Torchwood Advent Challenge - 4th December

[m_findlow]

Title: Influencer
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Tosh
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,030 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for prompt "Influential"
Summary: Ianto doesn't realise how much the team need him

'Hey, Ianto,' Tosh greeted.

'Hey,' he said, looking up from the pile of papers on his desk. Technically they were Jack's papers, or at least papers that Jack would have dealt with. That differentiated them from the usual paperwork Ianto did on Jack's behalf, and his own. These ones were meant for Jack, and only Jack. At least they had been.

'Can I ask you something?' she said, looking furtive. She held out a piece of paper towards him. Without looking at it particularly closely, he could tell it was a requisition form.

'What's this for?'

'I'm working on a new encryption system. Faster and more secure than anything that's ever been created. Something that The Committee will never be able to crack. Something we can use to get a message to Jack.'

A message to Jack. Wouldn't that be nice, he thought. It had been months now since he'd he just taken off in pursuit of this mystery foe, leaving them here to deal with ordinary Torchwood matters. They'd been left strict instructions not to get involved, but not a one of them had taken any notice -Ianto least of all- after he'd ended up crash landing a prototype spaceship in the middle of Turkey. His wounded leg was only just beginning to heal properly now, though some cold mornings still left him with a slight ache and a limp.

'That sounds great, Tosh.' Anyone else would have said it and sounded false. Only Ianto acted genuinely interested.

'Only problem is a need a new quantum processor chip.'

'So, that's what this is for?' Ianto asked, not bothering to inspect the form. 'I'll add it to the pile of things for Owen to rubber stamp. He doesn't look at any of it anyway.'

Their temporary leader served his purpose on more practical matters. It was only out of politeness and procedure that Ianto insisted he formalise everything. Who knew how long Jack might be gone, and they had to show that they were continuing to operate within their remit and budget. If anyone from the Crown or the Home Office came sniffing around,  everything had to be shipshape. It didn't matter that no one else knew Jack was gone. The team had become remarkably adept at covering up his absence, having learned from the first time Jack disappeared without a word. It was all just a precaution.

Ianto went to slot the form into one of the many neat manila files on his desk when Tosh reached out and grabbed his hand.

'Wait,' she said. 'It's twenty thousand pounds.'

'I somehow don't think Owen will care.'

'I know. That's why I'm asking you. You're the person most likely to say no.'

Ianto frowned, trying to follow Tosh's logic. 'If you thought I might say no, then why not go direct to Owen or Gwen?'

'I needed to know you thought it was a good idea, and that you'd approve.'

'You don't need my approval, Tosh.'

'I do.'

'Why?'

'Because with Jack gone, you're running Torchwood,' she replied.

Ianto make an awkward little sound in his throat, shifting a pile of files slightly so that they were all in perfect alignment. 'Ah, I think you missed the memo, Tosh. Owen is in charge, and failing that, Gwen.'

'Out in the field, maybe, but not here.'

'Not anywhere, Tosh,' Ianto said firmly. He had no desire to be their leader, and no one in their right mind would ever elect him to sit at the head of the table. Janet would have tabled more votes, if it came down to that. He was at the very bottom of the pile; Torchwood's general support officer and nothing more, no matter what his and Jack's relationship status.

Tosh folded her arms across her chest. 'Oh, and no one has stopped to ask for your opinion of anything lately?' she queried.

Well, no, they had, if he stopped to think about it. Owen had been developing a better way to block off certain areas of Cardiff's sewer systems to allow the weevils to have areas where they could commune in relative safety. He'd needed Ianto help to dredge up old council plans for some of the disused sections no longer on current schematics. He'd then gone one step further to have Ianto sit down with him and explore their options, ticking off reasons why one section would be better over another. It helped having someone who knew what was directly above ground. No sense in putting a village of weevils right underneath a highly frequented local gym or café district. Owen had largely come up with a few good areas, but he double checked everything with Ianto's local knowledge.

Then there was the other day when he was out with Gwen, tracking down their latest rift visitor. A Fakatian Snarkle was nothing dangerous, he and Jack had dealt with a half dozen of them, but they looked scarier than they actually were. It was all about the sharp-looking pointed quills that ran the length of its wedge-shaped tail when it felt threatened. They weren't sharp at all. They were no different to the material that made up human fingernails, and as soon as you picked it up and cuddled it, they retracted completely. Gwen seemed to have forgotten all of those facts. "Nets or a portable forceshield?" she asked him, warily keeping her gun trained on the creature. The question caught him by surprise. It usually began with the words "Ianto, go get the..." She'd apologised profusely afterwards, when the critter was cuddled up in her arms on the way back to the hub, having had a complete mental blank. "There's just so much going on lately," she said. "I don't know how you keep track of it all."  

They were just everyday events. All in the line for duty. He hadn't done anything special, he'd just been doing his job.

'I just do what everybody else tells me to do. Ianto, I need another coffee. Ianto, there's no biscuits left in the tin. Ianto, can you clean the alien slime out of the back of the SUV. I'm just the hired help. I keep the light on and the bills paid. Each to our own strengths.'

