Torchwood: Fanfic: Chilled out

[m_findlow]

Title: Chilled out
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Tosh
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,135 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Torchwood, team, so cold the water tower has frozen" at fic_promptly
Summary: The water tower is frozen and it's a bigger problem than they thought.

'Ianto, I can't feel my nose!' Jack complained.

'Rest assured it's still where it always is,' he replied, tucking his own deep down into the folds of his scarf for good measure. Jack's might heal if it froze and fell off. The rest of them wouldn't be so lucky.

'Why is the hub so cold?'

'Probably because it's cold outside.'

'It's really cold out there, guys!' Tosh said as she huddled into the hub, wrapped in what looked like twelve layers of clothes.

'And the first of the intrepid travellers arrives,' Ianto said, handing her a blanket to wrap around herself.

'I was hoping it would be warmer down here.'

'So were we,' Jack said. 'Couldn't even get hot water out of the pipes this morning.'

'Why are you complaining?' Ianto said. 'You weren't the one that had to boil the kettle fourteen times!'

'Believe me, I appreciated it! I was on the verge of calling you and telling you not to bother coming in.'

'Doesn't matter,' Tosh said. 'I'm here now.'

'And Owen's already texted me to say he's refusing to get out of bed,' Ianto added, 'so that just leaves Gwen, and wait for it,' he said, hearing his phone ping again. 'Car won't start on account of the cold.'

'Just the three of us, then,' Tosh said.

'So let's all crawl into bed and keep each other warm. What do you say?' Jack offered.

Before either of them could politely decline, there was a huge CRACK!

'What the hell was that?' Jack said.

Ianto grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. Oh. The water tower was now sporting an enormous crack spidering its way all the way from the top to the bottom.

'We'd better go outside and check it out,' Jack said.

The three of them had quite a task of fitting onto the invisible lift on account of their many layers of clothes. Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and Ianto did the same to Tosh so that none of them fell off.

'Think thin, people,' Jack said as the roof opening slid apart forcing them above ground through its narrow aperture.

Once they were safely above ground, they stepped back and surveyed the plass. No one else was mad enough to be out here, and each breath they took made their lungs ache and sent plumes of white breath billowing out of their mouths when they exhaled.

'It's gone all the way to the top,' Tosh said, noticing the way the crack snaked ever upwards.

'Well that's explains the shower this morning,' Ianto said.

'How's that?' Jack said, pulling his gloves tighter up his wrists.

'Where do you think the council get the water to run through the tower? They're using the same pipes we do. It why we get such a good rebate on our water bills. They can't prove how much the tower uses and how much we use, so they err on the side of caution and pay then lion's share themselves.'

'Nice one,' Jack beamed.

'Yeah, except now that the pipes are frozen, all the water inside the tower is also frozen.'

'Okay, so it's one big ice block. Not the worst thing that's ever happened.'

'Except that ice expands when it's frozen,' Tosh said. 'That's why it cracked. There's too much pressure inside.'

'So...' Jack said, waiting for the bad news.

'So, if the tower expands any more,' Ianto said, 'it could buckle the foundations around the plass. The whole roof of the hub could crack under the expanding pressure and collapse in.'

'Well, that's not good.'

'We need to thaw it out somehow,' Tosh said, 'before it causes any more damage.'

'What do you suggest? Giant scarves?' Ianto quipped. 'Jack loves a bit of knitting.'

'I've got a better idea,' Jack said.

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Tosh said, sharing a worried look with Ianto.

Jack leaned back out from the bottom of the water tower, where the rift machine was tucked inside. 'The inside of the tower is made of metal, right?'

'Yeah...'

'So if we can heat up the metal, that should be enough to melt the water inside.'

'Yes, but is causing the rift machine to overheat really safe?' Ianto asked, feeling as uncertain as Tosh.

'I know what I'm doing.'

'Famous last words,' Ianto muttered.

'I'm not ripping a hole in time and space, Ianto. I'm just turning the engine over a few times, revving her up...'

'Doing burnouts in the hub...'

Jack continued to tinker with the machine whilst the pair of them watched the tower cautiously, gripping mugs of hot coffee as close as they could to keep their hands warm.

'Where's mine?' Jack called out.

'When you save the tower and don't kill us in the process, then you can have your reward.'

'I was asking about the coffee, Ianto, not what comes after.'

'You should be so lucky.'

'Come over here where it's warmer,' he said, waving them over. They had to admit, there was a definite ambient heat coming from the open door, so they huddled close.

After about an hour, there was the slow sound of drip, drip, drip, as the outer layer of ice began to melt. Jack made a few minor tweaks to the internal circuits, lowering the temperature. 'Now that the first part has melted, I thinks it safer if we turn down the heat a bit. Don't want to push our luck.'

'So you admit it was a risk?' Ianto said.

'Getting out of bed in the morning is a risk. It's all relative. Thought you'd be glad to know that the roof isn't about to cave in on us.'

'There is that,' he admitted.

'So what now?' Tosh asked.

'Not much else we can do. Let the ice melt and take its course, and hope for warmer weather tomorrow. You might as well go home. Curl up on the couch and spoil yourself with hot chocolate and cheesy soap operas.'

'Sounds like a good idea to me,' she grinned. 'If the pipes at my place aren't frozen a nice hot bath might be in order.'

'A glass of wine, some nice jazz... nothing better,' Jack agreed. 'See you tomorrow.'

He turned to face Ianto, folding up the blankets and setting them in a neat pile.

'Still cold in here,' Jack said. 'You might want those. I seem to remember something about a reward. I was thinking about hibernating somewhere until it was warmer.'

'It's wise to conserve energy when it's cold,' Ianto agreed, 'but we've got plenty of food and coffee, so conserving energy isn't a problem. Plus, I've also heard that exercise is good for keeping warm.'

'Oh, really? And how rigorous should this exercise be?'

'Very rigorous,' Ianto replied, grinning.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Is this where Ianto spoils Jack's daydreams and suggests jogging around the Hub to keep warm?

That really sounded like a chilly situation though, and they'll have to repair the water tower once it's thawed. Another big job.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

I think on this occasion, Ianto will take a leaf out of Jack's book and opt for snuggling and bed based exercise.