Fffc Regular Challenge r18.14 - A place to play

[m_findlow]

Title: A place to play
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,351 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Regular Challenge r18.14 - Pool at fffc
Summary: The hub is a dangerous place for little people.

Ianto bolted up from his desk and ran across the hub, just in time to prevent disaster.

'No, no, sweetie, that's not for playing in,' he said, picking up his daughter and clutching her in his arms. She'd been stood in the rift pool, leaning over and trying to poke her finger at something. Probably a lost fish that had snuck up the pipe from Cardiff Bay. She was sodden from the waist down, water now also soaking into his own clothes as he held her tight. At least Sian wasn't crying over the fact that Daddy had taken her away from whatever fun she'd been having down by the water tower. He looked around before yelling out. 'Jack!'

Jack poked his head out from behind his office door. 'What?'

'You told me you were watching the kids.'

'I am.'

'So, why did I just catch Sian trying to wade in the rift pool?'

Jack looked around his office. Sure enough, where just a few minutes ago, there had been three toddlers playing with crayons and paper there were now only two. Bollocks.

'You're meant to be watching them, Jack,' he said, carrying his little girl back towards Jack's office.

'I was. She must've snuck out. No harm done, though, hey?'

Ianto fixed him with a hard glare. 'She was in the rift pool,' he repeated.

'It's only a foot deep,' Jack argued. 'Two at most.' He cringed even as he said it, knowing that kids could drown even in the smallest amount of water.

'It's the water that worries me,' Ianto replied. 'There could be any number of bacteria in there. It's not exactly clean.'

Jack let out a breath first relief that Ianto wasn't going to come down hard on him about the relative depth. Cleanliness was more his thing.

'I'm going to take her and get her cleaned up and out of these wet clothes,' Ianto said. 'Think you can keep an eye on these other two?'

'Of course,' Jack replied.

He shut his door as soon as Ianto was gone, preventing any more wandering. He came and sat down on the floor, watching them play. Eleri was focused solely on coloring her picture only in cobalt blue crayon and nothing else. Tom was more interested in using the remaining colors to build a fortress around him, lining them up end to end around him. Jack leant down and kissed Eleri's soft hair, stroking it as she continued to work.

Torchwood and raising a family just wasn't quite working out the way he'd hoped. Somehow Gwen and Rhys had made it work, but he was really struggling. Now that they were both back virtually full time, there were occasions when aunts and uncles, related by blood or only in the figurative sense, could babysit. Bringing them to work with them wasn't ideal, but it was sometimes necessary. The hub, Jack realised, was no place for inquisitive little minds. Even here where he'd thought they were basically safe was revealing all sorts of hidden dangers he'd taken for granted. Even with everyone else around the hub keeping a surreptitious eye on them, they'd proven just how quickly a loss of concentration could lead to disaster. He'd honestly only taken his eye off them for a few minutes at most.

He should have been watching more carefully. Ianto had more on his plate than Jack. He was the one who needed to stay focused. A whole international network of Torchwood offices, all relying on him to hold it together. Jack's biggest worry was limited to what the local police might muck up next, or whether the next thing that dropped through the rift might cause trouble. Cardiff was still his patch, and that patch was quite big enough. He didn't want the hassle of trying to play politics and foster international relations.

He rubbed his face, wondering what to do. Glancing out over the hub, he stared at the rift  pool. It had seemed so innocent, but the more he stared, the more dangers he spotted. Open water, gangways without barriers, or bars that were too high up, letting little people slip underneath them. Someone upstairs had left the hothouse door open, and the autopsy bay was just full of sharp objects and deadly chemicals.

'All done,' Ianto said, opening the door and returning their daughter to join the others.

'I'm sorry,' Jack blurted out.

'No harm done,' Ianto replied, remarkably calm.

'We need to fix this,' Jack replied.

Ianto frowned at him. 'I'm not sure what you're suggesting. You want to hire a nanny?'

'No.' Gods, that was the last thing he wanted. Family looking after their trio was one thing, but he couldn't bear the thought of a complete stranger. 'We need somewhere safe for them.'

'We could always lock them up in one of the cells,' Ianto joked. He handed Sian a green crayon and a fresh piece of paper.

Jack's expression turned dark. 'That's not funny.'

'Then what?' Ianto said, suddenly exasperated. 'We form a creche? Torchwood babysitting services? Would you like to put Andy in charge of that, or maybe Adelaide?'

Jack stared out through the windows across the hub. His eyes came upon the boardroom, it's glass frontage jutting out. He had a near perfect view of its interior, even from down here, a floor below. 'We can move the boardroom,' he said, thinking out loud.

'Come again?'

'We have a full line of sight from these offices up to the boardroom. We could refit it and use that.'

'As what, a playroom?'

'Why not?'

Ianto folded his arms and studied his husband. If Jack was cracking up, he'd have Jez in here in a heartbeat to check him over. 'Uh, because we need our boardroom for meetings?'

Jack shrugged. 'We've got dozens of rooms. Hundreds. We could use any of them as a boardroom. We don't need much. Table, chairs, projector screens. What we don't need is a view. But from right here, we can see everything that goes on up there. And it's got a sealed door. They could play in there and be safe.'

Ianto mulled it over. Torchwood still had the odd accident in the hub, but he supposed it was only sometimes they'd be here, and it couldn't be any less safe than any other part of the hub. The idea that he could see them at all times definitely had appeal. And they'd be able to see him, more importantly. Leaving them permanently in the care of others just wasn't right. He didn't want to miss seeing them grow up. They needed their dads. 'It's not the worst idea you've ever had,' Ianto admitted.

'Hey! I have good ideas.'

'Sometimes.' Ianto frowned. 'You don't suppose the team would mind?'

'You're the boss, Ianto.'

'That's not the point.' Just because he was the director didn't make this some kind of benevolent dictatorship.

'I think they'd be happy to give it a go. You never know. We might not be the last ones here to want to have a family.'

That was true. Torchwood was still the domain of the young and single, but things were slowly changing. Keeping everything a secret from the general public was still desired, but relatives had a right to know what their family did. It made it a lot easier on everyone, and opened up the door for relationships. God knew they all needed someone to lean on some days.

'Alright. Trial period,' he said. 'Suppose that means a trip to the toy store.'

'Can I come too?'

Ianto chuckled. 'Perhaps it's you who needs to be locked up on a playroom. If it'll keep you out of trouble.'  

'I've already got so many ideas,' Jack replied.

'Not a paddling pool, I hope,' Ianto replied. If Sian wanted to explore the water, she'd have to wait until their next trip to the beach.

'No, but what about a ball pit?' Jack said. 'That would be awesome!'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'Don't get too excited. Just remember, they don't make them big enough for adults.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

I'm sure between them they'll be able to design a safe playroom for the kids.