Torchwood: Fanfic: Impossible employees

[m_findlow]

Title: Impossible employees
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Johnson, Andy, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,388 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, he/she is a nightmare to work with" at fic_promptly
Summary: Johnson is having trouble getting along with Torchwood's latest recruit.

'You're sure you’re ex police?' Johnson asked, folding her arms across her chest and watching him.

'What kind of question is that?' Andy replied. 'You make it sound as if I don’t know anything.'

'If the shoe fits,' she replied.

Andy slammed down the file on his desk. 'Well, look, we can't all be fancy pants special ops. Some of us have to deal with the everyday criminals. Can't just go in there all guns blazing. Requires a bit of tact, if you know what I mean.'

'That’s your area of expertise then, is it?'

'Look, why don't you go downstairs and find something to shoot. I'll stay here and finish up this very unimportant work,' he said, dismissing her.

Johnson still wasn’t sure about Gwen’s latest recruit. It was all well and good to bring in people they’d worked with in the past, but did he really have the requisite skills to make it? She knocked on Jack's door, watching as his head bolted up at the intrusion as if looking for any excuse not to have to do whatever it was he was doing – paperwork from Ianto most likely, she thought.

'What’s up?'

'Wanted to talk to you about Davison.'

'Anything in particular?'

It was a loaded question, he knew. The pair of them hadn't exactly gotten off to a good start, which was odd considering Johnson hadn’t had a problem working with any of their other recruits. He figured it was just a personality clash. Andy wasn’t backwards in saying how he felt. It had often grated on Jack’s nerves, that obtuseness, but somehow he’d come to find that most of what came out of Andy’s mouth was just bluster. It was his way of coping with the seriousness of some of the situations they found themselves in. Jack was used to Ianto’s dry sense of humour and Andy simply took that to another level. Hard to believe anyone could be more sarcastic that Ianto but Andy was. Probably the only person who could outquip him. The two of them parrying barbs was highly amusing on the rare occasions he'd seen it.

'He’s a nightmare to work with,' Johnson said. 'He’s got a smart comment for everything and a moan for anything else. He has no respect for me. I feel like I’m babysitting a toddler.'

'Everyone has to start somewhere,' Jack replied. 'I bet you were never a perfect little soldier when you first joined the service.'

'I wasn’t a bumbling beanpole either, though.'

Jack laughed at her description of Andy. Jack thought he was reasonably tall but Andy towered several inches over him. There was just no way of being cool and authoritative when you couldn’t look down over everyone.

He’d been somewhat reluctant in approving Gwen’s appointment. He had his own reservations about whether Andy could hack it as a Torchwood agent. Then Ianto had given him such a dressing down he felt embarrassed. 'Tosh had no combat skills when you recruited her, neither did Owen. And as for me?'

'You had your good looks and amazing coffee.'

'Not the point, Jack. Andy has many fine qualities. He's ex police.'

'And we all know how much I love the Cardiff Metropolitan Police,' Jack interrupted.

'He’s used to crazy situations, he knows what we do, and isn’t totally freaked out by it. And he’s great with people.'

Jack had to give him that one. Andy was great at talking to people and being reassuring. Some of that dry humour didn’t go astray either. It wasn’t that Johnson wasn’t a people person. In fact, she was very good with people herself, otherwise Jack would never have given her the call to fill in when Ianto had been out of action. It was just that Andy had this easy way about him that people seemed to react to. The Welsh accent probably helped. What was it about that damn accent, Jack wondered. It got to him as well.

'He doesn’t listen to me,' Johnson said. 'He always thinks he knows best.'

'I think that’s probably a bit harsh, don’t you? What is it he’s not listening to?'

'Every time I make a suggestion, he has to argue with me about it. Why don’t we try this instead, or what about I go over here to look for whatever it is.'

'Can I say something?' Jack asked.

'Be my guest.'

'You’re used to leading your own team, right? Back when you were with British Intelligence.'

'I don’t see what that has to do with it.'

'This isn’t your team to lead. You guys need to work together. Don’t get me wrong. I like leading too, but even I’ve had to learn that there’s time when I can’t be in charge. There are things I have to defer to Ianto on, or even Gwen. We all have our roles here and sometimes we need to lead and other times we need to be equal. Andy isn’t your underling. He’s as much a member of the team as anyone. He has his own skills and experience. I put the two of you together for a reason. Well, when I say I, I mean Ianto and I.'

There was no way he could take full credit for the new partnership. In fact, he may have laughed when Ianto initially suggested it over dinner one night. Now he'd come to see that Andy viewed the world in shades of grey, where Johnson saw only black and white. Both strategies had their merits but neither could work in all instances. He only had to look at himself and Ianto to see that differing personalities and viewpoints were what made them such a great team.

'I think there’s a lot you can learn from each other,' Jack said. 'Provided you don’t kill each other first.'

'Don't tempt me,' Johnson replied. 'Mind you, he might manage it all on his own and save me the trouble.'

Jack leaned forward. 'Look at it this way. Andy has come into the team, knowing full well what it is we do, but having always been on the outside looking in. He's not military, but he knows what it's like to be in a high pressure situation and to have to make decisions that affect the safety of people. It's not a regimented and fixed way of doing things. It's ad hoc, intuitive, and flexible. I can't think of anything that better defines what I need my agents to be capable of. But he's green as well. You've been doing this a while now, and I admit, we threw you in the deep end because we didn't have a choice.' Hard to believe how far they'd come since that first desperate phone call. 'There's going to be times when I need you to pull him into line, but there's other times when you're gonna have to let him make his own mistakes.'

'That's sounds more like parenting than leadership.'

'I suppose it is.' Just like now, he thought, having to tear apart arguing siblings who don't want to play nicely together.

Johnson rolled her eyes at him. 'Fine. I'll give him another chance.'

'Good. That's all, then?'

'For now,' she replied, leaving.

Jack blew out a long breath. Before he could go back to finishing these hideous reports Ianto had left for him, there was another sharp rap on his door.

'Got a minute?' Andy asked, not waiting for a response. 'Good. Now see there's this problem with my insurer. Ever since that incident with the, er... well, let's not talk about it. Anyway, my car premium has gone through the roof, and now they're telling me I don't get any concessions working for the government. I told them that's bollocks since I always got a reduced premium when I worked in the police, but they've said unless I get a letter from you, confirming I work for the government, they're going to triple my premium. So, either I want that letter, or if that's all too bloody secret squirrel that I'm not allowed to advertise that I work for an agency that no one is supposed to know about, then I want a letter stating that you'll reimburse me the difference. '

'Oi,' Jack groaned. Sometimes these people really were a nightmare to work with!

Comments

[bk_forever]

That's the ticket, Andy! Stand up to all of them, don't let them walk all over you! *grins* Johnson will learn that Andy deserves her respect, and Jack will deal with the car insurance issue.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

He really does have to push a biy harder than everyone else for a bit of respect but hell get there in the end. Jack paying his insurance is the least he can do!