Torchwood: Fanfic: Giving someone a leg up

[m_findlow]

Title: Giving someone a leg up
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Rhiannon, Mica, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 2,415 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Torchwood, Ianto/Jack," Can you please just pretend you're my boss?"" at fic_promptly
Summary: A broken leg requires a helping hand

Ianto pinched the bridge of his nose, leaning his elbows heavily in the desk as he gripped the phone to his ear.

'I know I said was going,' he repeated, 'but I can't anymore.' He paused, listening to the response on the other end of the phone.

'No, it's not a work thing. I think if I was lying I could come up with a better excuse than that.' He pulled the phone away from his ear as the voice in the other end grew louder than was strictly necessary to be properly heard.

'Because.... Because I broke my leg, alright? Are you happy now?' he yelled down the phone. 'That my big secret that I've been holding from you.' There was a brief question.

'I slipped and fell in the shower. Stupid, I know, but there you go.' He didn't think she'd appreciate it quite the same if he'd said a weevil had fallen on top of it, splitting the right shinbone in two. At least the weevil had the decency to break it cleanly, he thought. Owen had reiterated the fact several times about how lucky he was and that it wouldn't required metals pins to keep it together for the rest of his life.

Seriously? he thought, as the next question was fired at him. 'Yes, they gave me crutches to get around! I told them slithering around on my stomach for six weeks wasn't going to go down well at work.'

He kept his feelings to himself as the tirade continued, waiting for her to run out of breath.

'It's a seventh birthday party. I don't think she's going to be in therapy the rest of her life because I wasn't there.'

His mistake was letting his sister get her breath back enough for another three minute lecture.

'Alright, alright. I'll go,' he said, just wanting the damn thing to be over. He dropped the phone and lowered his head onto the desk, banging it a few times for good measure.

'Good day so far?' Owen asked, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

'Brilliant,' he replied. 'I've just been guilt tripped into going to my niece's birthday party.'

'Sucks to be you.'

'Doesn't it?'

'Well, you won't be driving there,' Owen said, having given him strict instructions about that sort of thing. It was bad enough he was living out of the hub in spare quarters that doubled as long term medical suites. He certainly couldn't stay with Jack, hopping up and down that narrow ladder. It just meant that Jack came and visited him instead.

'Does Uber cater for the disabled passenger?'

'Dunno,' Owen replied. 'Thought you said you knew everything.'

'I could drive you,' Jack piped up, appearing from nowhere.

'There you go,' Owen said. 'Problem solved,' he added, quickly leaving before Ianto could say anymore.

'That's not necessary, Jack.'

'Don't be silly. I've watched you struggle around the hub on those crutches for two weeks.'

'Well, it's not very ambulant friendly.' You'd think with the propensity that people who worked here were injured in the line of duty the hub would be more accommodating.

'Neither is your sister's house, I'm guessing. Especially not with a bunch of kids running around everywhere.'

He pictured the narrow hallways, the rooms filled with furniture and clutter, and that horrendous staircase with no railing.

'Not really, no.'

'So let me take you there and help out. It doesn't sound like you have much say in the matter.' No, he thought. Somehow he always ended up in a sandwich between keeping his sister happy and keeping Jack happy.

Saturday rolled around a lot quicker than Ianto would have liked, Jack bundling him into the car before he could argue. Pulling up behind a stream of other cars parked along the street came around even quicker.

Jack opened the door, about to get Ianto's crutches from the back seat when Ianto stopped him.

'Jack? She doesn't know.'

'That you broke your leg?'

'No. I mean about us. Could you please just pretend you're my boss?'

Jack leaned across so that his mouth was almost touching Ianto's ear. 'But I am your boss.'

Jack felt sorry for his lover. He was having a bad enough time of things as it were. Coming out to his sister at his niece's birthday party was probably not good timing. Jack understood, and he surprised himself by not feeling even the tiniest bit annoyed about it. There'd come a time when Ianto was ready, and Jack would be ready then, too. Today, he would be whatever Ianto needed. He'd just have to remember to keep his hands to themselves.

When Rhiannon opened the door, she was taken aback.

'Oh, Ianto. It's you.'

He rolled his eyes. 'Who else would it be?'

'Didn't think you'd come.'

'Didn't think I had much say.'

His sister scoffed a laugh. 'And who's this then?' she said, eyeing off Jack standing there in his typical coat and braces.