'That's rubbish and you know it,' Tosh said. 'We were all stuck in our own little worlds, just doing what we had to just to get by, and tinkering with investigating The Committee. You made finding Jack and stopping The Committee your main focus; you were the one who put all the pieces of the puzzle together; and you were the only one who actually stood up and did anything about it.

Ianto chuckled. It was a mirth filled sound. 'For all the good it did.'

'It made all the difference in the world. You got that flash drive. Jack has that information now, thanks to you.'  Somewhere in the world Jack now had the only copy of that flash drive, and which had almost cost Ianto his own life to procure.

'Either that, or he took it to stop us from following wherever it lead,' Ianto commented. That thought had been plaguing him for weeks now, and it was the first time he'd voiced those concerns out loud.

Ever since coming back, confessing where he'd been and everything that had happened since the day Jack had left, the team had been hell bent on uncovering The Committee and putting an end to it, assuming they could ever figure out its true motives. Moreover, they wanted Jack back. In all of the commotion and the work that had been done since, Ianto had taken a backward step. Investigations were best left to those who had the skills for it. Owen, for all his many faults, was an excellent investigator. Gwen, with her police background, natural instincts and ability to think outside the square, was able to piece together seemingly unrelated events and people. And Tosh had the ability to run thousands of data queries and analytics, turning up even more information. There was nothing left for him to add other than to keep them supplied with caffeine, remember pay their council taxes, and answer the phone. Getting involved in crazy adventures had gotten him into nothing but more trouble. Pretending to be a James Bond style spy had proven far less appealing in reality. Behind a desk, pushing paper, was much more his forte.

'That Jack was in the same place as you only proves that you were on the right track,' Tosh insisted.

'And, if I'd involved everyone else, things might have turned out better.' He wouldn't have crashed a bloody spaceship for starters. Tosh would have made sure of it.

'Except you didn't, because you didn't think we'd take you seriously.'

That was true. He's wanted to prove to them that he was trustworthy, and every bit as much a part of the team as the rest of them. Instead he'd messed up and nearly wiped himself out in the process; proof that Darwinianism worked.  

Tosh sat down in  the chair opposite him and looked at him with a serious expression. 'This team needs you. You know more about Torchwood than the rest of us put together. We'd never have made it this far hiding Jack's absence, if it wasn't for you. They'd have come shut us down in a heartbeat.'

'Jack wouldn't let that happen. He'd come back if they tried.'

'But he hasn't. And he hasn't, because he knows that you're here, keeping everything going.

You're the glue that holds the rest of us together. Owen and Gwen would be at each other's throats half the time if you weren't there to be the voice of reason.'

'All I do is redirect Owen's ire towards me, instead.'

'Isn't that what good leaders do?'

'I'm not a leader, Tosh.'

'Maybe not,' Tosh conceded, 'but you don't have to hold the title to be influential. If nobody cared what you thought, then why would they bother asking you anything? None of us has all the answers.'

'And you think I do?'

Tosh avoided answering the question directly. 'Jack's our leader because he sees the big picture. He knows what each of us is able to contribute, encourages us to generate ideas and solutions, and makes sure that we stay focused. He's there to look after us, to tell us when to walk away from a situation, and to always have each others backs. You do that without even realising it. You've been so close to Jack for so long that you don't even know it.'

'Great, I'm becoming like Jack. God help us,' he said, smirking in amusement. 'Please stop me if I start parading around the hub without any clothes on, and belting out show tunes at random intervals.'

'He's becoming more like you too, you know. He's not as impetuous as he used to be.'

'Just takes off and leaves the team for months at a time. No, not impetuous at all,' Ianto quipped.

'Says the man who smuggled himself on board a spaceship, trying to save a bunch of strangers and didn't tell his teammates what he was planning.'

Dear God, he really was becoming more like Jack. How had he'd been so utterly corrupted without his knowledge? He only prayed that Jack, wherever he was, was being careful. If he could acquire one trait from Ianto, please let it be that.

'I think you give me way too much credit, Tosh,' he said.

'Probably,' she admitted. 'I'm just trying to butter you up so you'll say yes to my requisition.'

'Oh, okay,' he said, trying to hide the smile and keep things serious. 'So, I should tell you that I'll give it due consideration and let you know my decision tomorrow?'

'That would be appreciated.' She stood up and returned to her desk.

He picked up the requisition form and stared at it, before setting it down and initialling it. The purchase order would be in by this afternoon, with delivery ASAP. He'd been sold from the moment she'd said "get a message to Jack".

Who, he wondered, was influencing who?

Comments

[jo02]

I liked the idea of using Tosh as a PoV character to show how much Jack and Ianto have changed each other, but what really surprised me was just how irritating I found Ianto in this - and yet I can't say at all that he was out of character. Interesting.

[bk_forever]

This is lovely, Tosh sees Ianto more clearly than anyone, with the possible exception of Jack. Ianto just can't see how important he is because he's too modest and self-effacing, but Torchwood would grind to a halt without him and Tosh knows it.