Torchwood: Fanfic: Trick or treat

[m_findlow]

Title: Trick or treat
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 700 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, a trick instead of a treat" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack's in for a real treat this Halloween

'I love Halloween,' Jack said, dipping his hand back into the plastic Jack 'O lantern and grabbing another handful of M and Ms, scoffing them.

'Hey, that's for the trick or treaters,' Ianto scolded. 'You can have treats at the end of the night with whatever is left.' As he said that, he tore open another bag and spilled the contents into a second plastic pumpkin. Their neighborhood was full of families these days and Halloween was a big event.

'What if there isn't anything left?' Jack asked.

Ianto just shrugged. 'Them's the breaks.'

The door bell rang again and Jack leapt up from the kitchen counter. 'My turn!' he said, eager to answer the door. He grabbed his mask and slipped it on. Ianto wasn't sure where he'd gotten it, but it was terribly ghoulish and disturbing. He just hoped that in Jack's efforts to scare, he didn't scare anyone too much. The last thing they needed on their doorstep was some cute little fairy princess screaming and in tears.

Fortunately, as he heard Jack's steps stop before the door and swing it open, making scary zombie noises, the kids just squealed and laughed.

'Trick or treat!' they sang.

Jack looked at the waning level of candy in the pumpkin bowl by the door and remembered what Ianto had said. Chances were he'd bought plenty, but why risk it?

'Trick,' he said, hoping that might conserve some of their goodies.

Rather than be disappointed, the kids all grinned and pulled out a shoebox. It was clamped shut with rubber bands but at one end there was a star shaped series of cuts, forming a mysterious hole.

'Stick your hand inside for a treat,' they said.

Awesome, Jack thought. Instead of giving away treats, he was going to be collecting them! What was it? he wondered. Chocolate? Lollies? Ah, wait. Maybe that was the trick - that there was no treat. Hah, he had them sussed out now.

'Ooh... What is it?' he said, feigning curiosity and thrusting his hand inside slotted hole.

Snap!

'Ow!' Jack pulled his hand sharply from the box, feeling a blinding pain in his hand. Before he hand a chance to say anything, the scarecrow, wookie and robot that had been standing there, grabbed their box and their baskets full and treats and ran, giggling all the way.

Ianto heard the commotion and was halfway down the hall when he nearly crashed into Jack, headed the opposite way.

'Ow! Ow! Ow!' he cried, tears welling up in his eyes. He held his hand up, showing Ianto the mousetrap that now tightly ensnared two of his fingers. Ianto winced and carefully prised it off, noting the red fingers beneath.

'I can't believe they did that!' Jack cried. 'I didn't think they'd actually have a trick, let alone something nasty like that.'

Ianto tutted. Part of him wanted to chastise Jack's own silliness for electing to trick instead of treat, but he had to agree with him; it was a terribly nasty prank to play. He wondered how many other poor souls had fallen for that, now sporting mangled fingers throbbing with pain.

'I don't like Halloween, anymore,' Jack sulked. 'No more trick or treaters.' Right now he just wanted to curl up on the sofa with Ianto and forget all about the spooky holiday.

Ianto massaged the damaged fingers and kissed them. 'Maybe from now on, Cariad, you should just stick to handing out lollies. It's a whole lot safer.' He handed Jack a large orange pumpkin full of chocolate. 'This one is just for you. I knew you'd complain if we didn't have any left so I bought extra.'

Jack smiled, forgetting all about his torture fingers for a moment. 'I love you.'

Ianto pecked him on the cheek. 'How about I handle the next batch of trick or treaters? You can give them a scare and I'll hand out the lollies.'

'Okay, but if you see a scarecrow, a wookie and a robot in the street, I've got a very special treat for them. A night in the cells next to Janet ought to be more fright night than they had bargained on having.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

Silly Jack, that's what he gets for being a meanie and trying to keep the treats for himself! He should trust Ianto more, there's no way he wouldn't have got enough candy.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

I feel for Jack, though. It's one thing to come back and toilet paper their house, but those kids were just nasty and spiteful. If they're lucky, Jack won't find them.

[bk_forever]

Nobody ever plays tricks around here, never heard of a single one!