Torchwood: Fanfic: Earning a place

[m_findlow]

Title: Earning a place
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Tosh, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 863 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for peaceful_sands’s prompt "any, any, it feels like a lifetime ago" at fic_promptly
Summary: Tosh gets a life changing experience instead of a life sentence

Jack yelled out Tosh's name and it rang out loudly across the hub. She immediately dropped her glasses on her desk and exchanged glances with Suzie, who gave her a slightly knowing look that suggested whatever she was in store for, this time she was on her own.

She warily knocked and entered, unsure what kind of mood she might find him in. Yelling out didn't indicate anger, it was just more efficient, so Jack said.

'I'm sorry. I know I haven't finished that report,' she apologised. 'I promise I'll have it you you within the hour.' If Jack was going to be mad at her, it was her own fault. She'd gotten so caught up in making improvements to their systems for monitoring and predicting rift activity that she'd completely lost all track of time.

'Sit down Tosh,' came the instruction. She dutifully obeyed.

Even though she'd been here a while now, and she'd thought she was doing okay, she never truly felt as if she really knew who the man was that she was working for. Just when she thought she'd started to crack through the flamboyant exterior, he'd recruited Suzie and that had become the end of it. He was much more reserved with Suzie, keeping them both at arms length to some extent, and only letting them both see what he wanted them to see.

'I wanted to tell you what a good job you've done. Probably haven't said that enough.'

Tosh became nervous. His tone of voice suggested the compliment was just a precursor to less appealing news.

'I wanted to give you this,' he handed her a slip of paper with a series of numbers on it. It looked like a phone number, but more likely it was something he needed her to decode.

'I'll start working on it straight away. And the report,' she quickly added, 'I'll do that too. Straight away.'

He smiled in a way that seemed to indicate she'd missed something obvious.

'It's a phone number Tosh,' he chuckled, 'no analysis required.'

'Right, of course it is, that was the first thing I was going to check.' She couldn't help but blush. Perhaps she wasn't as good at her job as she thought.

Jack steepled his fingers in front of him as he leaned forward on the desk.

'It's a phone number for your mother.'

She looked up and met his gaze.

'My mother?' Now she was really confused.

'I thought you could give her a call. '

Tosh was stunned. The piece of paper in her hand shook and suddenly felt like it weighed a ton.

'What about your five year agreement?'

'I decided to terminate it early.'

Oh god. He was letting her go. She should have been happy, but what the hell would she do with her life? Torchwood had become her whole life and she knew she couldn't go back to a government posting, they'd never allow it, and nothing out in commercial industry could compare to the level of sophistication she was working on here now. Everything else would be boring by comparison. Then it hit her. He wasn't going to just let her go, he was going to retcon her. She wouldn't remember any of it. He was giving her a chance to say goodbye to her mother, and that would be it.

'No, please, I promise I'll work harder. I'll do whatever you want.'

Now it was Jack's turn to look confused and worried. It passed quickly as he saw the look of desperation in her eyes.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa. I think we're having two different conversations. You think I'm getting rid of you?'

'Aren't you?'

He laughed out loud. The sound felt harsh in the quiet space.

'Only if I've completely lost my senses! If you'd said you wanted to leave I'd let you, though I don't know how I'd get along here without you anymore. All I'm doing is tearing up our old arrangement. Your records are officially expunged. If you want to call your mother, that's fine. Visit if you want. No more postcards. You deserve more than that. And if you want to keep working for Torchwood that's fine too.'

'I do,' she quickly interjected, before pausing and frowning. 'What about UNIT?'

'Their general policy is that the less they hear from me the better. I took you off their hands. You became my problem, and trust me, they don't want to know about my problems! Plus, I figure twelve months of dedicated service is more than enough to prove your place here, and your loyalty.'

'Twelve months,' she laughed in a hollow way, 'feels like a lifetime ago.'

'Incarceration tends to have that effect.'

'Thank you,' she said earnestly. 'And I do promise I will work harder.'

'Any harder and you'll work yourself to death. Don't forget to have a life.'

'Okay,' she replied, shaking the piece of paper in her hand, as she stood up to leave, wondering what she'd say to her mother after so long.

'Oh and Tosh?'

'Yes?'

'Since you've reminded me, I'll be wanting that report. Just as soon as you've called your mother.'

'Of course.'

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He's still getting the hang of managing his very own team, but he knows when he's on to a good thing.