Torchwood: Fanfic: Going away

[m_findlow]

Title: Going away
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Lisa
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,264 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, plans derailed" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto doesn't like surprises, and tonight he's in for more than one.

Ianto stumbled off the tube train, exhausted after a long day trapped down in the bowels of Torchwood Tower's lowest levels, sorting through the accumulated mess that was down there. It didn't matter that most of it was fascinating and forgotten, it was still an enormous job to have to put it all in some semblance of order.

He didn't even remember the walk from the station to the narrow lane in which his aprpatment block was wedged. It was the cheapest option considering how close it was to the tube, and that in itself was a major plus, given the hours he put in. The last thing he needed was a twenty minute cab ride just so he could look out a window and see a bit of English greenery.

He was amazed Lisa could stand it, all cramped and basic as it was. Her flat that she'd shared with her girlfriends was much nicer, but she'd been the one who'd somehow surreptitiously moved in with him. He didn't even remember asking her to. Somehow all of her belongings had just migrated themselves over here over time, until the tiny wardrobe and chest of drawers was full to overflowing with their collective possessions. It wasn't until the day she said she'd agreed to terminate her share of the lease from her own flat that he'd come to realised everything she owned already lived here. And now so would she, for all the difference it really made. She'd been living here for months anyway. Maybe when they both got a pay rise, they could afford to move somewhere a bit nicer. Maybe if he worked really hard, he could save up enough that they might be able to buy a place of their own. It would certainly be better than trying to get the body corporate to ever fix anything around here.

When he staggered through the door, he nearly tripped over the suitcase that was placed very foolishly in the middle of his path of least resistance to the sofa.

'Oh, you're finally here!' Lisa said, walking down the hallway and coming over to give him a kiss on the cheek.

'What's all this?' he asked, spotting a second long travel bag lying next to the end of the sofa. His travel bag.

'It's a surprise,' Lisa replied, huge smile on her face.

'I don't like surprises,' he said.

'Sure, you do. Everyone likes surprises. Now, go have a shower,' she said. 'We're leaving just as soon as you're ready.'

'Not until you tell me what all this is.'

'I thought we'd go away for a few days. Escape this dreary weather and spend some time together.'

He sighed, feeling too tired for anything right now, let alone going somewhere. The only journey he wanted was the one from the sofa to the bed. 'We can't just go away.'

'Sure, we can, babe. It's Friday night. Tomorrow's the weekend, plus a few extra days. We'll take the tunnel tonight and wake up in France tomorrow.' She leaned forward and kissed him again. 'I've got all the camping gear already packed in the back of the car. It'll be fun.'

He looked around at the flat, in its usual neglected state after a week of hardly being home. He didn't love it, but it was the reality of not having enough hours in the day. 'But, there's stuff to do.'

She frowned at him. 'What stuff?'

'Cleaning, and laundry and ironing. Grocery shopping and cooking meals to last us until next weekend.'

She shrugged at him, grabbing her olive green bomber jacket off its hook behind the door and slipping onto her slender frame. 'Who cares? It'll still be there when we get back.'

He rubbed a hand across the back of his head. 'I can't just take time off work. There's reports that need filing and records to sort through. People are relying on me to have that stuff done.'

Lisa scoffed. 'Relying on you for what? To make them coffee and cart their files around? Most of the time they don't even know you're there. You're stuck down in the that stupid archive. The whole building could be overrun by aliens and you wouldn't even know it.'

'We can't all have glamorous jobs upstairs like you, what with your fancy offices and your frosted glass,' he spat back. He didn't think his job was that bad, and someone had to do it. It wasn't forever, it was just a stepping stone to a better job. 'I'm still needed.'

'Oh, and what about your girlfriend? Don't you think maybe she might need you, too?'

'I see you every day!'

'In the cafeteria at lunch! When you can be bothered to surface at all, that is. And don't even get me started on what time you come home at night.'

He tried to hold his anger in check. 'It's the job.'

'It's not the job. You don't see me coming home late. Everyone else is at the pub at five o'clock and where are you? Still working. No one's paying you overtime, Ianto, so don't tell me you're doing it for us.'

'Everything I do is for us!'

'And so was this!' she yelled back.

'It's camping! It's not like you forked out a fortune!'

'No, I only spent all week planning it and all afternoon packing. I thought it'd be nice to treat you to a holiday for all the hard work, but clearly you'd rather stay here. Maybe you should've stayed at work, because apparently nothing I do is for us.'

'Or maybe you could've told me what you were planning and we could have done this properly, organised it and made arrangements. Isn't that what couples do? Talk to one another?'

'I might, if you were ever here.'

That was a low blow, and it hit Ianto right in the gut. He thought he spent plenty of time with her. They had dinner together, albeit it was usually microwaved and served up on the sofa in bowls whilst the TV provided the only intellectual stimulation. They slept together, and he thought the sex was pretty good, when they could be bothered, and they did rushed toast and coffee in the morning, reminding one another to pick up the dry cleaning or to fetch the mail from downstairs. Weekends were for chores, though sometimes Lisa would go out with her girlfriends on a Saturday night. Sometimes they went together, clubbing until the wee hours, but otherwise, Ianto might have a drink or two with his old flatmates, and sit at the pub with them watching the football. Considering they both worked full time, that seemed like a pretty decent amount of time together.

'I'm too tired to do this right now,' he said. Maybe in the morning, once he'd had a good night's sleep they could talk about this. He might even feel like going once he was feeling a bit more human. What difference would one night make?

'Fine,' she said, pulling out her phone and tapping away at it.

He sighed again. 'What are you doing, now?'

'Booking the first available flight to Paris.'

'I thought we were going camping?'

'Oh, we were. But some idiot decided work was more important, so I'm taking my five days off and going to Paris. Alone.'

'Lisa...'

'There. Done,' she said, showing him the phone, confirming the booking. She grabbed her suitcase and pulled up the handle. 'See you next Thursday,' she said, tugging it out through door and slamming it behind her.