m_findlow

Title: On the trail
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,947 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, sniffing out trouble" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack has recruited someone new to Torchwood without Ianto's approval.

Ianto came to a halt just inside the cogwheel door. Fortunately he stopped, because his counterpart coming from the other direction was most definitely not watching where they were going, and only his sidestepping saved them from crashing into one another.

Jack gave a start at the sudden person who'd just stepped out of his path. 'Ianto! You're back early.'

'If by early, you mean, on time, then yes, I'm early.' He suppressed a sigh and the traditional eye roll. Getting back from London and having beaten the peak hour train commuters was a bonus. He frowned at Jack, standing there almost out of breath, being tugged insistently by the dog on the end of the leash he was holding.

'Why is Buddy here at the hub?' Ianto asked. He expected to hear some sob story from Jack about how he couldn't possibly leave their dog at home all alone, not that it wasn't what happened every other day when they left for work. Not unless of course Jack was about to tell him he hadn't left the hub in the last three days whilst Ianto had been away at the conference in Brussels. Ianto had considered going directly home, just to make sure the house was still standing and that Buddy hadn't torn up the yard, but it seemed he would have been coming home to a rather empty house.

'Um,' Jack began.

This time Ianto did let out a sigh. Any sentence that started with the word "um" was bound to end in something he didn't want to hear.

'I'm kind of in the middle of an investigation, as it turns out,' Jack said.

'Okay, but what does that have to do with our dog being here, and from the looks of it, on his way out? I'm assuming this is just the quick drop off at home on your way? I can take him with me if you're busy.'

Jack gave a furtive look, shuffling from one foot to the other. 'Well, actually, I kinda need him.'

Ianto folded his arms and gave Jack a knowing look. 'Need him for what? Unless we have a pack of puppies that has dropped through the rift...'

Jack stood a little straighter. 'He's my sniffer dog,' he replied.

'Buddy is not a sniffer dog, Jack.' He was still just a young dog, practically the equivalent of a teenager according to the vet. He certainly wasn't up for responsibility or even just sitting still.

'Sure he is,' Jack argued. 'We've been working on this while you've been away. Just think how much easier it'll be to find stuff that drops through the rift. Dogs have a super duper sense of smell.'

Ianto folded his arms. 'Are you suggesting that the radiation scanners we currently use to pinpoint rift items aren't good enough?'

'They're okay,' Jack said, 'but a bloodhound would be better. How many times have we spent hours traipsing around look for something?'

That was true, but it was also true that between them, Jack and Buddy had an attention span of about three minutes. Ianto wasn't sure what it was, but as soon as you put a dog in front of Jack, his brain turned into ten year old mush. Ianto could literally see the brain cells dying.

'You're giving me that look, Ianto,' Jack said, narrowing his eyes at his lover.

'What look?'

'The one that says this is a really bad idea, and that I'm wasting my time.'

'Well, that's convenient,' he replied. 'It saves me having to say that from now on, knowing I have a look that does exactly the same job.'

Jack groaned at the dry humor. He loved how clever Ianto was, but there were times when that cleverness was tiring. 'If it doesn't work out, I promise I won't pursue it,' Jack promised. 'Since you're here, why don't you come with us and you can see first hand how much progress we've made.'

Ianto was tired. The flight to London had been packed with rowdy students and he really just wanted to lie on the sofa with a cool cloth over his eyes to stop the headache that was forming behind his eyes. Then again, nipping Jack's insane ideas in the bud was always the best course of action to prevent ultimate disaster.

'Alright, but let me grab a change of clothes first.'

By the time they arrived, Ianto was feeling very skeptical about Jack's plan. 'So, how does this work exactly?'

Jack returned one of Ianto's eye rolls back at him. 'I thought you were clever. Rift item? Sniffer dog? Do I need to draw you a diagram?'

'Usually the idea is that you give the dog something that smells exactly like what they're looking for. Last I checked, rift items don't have a specific scent.'

'Just go with me, Ianto. We've been doing test runs at the hub and they've all worked a treat.'

'I think you mean they all worked because they were treats,' Ianto quipped, knowing Jack would have plied the labrador with food as reward, or perhaps even as the target object. Like Jack, you got the best results from using food as an incentive. 'Actually,' Ianto began, thinking out aloud, 'you're not concerned about what he might find, are you? I mean, it could be something dangerous.'

'Oh, so now you think he can do it?'

'I'm just saying. A dog isn't going to be able to tell something deadly from something harmless.' The last thing he wanted was for their beloved pet to get hurt.

'Animals have a better sixth sense than we do,' Jack countered. 'Besides, I've got him trained to bark and alert a find rather than to go straight after it.'

Ianto sighed. 'If you say so.'

