Torchwood: Fanfic: Going round in circles

[m_findlow]

Title: Going round in cirlces
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 700 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for oneill's prompt "Any, any, I fell asleep on a late night train / I missed my stop and I went round again" at fic_promptly
Summary: All Ianto wanted was to go home to bed

Ianto slumped into the seat on the train, glad that the day was finally over. An entire day of dealing with the officious administration of UNIT was tiring in and of itself. The fact that he'd had less than an hour's sleep the night before, having been up all night chasing two rogue weevils through the maze of warehouses down by the docks had not helped. He would have slept on the way to London, being dropped off at Cardiff Central Station at 5.30am for the first train of the morning there, but there were reports to be read and briefings to refamiliarise himself with before the first meetings began at nine am sharp.

All in all it hadn't been a complete waste of time, though there had been some very heated discussions regarding certain topics, that had left him desperate for a proper coffee before he started banging heads together. If the only two organisations in the United Kingdom that knew about aliens couldn't agree on the best way to resolve matters of an extraterrestrial nature, then what hope was there? It was small wonder Jack hated these things.

By the time he paid the cab driver and stepped out onto the damp pavement, the high vaulted glass and steel ceiling of Paddington Station looming overhead, he was too tired to admire the Victorian architecture, fine scrollwork and painted architraves. The 8.30pm service to Cardiff was the last for the night, and he intended to be on it, looking forward to curling up in his own bed tonight, snuggled up against Jack's warmth. He did not want to spend tonight cooped up alone in a hotel room on the other side of the country.

The train rolled out of the station on time, and the clacking of the wheels along the tracks, rocking the carriages ever so slightly from left to right and back again, was soothing. He rested his elbow on the edge of the window, leaning his head against his arm, before closing his eyes. There was still a mountain of follow up work to be done from today's meetings, but it could all wait until tomorrow when he'd had a proper night's rest.

The train was still bustling down the tracks when the sound of his phone woke him.

'Hey,' he greeted sleepily, suppressing a yawn long enough to get the word out.

'You still on the train?' Jack asked.

'Yup.'

'Running late, is it?'

'Not that I know of. Why?'

'I've been parked outside the station for nearly an hour. You did say 11.45, didn't you?'

'Mmm,' Ianto hummed. He pulled up his sleeve and consulted his watch. It read 12.58am. What the? Had they been delayed along the way? He peered out the window but all he could see was inky blackness with the occasional lights whipping by. It was only then that he noticed something else. When he'd gotten on, he'd been riding backwards. Now it felt like the train was moving forwards, in the opposite direction.

'Hang on a sec,' he said to Jack, pulling his phone away from his ear, flipping on his GPS navigator and watching the tiny blue dot that was him moving eastward. He checked the train timetable, finding the last redeye service from Cardiff to London scheduled for 11.50pm. Uh oh.

'Um, I think I may have slept through arriving back in Cardiff. The train is headed back to London.'

'Nice work,' Jack said.

He could almost hear Jack grinning on the other end of the phone. He'd have been disappointed and a little annoyed, but he never passed up a rare opportunity to rag on his lover for doing something completely idiotic.

Ianto groaned. Karma had a lot to answer for in his humble opinion.

'D'you want me to come and pick you up?' Jack asked. 'I can meet you at the next station, wherever that is.'

'No,' Ianto sighed, 'it's fine,' he replied despondently. 'I'll find a hotel back in London that does late check in and try again in the morning.'

'Want me to stay on the line until you fall asleep?'

'No. I get the feeling falling asleep in not my main issue.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

Poor Ianto, looks like it's a cold and lonely Jackless hotel room for him tonight after all. Of course he could just fall asleep on the train again and stay there all night. That way he can go straight back to Cardiff in the morning, lol!

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

He thought about it, then figured with his luck it'd turn around and he'd wake up in Hull! ;)

[bk_forever]

At least Hull might be a nice change of scene!