Torchwood: Fanfic: Spare parts

[m_findlow]

Title: Spare parts
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 649 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "any, any, pass me the left handed screwdriver" at fic_promptly
Summary: You need the right tools for the right job

Ianto parked himself on the floor. Jack was next to him, lying upside down as he inspected the underside of the panel above his head.

'I don't supposed they have emergency roadside assistance in the middle of deep space, do they?'

'Unless we're lucky enough for another ship to pass by this way and drop out of hyper drive at this exact spot, I'd say our chances are slim.'

He tilted his head to watch what Jack was doing. Forty second century mechanics were well past even his considerable intelligence. 'Do you know what's wrong?'

'It's not working, that's what's wrong,' Jack cursed as a sparking component zapped his hand.

'Well I'm glad we at least have an accurate diagnosis. I knew that salesman was dodgy.'

They'd only had the ship for a few months, having decided to take a break from travelling with The Doctor, or perhaps it was the other way around. Either way, their recent travels had been far less dangerous, but just as much fun, having picked up the ship second hand so that they didn't have to rely on seeking passage from passing transports and cargo vessels. It also reduced the chance of Jack running into anyone he may have double crossed over the years, as there were a great number of undesirables that travelled in the same way.

'Ianto, if you go into the second storage unit on the upper deck, there should be a toolbox in there.'

He resisted the urge to make a joke about Jack's ability to fix the ship. After all, he'd travelled all over and flown dozens of different kinds of ships. He just made out that he didn't know much about modern technology. And Ianto had no experience apart from the few tidbits he'd picked up in his time at Torchwood, so he was hardly in a position to make comment on fixing the problem.

He returned and placed the large metal box at Jack's feet.

'Pass me the left handed screwdriver,' he instructed.

'Very funny.'

'No, I'm serious. In there, there should be a left handed screwdriver.'

Ianto rifled through the box. Some of them looked like ordinary, everyday tools, others he had no idea about. He manged to find three different screwdrivers in the box and laid them out.

'They all look the same. How do I know which one's the left handed one?' he asked, still not one hundred percent that Jack wasn't winding him up.

Jack pulled himself out from under the console and sat up. He picked up two of them and examined them. Then he put one down and picked up the third.

'Hmm, one must be a spare. There's no markings on them. Guess I'll just have to try them all.'

'How will you know?'

'Only the lefthanded one will work.'

'And how does it make a difference if it's left handed or right handed?'

'You have to use your left hand or your right hand to make it work, depending on which one it is.'

It didn't make any sense to Ianto, but he supposed stranger things had happened.

'That must be a wrench if you don't have any hands,' he replied, amused by his own play on words.

'Don't get me started on wrenches. Did you know it takes sixteen different types of wrench to fix a transmat modulator? Took me three days.'

'I didn't, but I do now. Lucky we don't have one of those, because we don't have that many,' he said, inspecting the contents of the toolbox again. He picked up an item that was long, with several pointed nubs all over it.

'What does this one do?'

Jack raised his eyebrows when he saw what Ianto was holding. He grinned.

'That's no tool, but I think we can leave the ship broken down for a while longer while I show you what that does.'