'Jack Harkness,' he said, reaching out a hand. 'I'm Ianto's boss. Sorry for the intrusion. I just couldn't bear thinking of Ianto trying to get a cab all the way across town with that leg of his.'

Rhiannon liked down, as if noticing the plaster cast and crutches for the first time.

'Thought he was fibbing about the leg.'

'No ma'am,' Jack replied. 'But he's been a real trooper, coming into work every day.'

'Well, that's good to hear. Long as he'd not overdoing it, mind,' she replied. 'S'pose you'd better come in.' She fixed Ianto with a glare. 'Unless of course you were planning on letting your boss spend all afternoon sitting in his car whilst you're in here stuffing your face with fairy cakes and popcorn.'

'Perish the thought,' he said, trying to awkwardly bustle past her with limited success, hitting the sideboard on his first attempt.

'Watch where you're going with those things,' she said. 'Like a bull in a china shop, honestly,' she remarked to Jack. 'Kind of you to bring him here. Most bosses wouldn't, especially not on their weekends.'

'Ours is a pretty small team. More like a family. We look out for each other.'

'More than you deserve,' she muttered at Ianto, and Jack caught the vexed looked and the slight eye roll. 'Well, sit down then,' she ordered, as they tried to navigate the swathe of little girls whizzing about the house at a frenetic pace, giggling and squealing.

'Looks like you've got your hands full,' Jack remarked.

'You've no idea. And where's Johnny, eh? Hiding down the pub. Useless lump.'

'Smarter than he looks,' Ianto replied, wishing he was at the pub right now as well.

'I can give you a hand if you need,' Jack offered.

'That's very sweet of you, Jack,' Rhiannon beamed. 'Susan and Charlene are in the kitchen fixing drinks and party food.' She paused. 'You're not single, are you?'

'I'm most definitely spoken for,' Jack replied, grinning.

'Good,' Rhiannon replied. 'Fair warning though, those two are as well, but I wouldn't put it past either of them to try their luck anyway.'

'I'll consider myself duly warned,' Jack replied, disappearing into the chaos that was their little kitchen.

Rhiannon parked herself on the sofa beside him. 'Bet he gets that all the time,' she said.

'You have no idea,' Ianto replied, resisting rolling his eyes.

'Listen,' she said, putting a hand on his good knee, 'if I'd known you were this bad I wouldn't have insisted.'

'It's broken leg. Not the end of the world. Probably needed to get out. Going stir crazy stuck in one place all day.'

'And your boss? He's a bit of alright.'

'He's gay,' Ianto blurted out.

Rhiannon slumped back in the sofa. 'The good looking ones always are, aren't they? Nice of him to go to so much trouble, though. Don't see that too often.'

'He's my boss,' Ianto repeated.

'Not a friend?' she asked.

'Well, maybe a little bit of a friend.'

'That's good,' she said. 'You need more friends.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Rhiannon didn't get a chance to respond before the birthday girl appeared in front of them.

'Uncle Ianto. You hurt your leg.'

'I did.'

'Can I colour in your cast?'

Ianto looked down at the pristine white plaster, knowing he couldn't say no. Before he knew what was happening, half of Mica's friends were getting in on the act, his leg an unruly rainbow of colour.

'Stop them if they try and use glitter,' he begged his sister.

'It's Mica's birthday, I say let her do what she wants,' Rhiannon replied, highly amused at the sight. 'Who needs paid entertainment when I've got you?'

'Well, you could at least pay me in that case,' he replied.

Ianto for his part didn't have to do much other than sit back and let ten sugar-hyped children attack his leg with texta pens, arguing over whether a fairy or a teddy bear should be riding the unicorn they were working on. From the kitchen, Ianto could hear Jack's boisterous laugher emanating, though the man himself was hardly seen. No doubt Susan and Charlene had their claws in him, and he was enjoying every minute of it. He'd known them both since forever, and neither of them were backward around boys. Jack would have his work cut out for him, Ianto knew that much.

'Alright you lot,' Rhiannon yelled out. 'Outside in the yard for birthday cake!' At the mention of cake, they all ran out the door, leaving the house suddenly silent.

'Nice ink,' Jack said, admiring their handiwork as he returned from the kitchen.

'Apparently pass the parcel and pin the tail on the donkey aren't nearly as appealing as decorating broken limbs. Owen's going to have a field day when he sees this.'

'You can stay inside if you like,' Rhiannon said. 'I'll bring you cake.'

'No, it's okay,' Ianto replied. 'I think I need to stand up.'

