m_findlow

Title: Shipped off
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, John Hart
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,907 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 66 - Ship at beattheblackdog
Summary: Jack isn't enjoying his newest assignment one bit.

'Not that one,' came the instruction.

Jack took a few more paces and stopped in front of the next one.

'No, not that one either.'

Jack let out a small growl under his breath and quickly paced down the length of the yard, stopping again.

'Nope. Sweet goddesses, they told me you were their brightest recruit in a generation!'

'Don't tell me how to do my job!' Jack barked, annoyed.

John stood there and leaned against the vessel, arms folded, smug little smile playing across his face. 'Well, someone has to. Honestly, I don't know how you survived the first ten years with the Agency.'

Jack seethed. The assistant director had a lot to answer for. Yes, he'd taken on the assignment, but what choice had he been given? For command, it was shelving a problem they couldn't get rid of. For Jack, it was a babysitting duty. This was how they rewarded him for ten years of impeccable service to the Agency?

He could still hear the director's words in his head. "No one else will work with him, and most simply can't. He's a loose cannon. Bring him into line, that's your job. He's your problem now."

Some job, he thought ruefully. The man was a walking ball of chaos. And that was to say nothing of the sexual overtures he'd had to put up with in the past week. Jack was a friendly kind of guy, and he got along with pretty well everybody, but John's particular modus operandi had left him wanting. The man wanted to bed him and that was about it. He wasn't bad looking, and it wouldn't be the first time he'd fallen into bed with a fellow agent, but he generally liked to work alone. He did his best work that way and this was the thanks he got; to tail and collar some reckless agent who'd lost the plot.

Focus Jack. Just remember that if you don't whip him back into shape, they'll have no choice but to terminate him. No one deserved that, not even John. That was the price you paid for being an agent. Tow the line or lose everything.

'This is a waste of time,' Jack huffed, trawling through the yard, past dozens of secondhand spaceships. Any and all of them would get them there, so he couldn't understand why John was being so fussy.

'Mmm, has potential,' John mused, running a hand over the hull of a small craft.

Jack had had enough. He stepped in front of John, blocking his view. 'No more time wasting.' He held his wrist up, showing off his vortex manipulator, the same as John's, if a little bigger. 'Time agents, so why don't we just teleport there?'

'Patience, kitten.'

'Don't call me that!'

'Why, because you're not young and cute, but don't know anything else?'

He might be young, but he had plenty of street smarts for all that. He wouldn't have made it through the academy and his probation if he hadn't. He'd been playing this game long enough now to know that he was still one of the best, regardless of his youth.

'We need the ship,' John said. 'Not just any ship. One that will get past their customs officials without question.'

'Which we wouldn't have to worry about if we just teleported there,' Jack countered.

'And if you'd like to get torn into a million tiny pieces by their planetary shielding, then go right ahead. See how far you get, then.'

Jack folded his arms in a petulant manner, hating that John had withheld that vital piece of information from him. Partners didn't do that to one another. That was why this assignment was going to kill one of them. Jack just hoped it wasn't him.

'You know something I don't?' Jack asked, annoyed since he didn't consider this a partnership. He was meant to be taking the lead, not following half baked orders from John.

'I know how to travel under their radar, which for me is quite an impressive feat, wouldn't you say?'

'I don't have to,' Jack said, giving John a smirk. 'You're pretty good and blowing your own trumpet.'

John eased back from the side of the ship. 'You know, it doesn't have to be like this.'

Jack narrowed his eyes. 'Like what?'

'All antagonistic, and you trying to prove you're the big man around town. We could pull them out and compare them, and I'm not saying I'm against that in the right circumstances, but I think we both know who'd win.'

Jack turned on him, long coat swishing behind him. 'Just so you know, I don't have to. You might be older-'

John scoffed. 'But better looking.'

'The assistant director made it clear that you follow my orders.'

'Only if I like them,' John replied.

Jack stood up and put his face close to John's. He knew now why none of the other agents would put up with him. They simply had more sway with the powers that be than he did for saying no.

'Let me be real clear. You don't play ball and the Agency terminate you, John. And right now, I wouldn't be all that sorry if you were blasted into ten billion atoms.'

John clutched at his chest dramatically. 'You wound me, kitten. I thought we were getting along well. I'm here to teach you all my many pearls of wisdom. Age and experience have to count for something.'

Jack continued to stare hard at him. There was only so much of this he could take.