'I do.' He flung open the car door and the black hound leapt out, spinning a few mad circles, relishing the fresh air and the grass under foot. 'Okay, boy. Your big moment has arrived,' Jack announced. 'Let's go,' he said, making his way along the path that lead them further into the park, closer to the location where the rift alert had emanated from.

'Alright, it's somewhere around this general area,' Jack said, double checking the readings on his PDA. Jack leaned down and unclipped the leash, letting Buddy move around on his own, ready to explore. Jack took off in one direction whilst Ianto went in the other. Buddy stayed close to Ianto rather than following Jack.

He looked down at their faithful canine. 'Did you miss me?' Ianto asked. Buddy wagged his tail in response. 'Well, I missed you too, but I think Jack would be happier if you went with him.' He pointed over in Jack's direction, but Buddy wandered off in a different direction, sniffing around and just generally enjoying the afternoon out.

'Stop distracting him, Ianto!' Jack yelled, casting a baleful glance in Ianto's direction.

'I'm not doing anything! You take a dog to a bloody park, what do you expect?' Buddy danced around between his legs, excited and trying to trip him up. 'We can play afterwards. First you have to prove to Jack that you're not some fur covered secret Torchwood agent.' He pushed Buddy away, directing him towards Jack.

'Over here, Buddy!' Jack called out. 'I've got some unusual readings over here. Come take a sniff around.'

Ianto walked him back over to where Jack was standing, before clipping his leash back on and handing it to Jack. 'You two have fun. I'm going to go and sit on that bench over there.'

'I thought you came to help?'

'No, I came to watch you make an arse of yourself. It was more fun than going home to do laundry.' The fresh air was also doing wonders for his headache.

Jack groaned at him. 'Fine. We were going to do this without you in the first place anyway.' Ianto took the insult in the manner it was intended, Jack sulking at Ianto's lack of enthusiasm or faith. 'Come on, pal. We've got alien stuff to find.'

Ianto watched them walk off. Shaking his head he turned and made his way toward the park bench, situated under a nice shady looking elm. He stopped to suck in a few lungfuls of air, letting it clear his head and the earlier weariness. He stretched his arms whilst he was at it, working out the tension, and deciding that on a nice afternoon like today, he might just drop off to sleep on the bench if he wasn't careful. Before he reached it though, he had another companion following him, barking as he approached. Buddy had somehow pulled free of Jack, the leash trailing uselessly behind him. It wasn't a happy bark, like he was being intentionally naughty, having escaped, but rather one that descended into whimpering the closer he got.

'Hey boy, what's wrong?'

Buddy barked again before loping over towards him. Ianto knelt down to stroke his head and toy with his soft floppy ears. 'Did you get a thorn in your paw or something?' He was about to check the bottom of his paws when Buddy tugged his head out of Ianto's grip and chewed on his jacket sleeve, tugging at him.

'We can play later,' Ianto said, trying to disentangle himself, but Buddy's teeth held firm, pulling more insistently. 'Stop it. I thought we trained these bad behaviours out of you.'

Just as quickly, Buddy let go and began snarling at something behind him. Ianto turned around but there was nothing there. Nothing he could see anyway. He looked down at Buddy but his gaze was fixed firmly on the nothingness in front of him, beginning to bark at it. Then he went back to gripping the edge of Ianto's jeans in his teeth, tugging him away. Erring on the side of caution, Ianto slowly backed away.

'Get over here now!' Ianto heard Jack yell, waving and looking annoyed.

'Enough with the dog training,' Ianto replied. 'I think you want to come over here, in actual fact.'

'Not the dog. You! I'm getting readings here that are starting to flip off the charts and they're all coming from over there! 'Jack said, pointing at where Ianto was standing. 'Get out of there now!'

Ianto continued backing away, before a sudden explosion knocked him backwards onto the grass, winding him. Where he'd been moments ago, there was nothing but a charred crater, bits of dirt and grass still raining down.

Jack rushed over. 'Are you okay?' he asked, helping him sit up. He was hindered by the dog that was getting in the way, trying to lick Ianto's face.

'I'm fine,' he said, feeling a little shaken. 'What was that?'

'Some kind of bomb,' Jack replied, frowning. 'But it must have been cloaked.'

Buddy whined, interrupting Jack's response, nudging his muzzle under Ianto's hand, where it received another lick. 'He knew,' Ianto said, stroking Buddy's head. 'He knew there was something there and he was trying to drag me away from it.' He reached out and hugged the dog, letting it lick his face some more. 'Good boy. Thank you.'

'See?' Jack said. 'Didn't I tell you I had him trained to sniff out trouble?'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, but perhaps a bit more of a strict training regime might be worth considering. And a proper signal that says, "hey, I just found something that's about to explode".

Jack knelt down and ruffled Buddy's head. 'Good dog! Lots of extra treats for you for saving my Ianto. We'll make a Torchwood dog out of you yet.'