m_findlow

Title: Won over
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Martha Jones, Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,123 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for juliet316's prompt "Any, any, just say YES!" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack is determined to do some arm twisting

Martha grinned as she looked down at the caller ID on her phone, stepping out of the corridor and into her small but tidy office.

'Hello stranger,' she answered, unable to suppress the smile that broke out all over her face.

'Martha Jones,' Jack replied. 'How I've missed hearing that sweet nightingale song.'

She pulled out her chair and sank down into it, leaning back into the leather folds. 'What happened to that dinner you were supposed to be organising?'

'Oh, um, I've been busy,' he replied awkwardly.

'Busy?' she teased. 'And here I was hearing rumors that you'd been demoted. I'd have thought that would leave you with plenty of time on your hands.'

'Hey, I'm still, the boss around here, I'll have you know.'

'That's not how I heard it. Institute Director Global I think he said his title was. Doesn't that make him your boss now?'

Jack hawed on the other end of the phone for a moment. 'Technically, yes. But we're married. Ianto has been bossing me around for years. Consider it a benevolent partnership; I get to be I charge of all the fun, interesting stuff, and Ianto gets to do all the admin. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement and splitting the job in two made perfect sense.'

'How's he doing? Keeping you under his thumb can't be easy.'

'Finding his feet slowly. He doesn't think so, but he'll be better at this than all of us.'

'Well, you picked the right man,' she said. She couldn't think of anyone better suited to guiding Torchwood into the next generation. And with Jack at his side, they would indeed make a very good partnership.

'In so many ways,' he agreed, unable to keep his own smile off his face.

Martha smiled at the comment, idly pushing the edge of a pile of papers on her desk, thinking how lucky they all were to have found their soul mates in life. Tom, Ianto, Rhys. She'd even heard whispers that the Doctor had finally tied the knot, though she could barely begin to imagine what kind of woman might have wrapped the wayward time traveller around her little finger.

'So, I know you didn't just call me up out of the blue, Jack.'

'I don't know what you're talking about,' he replied, lifting up his feet and resting them on the end of the desk, lounging back.

'You know it's rude to poach staff.'

'It's not poaching,' Jack argued. 'We knew each other before you even got the job with UNIT. If the Doctor hadn't interfered, you'd have been here years ago.'

She laughed. 'Not for lack of trying on your part! How many cases have we worked together now?'

'He ambushed me! Should've known he'd try to steal you for UNIT. He always had a soft spot for them. All I'm trying to do is show you what you're missing out on.'

She eased further back in the chair. 'And what's that? Getting turned into an old crone, threatening to blow up a hadron collider, that thing that exploded orange pus?'

'Oh, don't remind me! 'Jack said, cringing. 'I still can't look at brandy custard the same way.'

They both laughed, enjoying the moment.

'So what do you say, Martha?'

She shook her head, exasperated. 'You never give up, do you?'

'Well, I mean, I can sit here all day long and we can reminisce about the good old days, and you can say to me, "Jack, I never had as much fun in all my life as when I was out having adventures with you."'.

'Or?'

'Or, I can let Ianto bore you and wear you down with endless logical and sensible arguments as to why you should come work for us.'

'What's to say he hasn't already tried that?'

Jack pulled his boots off the desk, sitting forward. 'He spoke to you?'

'He made some valid points,' she said, sounding furtive.

'Come on, Martha. What's UNIT got that we don't have? I mean, they've got those sexy men in uniforms and red caps, but if that's all that's holding you back, I can get Ianto to organise us uniforms.'

'Jack...'

'What? Don't tell me you haven't fantasised about it. And if it's about the whole military thing, well, who needs all that "yes, sir, no, sir, three bags full, sir," schtick?'

'It's Tom,' she said plaintively. 'He's married to this job.'

'I know, and you're married to him, but so what? He can have a job here, too. Just say the word.'

'Tom loves this job. I can't take that away from him. It's not my decision. We've got a life here in London.'

Jack sighed, closing his eyes, before a gentle rapping on his door and quiet footsteps caught his attention. Ianto slipped a thin file onto his desk and opened it to the covering memo, letting Jack skim the contents. He looked up at Ianto and grinned.

'Oh, Martha, I just got word that there was a position open for an associate director at UNIT's office branch in Bristol. That's only an hour's drive from here.' He looked back up at Ianto, who was perched on the edge of his desk. 'It seems someone might have accidentally slipped Tom's CV into that pile of applications.'

'You didn't.'

'Well, I didn't, no, but someone did. Oh, and well, you know how these big organisations are, things don't get communicated properly to all and sundry. Seems Tom's application was the only one received.'

'But,'

'I mean, nothing's official yet, obviously. Not until he signs the new contract and all, but...'

'You know I don't think I've ever met such a pair of sneaky, overly clever, conniving,'

'Don't forget dashing,' Jack added, winking at Ianto.

She sighed. 'Jack, I honestly don't know what to say.'

'Then say yes! Say you'll work for us. Hell, you won't even be working for me, you'll be working for Ianto. You'll still liaise with UNIT, but you'll be one hundred percent Torchwood. I can't give you a better offer than that.'

Martha gripped the edge of her desk hard, heart racing. She hadn't discussed any of this with Tom, not even Ianto's phone call earlier in the week, which had her wavering with indecision. Of course the offer interested her, and she loved working with Jack and Ianto and Gwen, but she didn't want to uproot Tom's career just for that. It seemed however that Ianto already had a contingency in place, which was so like him. She closed her eyes for a second, as if readying herself to jump off the edge of a cliff. Tom would be okay with this, she was sure.

'Martha? You still there?'

'Yes,' she said. 'Yes.'