John held his hands up in a mock surrender. 'You know, I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot. You really should have stopped by my quarters before we set off on this assignment. We could've shared a few drinks, gotten to know one another...'

'Fallen into bed together,' Jack supplied, knowing that was exactly what John would have had planned.

John shrugged. 'Whatever works. I like to get to know people before I work with them.'

Jack pointed a firm finger at him. 'We do this, and then you go back to whatever dark hole it is you came out of.'

'Oh, didn't they tell you? This is permanent. You and me. Forever.' John gave him a satisfied grin. 'And you know, I might quite enjoy the company. It's been a while since I've had such a, hmm... intriguing counterpart. Easy on the eyes, too.'

Jack didn't like the insinuation. John's last partner had been a good friend of his, and she'd ended up dead. Worse was that John had shown no remorse.

Jack drew in a measured breath, trying not to lose his cool. John could get him killed just as easily if they didn't find some middle ground. It seemed apparent that John wasn't going to accept his leadership. He was going to have to find a way to make it look like theirs was a partnership of equals, without having to give too much ground, or any, for that matter.

'Fine,' Jack huffed. 'You get to pick out a ship, then. Which would you choose, seeing as how you're so experienced?'

'See, now that's the kind of question you should have asked me at the start. That one of course,' he said, pointing to a decrepit looking rust bucket of the vessel.

Jack raised his eyebrows at John. 'You mentioned that it has to be capable of flight, didn't you?'

'What's a little fixer upper between friends?' John said, grinning. 'They told me stories about how you would have been stranded on Arcana Six if you hadn't jury rigged that ship and flown it halfway across the Zeldan Cluster without working shields. And the bonus: this one doesn't scream illegal smugglers. A shame really. All the ladies love an outlaw. I was hoping we might stick around for a while, maybe see what the locals clubs have to offer?'

'No,' Jack said, brooking no argument. 'We get in without being noticed, find the shipment and get out. No detours.'

'You're a real killjoy, you know that? Most guys your age would be living it up in the Vegas Galaxy. Trust me to get lumped with a rule abiding, workaholic, goody two-shoes. Please tell me you're not a prude on top of all that. I couldn't bear it. Such a waste of those matinee pretty boy looks.' John reached out to touch his cheek and Jack flinched away.

'I'm not-'

Not what? he asked himself. He liked to have fun. Hell, a lot of fun. He could go toe to toe with the best, downing hypervodkas like they were water. But he had a job to do as well.

Profiteering on the side had to be done carefully. There were strict rules around making financial gains, given their ability to travel through time. The penalties were harsh, and the punishments even harsher. He'd dabbled around the edges, always erring just this side of the line of caution. Every agent did it. The aim though was to pick your wins and not to get greedy.

His main goal was to get up enough credits and enough sway with the Agency to be able to procure himself a permanent ship. The credits were more important though. He'd need them to buy information; information on the race of beings that had stolen his brother. It was his whole reason for being here; so that he could find Gray and rescue him. Nothing else mattered.

He'd never stop searching, but to do that, he need time and money, and a whole lot of influence. The Agency weren't about to just let him take off for who knew how long. He might even have to make a run for it. It was a contingency plan, but one that would mean he'd probably be on the run for the rest of his life. He wasn't about to walk away from the job and give up his vortex manipulator. It wouldn't be the only thing he'd have to give up either, likely that he'd have to give up some of his memories as well before they let him go. He'd heard of it happening before, but he'd never met anyone who'd had their memories stripped. Chances were, they didn't stick around after that, assuming they even remembered who'd taken them and why.

No, for now he was going to have to put up with John. There was a bigger end game still in play. John was just an inconvenience, a speed bump in the road.

Jack handed over the currency chip, John grinning as he swiped it from Jack's hand.

'Offer ten thousand credits and not a one more, for this piece of junk,' Jack instructed. 'We'll have to beg, borrow and steal for replacement parts as it is, if she's in as bad a condition as I think.'

'Sold,' John said, giving him a mocking salute. 'Don't worry your pretty little head. I drive a mean bargain.' Eight for the dealer, two for him, and Jack none the wiser, he thought.

'Good. Now get going. We're gonna have a lot of work to do.'

John leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek, too quick for Jack to avoid.

'Stick with me, kitten. This is the beginning of a beautiful partnership.'

Oh boy, Jack thought. What in the name of the Goddess had he gotten himself into?