Fffc March Special Bingo - For the right price

[m_findlow]

Title: For the right price
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Kathy Swanson
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,309 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for fffc March Special Bingo Card - Prompt 2 - Auction
Summary: Jack has something special to offer a local fundraiser.

The police gala dinner and fundraiser had turned out to be quite an event, and even more so because Torchwood had managed to snaffle an invitation to attend. It seemed that whatever political and operational differences they held could be put aside for at least one night.

Kathy Swanson wasn't usually a fan of these kinds of shindigs but her boss had made it clear that all their senior people were expected to attend and to schmooze with council and local government agencies. That in mind, she'd made sure to dress up and look her best. She was glad she had, carefully watching the room over the lip of her glass of champagne, a sea of dinner suits and cocktail gowns.

'Looking good there, Detective,' the voice came from behind her as she'd only just found her spot at her alloted table. She briefly made an application to whatever God was up there before turning around.

'Captain. How nice of you to come.'

'You know me,' Jack grinned. 'I love a good party.'

'You're even dressed for the occasion,' Kathy said, noting the sharp dinner suit and bow tie.

'Ianto knows the best tailor in town. He had it custom made. Ah, here he is, my lovely plus one,' as Ianto came over with two glasses.

'Hello Detective. Jack, did you find our table?'

'Yup. Lucky us right here with the lovely Detective.'

Kathy watched the pair with amusement. 'The rest of your little team couldn't make it?'

'They only gave us two tickets, so we decided to put forth our best foot.'

'I must say I'm surprised to see you here at all,' Kathy said.

'Hey, we even got asked to provide something for the auction later on,' Jack replied. 'Anything to raise money for Cardiff's blues and twos.'

 

For Kathy, the night actually wasn't so bad. The Torchwood pair made for quite interesting conversation outside of a strict "you don't need to know" scene, and it was a hell of a lot better than having to brown nose some local MP. She'd never really noticed until tonight just how obscenely domestic and normal they were, discussing places they been on holiday and complaining about the one way traffic system.

When finally it came time to conduct the auction, they sat there silently as cases of vintage wine, local artwork and weekends down by the coast were all auctioned off in turn. She wondered what Torchwood could possibly have decided to put up themselves.

'Our next item up for auction has been contributed by the Torchwood Institute,' the auctioneer announced. 'It's a,' he paused, reading the small prompt card, 'uh, night out with Captain Jack Harkness.'

That raised a low murmur through the crowd.

'Captain, I assume you're here tonight? Care to come up on stage and show these folk what they'll be getting?'

Jack gave a self-satisfied grin to everyone at their table, before getting up and prancing towards the stage, adding that little swagger Ianto knew so well. He jogged up the short steps and came across to stand beside the auctioneer

'Good evening, Captain. Are you enjoying the evening so far?' the auctioneer asked.

'Having a blast,' he replied. 'Hoping we can raise some much needed money for the local Cardiff police force tonight.'

'Indeed. And what is it our lucky recipient will get with a night out with you?'

'Well, we'll start with dinner and then see where the night takes us,' he said, unable to keep the cheeky smile from his face.

'Shall we start the bidding then at two hundred pounds?'

Kathy leaned over the table toward Ianto. 'You people are insane, you know that? You really think anyone wants a night out with him?'

Before she'd even finished the question, the bidding had already escalated to six hundred pounds, with several women in the crowd all vying to outdo one another. Some she even recognised as colleagues, and if she wasn't mistaken, was that the mayor's wife waving frantically to get the next bid in?

'My, my. There's quite a bit of interest,' the auctioneer said.

'Oh please,' Jack said, tugging off his dinner jacket. 'Come on, ladies, I know you can do better than that. Boys, too.'

More bids came rolling in thick and fast and before anyone could be quite sure how it had happened, it was up to three thousand pounds.

Jack undid his bow tie and the top two buttons of his shirt. 'Are we raising money for a good cause tonight or what?'

'Is this a goddamn strip tease?' Kathy hissed as Ianto watched the spectacle unfold. He should have known better than to let Jack be in charge of arranging their own contribution to the auction. It was just so very Jack to consider himself the best prize.

Four women around the room began having it out, upping one another first a hundred pounds at a time and then slowing to fifties.

'You've got me til sunrise, girls,' Jack said, rolling up his sleeves. 'That's a lot of time.' The bids went back to hundreds at a time.

'Come on, where's my mystery late bidder gonna sweep all these lovely ladies aside?' Jack teased.

Kathy shook her head at the scene until Ianto quietly called her name.

'Here,' Ianto said, sliding a cheque across the table at her. 'Bid that.'

'What?' She looked at the number printed on the paper, undeniable in its neat penmanship. 'You want me to bid that?'

'Well, it'd be wrong of me to bid for a night with my own husband. And it is to raise money for the police force. Besides, I like to know where Jack is at all times. Can't have him just wining and dining any old person. At least I know he'll behave himself with you.'

Good grief. Was she really going to do this? She didn't really want it, but then again, how could she pass up so much money for their department when it was sorely needed?

Kathy thrust the cheque high in the air and yelled out. 'Ten thousand!'

The room fell into stunned silence.

'Right, er, ten thousand pounds,' the auctioneer said, clearly equally surprised. 'Do I have any calls on ten thousand? I'll take fifties.' He searched the room but all the bidders had very quietly sunk into their seats, sipping their champagne and keeping a low profile, lest the accidently bid again.

'No takers? So, that's ten going once, twice, sold! Congratulations, Miss.'

There was a round of applause and before Jack could steal any more thunder, the auctioneer quickly proceeded with the next item.

Jack came back down from the stage and over to their table before resting his hands on Ianto's shoulders. 'Were you here telling her how good I am in bed?'

'I don't kiss and tell, you know that.'

'That was quite a bid, Detective,' Jack grinned. 'Blew the rest of those women right outta the water. They'll be staring daggers at you all night now. I thought you were meant to be raising money for the police, not spending it.'

'I had a mystery donor.'

'Ooh, very mysterious, I'll bet,' Jack said, squeezing Ianto's shoulders before sitting back down.

'You were going to be naked before they stopped bidding,' Ianto replied.

Jack broke into a smile midway through sipping his champagne. 'And that's a bad thing, why?'

'Just thank the Detective for her winning bid,' Ianto said.

'Thank you, Detective.'

'Don't thank me. I'd be just as happy not to go.'

'You won a night out with the amazing Captain Jack Harkness. Why wouldn't you want to go?'

'I think perhaps the Detective would much prefer if we just invited her round for tea one night,' Ianto offered. 'A night out with you is more than most of us mere mortals can cope with.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

*sigh* So sad I couldn't afford to bid. Trust Ianto to have everything arranged so Jack would be won by someone trustworthy!