m_findlow

Title: Getting back in the swing
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,865 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, like falling off a log" at fic_promptly
Summary: Ianto's first foray back out in the field doesn't go quite to plan.

Jack literally bounced out of the car, slamming the door shut with more enthusiasm than was strictly required. 'I'm so excited,' he announced. 'Just you and me again, Ianto. The old team back together.'

Ianto rolled his eyes at Jack. 'Hardly,' he replied. 'It's not as if we were ever really apart.'

'Nonsense,' Jack said. 'I know how much you love being behind that desk while the rest of us are out here having fun.'

'Yes, I really miss getting covered in alien substances on a daily basis.' There were certainly some perks to being in charge, even if that meant he didn't get out nearly so often anymore.

With the rest of their team out working on a large project, and the rift alert coming from somewhere deep in the Welsh hills, Jack had been more than happy to deal with it on his own. Ianto however had other ideas. Very rarely did he let anyone investigate anything on their own these days. You just never knew what the rift might throw at you, and it was always good practice to have backup in case things went pear-shaped. Since the only other person left was him, he supposed that made him Jack's wingman for the day.

'It's going to be great, Ianto,' Jack beamed. 'When was the last time you came out with us on a rift alert, anyway?'

Honestly, he couldn't remember. His days were filled with meetings and phone calls. The extent of his travel usually started and ended with the hub, except when he had to go to London, UNIT or Porton Down to liaise with other agencies, and to keep a sharp eye on items they'd been loaned for research purposes. Whatever they were up to, he wanted to know it was well in hand. Traipsing around Cardiff was reserved for his operational leader, Jack, and his merry little band. Ianto didn't mind it so much. They each played to their strengths and his were best served these days steering the good ship Torchwood through the mire of political, international and intergalactic relations.

Today however, on such a bright crisp autumn day, getting out of the hub and out on the road seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered.

He flipped open the glove compartment and took out the gun he'd stowed there, slowly ejecting the clip and double checking it before sliding it back in and pulling back on the slide, readying it with practised ease.

Jack quirked an eyebrow at him as he waited for Ianto to exit the car. 'Someone's a bit OCD today,' he muttered.

'Just making sure it's all in working order,' Ianto said, tucking the weapon into his belt.

'You could’ve done that in five seconds with your eyes closed.'

'I didn't realise we were in a hurry.'

'We're not. You just seem to be taking an awful lot of time fussing over nothing.' He didn't mention that Ianto had checked the location on his phone about five times, repeating the directions to Jack who'd memorised them on the first go.

Ianto bristled. 'It's been a while since I was properly out in the field.'

'You think you're rusty?'

'Could be.'

Jack laughed at him. Ianto was more than capable handling himself, even if he didn't get out much anymore. They still had plenty of dramas at the hub, and they still all had regular and rigorous firearms and combat training - Torchwood's leadership team included. Added to that was Ianto's own keep-fit regime which now consisted of daily running before work, most often without any running companion. Going for a run just for running's sake just wasn't in Jack's genetic make up. In a competition with their younger recruits, Ianto would probably still run circles around them. Jack took pride in his lover being a lean, mean, alien hunting machine.

'Never fear, Ianto,' he said. 'You're not that far out of the game. Besides, it's just a retrieval. It'll be a piece of cake for you to get back into the swing of things. Like falling off a log.'

'I appreciate your unwavering faith in me,' Ianto replied, zipping up his jacket.

'Hey, it works both ways. I compliment you, you give me a little extra loving tonight after work.'

Ianto smiled despite himself. 'I knew there was a catch.'

Jack laughed again. 'Come on. This beautiful Welsh countryside is just screaming to be searched for alien artifacts by a couple of old hands.'

It really was a beautiful day, Ianto had to agree. He'd already switched his traditional suit for loose fitting jeans and a cotton sleeved top, knowing their destination in advance. Trekking around the hills was not a good idea in dress shoes and finely cut suits.

He felt a slight twinge of jealousy that he didn't get to do this as often anymore. It hardly felt like work, this causal stroll in the sunshine. Then he remembered that a lot of the time it wasn't like this. There were long hours stuck in cars on stake outs, searching dusty warehouses, and rifling through filthy smelling dumpsters. And that didn't even include the late night callouts to go and put weevils back to bed. Those were things he was glad to leave behind for the next generation of recruits, though he was sure some of them, like Andy, loathed those tasks even more than he had.

They walked up and down the valley for about half an hour, searching for traces of residual rift radiation before finally getting some small signals that seemed to be getting stronger the further down into the valley they trekked.

