m_findlow

Title: Far enough in
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Rhys
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 536 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Torchwood, Rhys, being in on the secret is not the same thing as being on the team" at fic_promptly
Summary: Rhys is only an honorary member at best.

Rhys knows that he's not really a part of Team Torchwood, even if he finds himself getting dragged into their business more often than not these days. Gwen blames it on them being such a small team, but Rhys is sure it has nothing to do with that.

Sometimes it's just a case of them needing a van and him just happening to be manager for the most successful small haulage business in Cardiff. Other times however, it's only because he and Gwen have been trying to enjoy a little bit of normal, when something weird decides to rear its ugly head. They must be the only couple on the planet that can't even go grocery shopping without some alien invasion in the frozen food aisle. He's sure this sort of thing doesn't happen to Jack and Ianto when they go out.

There are of course still those times when he thinks he's doing absolutely nothing wrong, just having a bit of a poke around when things in his life don't quite seem to add up, and before he knows it, he's landed himself right in the middle of something Torchwood related.

Even so, knowing that Torchwood exists and what they do, where they work, who they are, and a hundred other things he probably thinks he was better off not knowing, it's still not the same as actually being part of the team. Apart from Gwen, no one really takes him seriously, and even that's drawing a long bow some days.

Jack likes to tease him, promise he'll bring Gwen home in one piece, and not to worry which only makes Rhys worry more. It's a bloody good thing Jack's gay, or he might have reason to worry about his Gwen hanging out with someone so sodding handsome. Ianto on the other hand says very little. A brief little reassuring smile here and there and then it's straight off after Captain Jack to go and be heroic. A good egg by all accounts, but not someone Rhys would normally share pint with down at the pub on a Friday night.

Rhys knows he doesn't have what it takes to be a proper Torchwood agent. He's no ninja, and he can't shoot a gun, for which Gwen is eternally grateful. He's not guaranteed to stand firm in the face of some hideous monster, and he certainly doesn't fancy chasing after one. It doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally have to, but he'd happily leave that all behind him.

At the end of the day however, he still joins the rest of them slumped on the sofa, exhausted but pleased to have once again saved the day. There's often coffee, but as he watches the three of them sitting there, either laughing and joking, or just too tired do much of anything, he can tell there's a certain camaraderie that he's not party to. There's something about being here every day, seeing what they see, facing danger at every turn and never knowing what might happen next, that changes you and makes you part of something more than he will ever understand.

Rhys doesn't mind though. For him, life is just complicated enough without being part of the team.