'If you insist. Just watch the slate on the steps. It's a bit wonky.'

'It's always been wonky,' he replied, shuffling toward the back door.

He made it as far as the last step before the end of his crutch slipped on the loose slate tile. Fortunately Jack was right behind him, catching him and setting him back upright before anyone noticed.

'Thank you,' he said quietly.

'What are boyfriends for?' Jack whispered.

Susan and Charlene giggled as they brushed past the pair of them on their way outside. It didn't take a genius to know they'd been on the bubbly all afternoon in that kitchen.

Charlene leaned awkwardly over Ianto's shoulder, her bleach blonde hair tickling his neck. 'I'd watch that one, Ianto. Worth turning gay for, he is.'

'Makes the best frosting I've ever tasted,' Susan added rather loudly. 'I'd lick that off him any day.'

Ianto felt mortified, praying he wasn't going bright red to match the colour of the frosting on Mica's cake.

'Good to see neither of them have changed,' he muttered instead. 'Did you have to fend them off with a rolling pin?'

Jack laughed. 'You know me. They get to look but not touch. I should be grateful neither of the snaffled you up, first.'

'Urgh, please,' he replied, forgetting himself. 'The last thing I need is some crazy Valleys girl. You're positively docile by comparison.'

'What are you two gossiping about?' Rhiannon asked, carrying over two plates with cake.

'Just admiring that Welsh determination,' Jack replied, looking over at Rhiannon's two friends. 'Now I know where Ianto gets his stubborn streak from.'

'Stubborn? That's an understatement.'

'Standing right here,' Ianto muttered, hating them talking about him like he wasn't there.

'Go inside and eat your cake. And stop sulking,' she ordered. 'I'll fix you a cuppa.'

'I'm not sulking.'

'You kinda are,' Jack replied, taking both plates.

'Great. Now I've got my boss and my sister ganging up on me. Is this how you treat a cripple?'

Jack rolled his eyes at Rhiannon. 'And he says I'm the drama queen.'

The afternoon quickly sped by, catching even Ianto by surprise. The girls were slowly one by one picked up by their respective parents, and Jack disappeared again to help with the dishes, somehow sensing that Charlene and Susan were too tipsy not to break something in the process, relegated to pulling down streamers and balloons, giggling loudly in the front yard as he watched them trying to stuff the balloons down their tops and teasing locals as they walked by.

'Ianto...'

Someone was shaking his shoulder and he realised he'd dozed off on the sofa, sitting around whilst everyone else was doing something constructive. Only Mica was on the floor, adding a bit more colour to his cast, wearing her fairy wings and sparkly skirt.

'Someone's a had a big day,' Jack said, sitting down next to him.

'Not every day you turn seven,' he replied.

'I wasn't talking about Mica.'

'Oh.'

'Have we worn him out?' Rhiannon asked, walking into the room, and leaning down to kiss Mica on the head, before embarrassing her brother and giving him one as well.

'Yup,' Jack replied. 'Probably time for me to take him home.'

'Thanks for bringing him, and being such a huge help today.'

'No problem,' Jack insisted. 'It's nice to meet the families of the people you work with. You really get a sense for who they are.'

'Ianto will probably tell you you're never to come here ever again, but you're welcome any time.'

'Still here,' Ianto mumbled, setting himself up right, crutches firmly underneath him. The last thing he wanted was for Jack to forget himself and wrap an arm around him for support.

'That's very kind,' Jack replied. 'I'm sure Ianto wouldn't find that too objectionable.'

'Debatable,' he replied, folding his arms. He didn't like to admit that Jack having won over his sister was not only a miracle but almost too good to be true.

'Well, I never bother worrying about what Ianto wants anyway,' she said, mussing his hair just to annoy him. 'He's useless at looking after himself, and he never eats properly.'

'Oh, he does okay,' Jack assured her. 'He looks after the rest of us pretty well, but you're right. He doesn't eat enough vegetables.'

'Well, guess I'll just have to invite you round for tea more often. Both of you. That's assuming your partner doesn't mind?'

'Oh no,' Jack smiled. 'I don't think he'd mind that one bit.'

Comments

[jo02]

I kept waiting for the sneaky reveal but it never came. I expected Rhi to be more perceptive than that :)

[bk_forever]

The truth will come out eventually, I know, but I want to hug Jack for being so good, behaving himself, charming people, and not putting his foot in it once. Poor Ianto really needed Jack's physical and moral support.