was just so characteristically Jack.
I hate you, he wanted to say. He was glad he hadn't apologised for what he'd done. Jack didn't want their apologies, only their contrition. In the end he always had to be right.