'Over there,' Ianto pointed, spying a large red ball-shaped object lying in the middle of the stream that ran along the very bottom of the valley.

'See?' Jack said. 'Told you you'd ace it.'

'Well, not that hard to spot, really,' Ianto said. In a landscape of greens and browns, something red was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

On closer inspection the red object appeared to be some sort of large paper lantern, kind of like those ones he'd seen at Chinese New Year festivals, but bigger. Not alien in all likelihood, but still something they couldn't leave just lying around.

Jack was three steps ahead of him, already having spotted a long piece of fallen tree that had become wedged across part of the stream. He could use it to bridge the gap between the edge of the stream and the lantern. He shucked off his coat and threw it in Ianto's direction.

'Good to see some things haven't changed,' Ianto quipped. 'Still babysitting your coat for you while you go off and be all heroic.'

'Hey, I just didn't want the ends getting wet. You're the one that would complain.'

'That is true.'

Jack skipped across the fallen tree, making it look easy despite the fact that there must have been a layer of wet moss, making it slippery underfoot. He reached out towards the lantern but it was still just a foot too far for him.

Jack looked around for another solution. 'Hey, Ianto. Pass me that stick over there,' he said, pointing. 'I can probably snare it with that since it won't weigh much.' Ianto fetched the spindly branch and held it out for Jack, but he was too far along the log to reach it without Ianto stepping on. 'It's fine,' Jack assured him, bouncing up and down on the spot. 'See? Plenty to hold both our weight.'

Ianto gingerly stepped along its length, feeling it slip and slide under his shoes.

'This week, Ianto!' Jack teased. 'The others will think we've been taken by the rift if you take any longer.'

Ianto bit back on his tongue. Jack was perfectly capable of coming over to meet him. Still, he persisted with his careful approach until he was standing next to Jack, finally handing him the stick.

'Thanks,' Jack said, leaning over to try and snag it on the top edge of the lantern. He tugged on it but it didn't move. 'Must be stuck on something under the water,' Jack puffed, pulling harder.

Underneath them, Ianto could feel the wood beginning to shift from Jack's exertions to dislodge the lantern. 'Uh, Jack...'

'Nearly got it. Almost...'

Ianto sensed the danger a split second before it happened. Another inch or two and Jack was going to have too much weight on the front of that log, causing it to roll and send him plunging headlong into the stream. Instinctually, he grabbed Jack around the waist to stop him just at the same moment as Jack finally got the lantern unstuck, pulling backwards. The combined shift in momentum sent them both tumbling off the back of the tree and straight into the icy waters. It wasn't overly deep, but there was a sufficient amount of coughing and sputtering as they surfaced, shocked by the suddenness of it.

'Ianto, what the hell?' Jack said, crawling back over to the embankment, pulling his husband with him.

'You were about to go headlong into the water. I was trying to stop you.'

'Well, you didn't do a very good job, did you?'

'I didn't expect you to suddenly stand back upright! You threw off my balance,' he replied, feeling the water soaking through his clothes and squelching in his trainers. Jack had said getting back out in the field would be like falling off a log, but he didn't think he'd meant it literally.

'Even my most junior agents aren't that incompetent,' Jack complained.

'I think you mean mine,' Ianto corrected him. Gwen usually recruited them, Jack trained them, and Ianto kept them all in line.

'Fine, Lord Director' Jack retorted. 'They're yours. They still wouldn't have cocked things up like that.'

'And your rift retrieval is getting away, oh non-incompetent one,' Ianto added, watching as the lantern was now bobbing away downstream after Jack had released it from whatever had been keeping it in place.

'Dammit,' Jack muttered, jogging down along the stream to catch up with it. Whilst he did, Ianto retrieved Jack's coat, the only thing to remain dry throughout the whole exchange.

He spied Jack's outline half a mile away, trudging straight into the water to pick up the lantern. Now that he was soaked through, there didn't seem to be much point in trying anything fancy to retrieve it.

They met back up about halfway in between, both looking bedraggled despite the otherwise pleasant weather and vista all around them. By that stage some of the annoyance on Jack's face had waned, and Ianto's own vexation at Jack was equally dissipating.

'Not setting much of an example, are we?' Jack said.

'I really was only trying to help.'

'I know. You're always trying to keep me out of trouble.'

'And yet trouble always seems to find you, anyway.'

Jack laughed at Ianto, and then Ianto pointed at a hunk of weeds lodged in Jack's damp hair and laughed back.

'Gods, I've missed this,' Jack said, unable to stop smiling.

'Everything except the getting drowned part,' Ianto agreed. 'Next time, let's stick to weevils. They're much more predictable.'