Torchwood: Fanfic: When things go bump in the night

[m_findlow]

Title: When things go bump in the night
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,118 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for samuraiter's prompt "Any, any, In the beginning, there was only darkness. And then I fell down the stairs." at fic_promptly
Summary: Something has disturbed the peace at the Harkness-Joneses.

It was the sudden banging sound that woke Ianto from what had been a very deep sleep. It hadn't just been one sound but rather a series of loud crashes occurring somewhere down below on the ground floor. More than that, it was the squeal that ripped through the remaining silence, followed by a second; first one daughter then the other. Though he could tell them apart like an expert on little girl screams, it mattered less who had screamed first, and more the terror with which each had torn through their peaceful abode.

The bed next to him was empty and that sent a second wave of panic through him. If Jack had been the source of the noise, he would have known it by now, Jack having returned or at least heading straight for the girls bedroom to make sure that all was fine. Since neither of those things seemed to have happened in the immediate aftermath, his mind went to the next logical explanation: home invasion.

It wasn't outside the realms of possibility. Cardiff was far from being crime free, and the city's poorest were also some of its most desperate. Added to that was their own reputation amongst the alien community. Not everyone who resided here had warm feelings towards Torchwood, and it was always possible that one of them might track down where they lived and come to show them what they thought of the organisation.

In an instant he had his gun, pulled from the drawer where it was carefully hidden at night from curious little hands, and he was at the door, gun readied to fire.

The priority was the kids. He had to know that they were safe, and that whoever had broken into their house hadn't thought to come upstairs and silence them. If someone wanted to break into their house to steal televisions and DVD players, then so be it. They were just things, and insurance covered them for trivial things like that. No amount of insurance however could protect their children, which was precisely why he and Jack were here. There were no three human beings on the planet more important than their three children.

He slipped quietly out of the doorway and down the hall, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and on the lookout for any strange dark patches or shadows cast across the walls, ready to pull the trigger, but not wanting to hurt one of his family in the process.

He made it to the bedroom at the far end of the hall, spotting one little boy in his bed, covers pulled over his head, lying stock still and pretending he wasn't there. It was only the tiny shape he made under the duvet that gave him away. Ianto gently pulled it back and gestured him to keep quiet, grabbing him and carrying him. Ianto continued down the hall to the second bedroom, where the screams had come from. There was another scream as he was mistaken for the bogeyman, until his familiar voice and shushing sounds told them it was only him. With all three safely in one room, he told them to stay quiet and closed the door behind them.

He had both hands gripped around the gun now, keeping it low but armed as he worked his way back towards the stairs. There hadn't been any further sounds. Either that meant their would be thief had been scared off by the screaming children, or otherwise they were lying silently in wait for adult number two to make an appearance.

He was on high alert as he reached the top of the stairs, aware of just how dark it was, unable to see very much at all. Halfway down though, he caught sight of something crumpled at the bottom of them. It didn't take long to realise it was a body. Jack's body. Part of him wanted to kneel down and check on his husband. Another part wanted the sweep the rest of the house. A third part wanted to stay right there at the bottom of the stairs to defend his position. As long as he was there, no one could get upstairs and near the kids. It was a difficult choice.

Jack groaned and Ianto dropped down, putting a hand on his shoulder.

'Shhh,' he whispered. 'Did you see which way they went?'

'Huh?' Jack said, failing to keep his voice low.

'Did you see them?' Ianto asked, repeating the question.

'What? Ow, my head,' Jack replied, reaching up to find a sizeable lump on the back of it, as well as a few other aches and pains all over.

'Shhh!' Ianto told him. 'They might still be here.'

'Who?'

'Whoever attacked you.'

'Attacked me? No one attacked me. Unless you count the banister, and the stairs.' He winced again. 'And probably the wall was well.'

Ianto set his gun down on the carpet and sat back on his heels. 'I thought someone had broken in. What happened?'

'Well,' Jack said, sitting up and finding his wrist sore from the awkward landing, 'in the beginning, there was only darkness. And then I fell down the stairs.'

'How do you fall down the stairs?' Ianto asked, incredulous. 'What were you even doing?'

'The power was out,' Jack replied. 'I noticed the clock by the bed wasn't glowing so I got up to go check the fuse box. You know it's really dark in here without those nightlights in the wall sockets,' he said. 'I think I must have misjudged where the edge of that first step is and gone tumbling all the way to the bottom. To be honest, I don't remember much. I think I got knocked out, just for a bit.'

It was only now that Jack said it that Ianto noticed just how dark it was. He'd been so fixated on the immediate danger that he'd not realised that was why it had taken his eyes such a long time to adjust. Even the street lamp outside which usually cast a pale light around the house was out. If that wasn't working, then it wasn't their fuse box. The whole suburb was probably without power.

'You scared the hell out of the kids,' Ianto said. 'And me.'

'Sorry. I was just trying to sort it out without waking you.'

'Another successful solo mission,' Ianto quipped, trying to help Jack to his feet, wobbly and bruised. 'Come back to bed. It's the middle of the night and we don't need power. A little bit of spoilt milk I can live with. A husband breaking his neck and terrifying his children I can do without.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

Poor Jack, maybe he should keep a torch handy for emergencies!

At least they can both go and reassure the kids. Maybe the power will be back on by morning.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

I think we both know that you can give a man a torch but you can't make him use it, especially if his name is Jack!