Torchwood: Fanfic: One last trip

[m_findlow]

Title: One last trip
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,139 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Any, any, taking to sea" at fic_promptly
Summary: The time has come to bid farewell to a long serving Torchwood agent.

'It's freezing out here,' Ianto complained, shoving his hands deeper into his coat pockets. Not only that, but it was starting to drizzle, and the wind was blowing it in their faces, numbing them.

'The weather has certainly turned it on for the day,' Jack admitted, watching the dark grey clouds roiling in the sky overhead, promising nothing but misery. 'A proper Scottish day for a proper Scottish send off.'

'Archie would be so thrilled,' Ianto murmured into the folds of his scarf.

Jack reverently clasped the large urn in his arms. 'You hear that, old boy? We even turned on the weather for you.'

Ianto stepped carefully aboard the boat's slippery deck, reaching out so that Jack could pass him the urn as he made his own way on board. He kept hold of it all the way to the wheelhouse, letting Jack take control of the vessel and guiding it out of the small Scottish port, heading for the open water. He set it down on the small bench at the back of the wheelhouse and sat next to it, keeping one hand on it so it didn't go rolling off if they hit a rogue wave.

'You know, I think Archie must be the first Torchwood employee to get a real burial,' Ianto said. Everyone else was kept in the morgue at the hub. Those were the rules. When you died, Torchwood kept your body, or whatever was left of it. Sometimes it freaked him out, knowing that the walls were full of ex-Torchwood agents, and many a dear friend. Other times it was a comfort to go down there and sit with them, just chatting randomly about his day. It was nice to think maybe they could hear him, even if it was fanciful.

'Archie was one of a kind,' Jack said. 'The least we could do was respect his final wishes.'

'Even if they are a little, um...' Ianto let out a small cough, 'unusual.'

Jack smiled to himself. 'He was an unusual kinda guy. Besides, being buried at sea is not that strange.'

'True. He could have requested to be ejected out into space.' That would have been very Torchwood.

Jack chuckled. 'He probably would have if he'd thought of it. Can you imagine him orbiting the Earth for all time?'

'The only person who served almost as long as you,' Ianto commented. 'One hundred and twelve years. That's a lot of long service leave.'

'And most of them in the eighty plus category,' Jack added, remembering that fateful day when Archie had gone from a spritely fellow in his late thirties to a wizened old man. It was such a pity that he'd had to give up his position as head of Torchwood London as a result. He'd been a beacon for change in Torchwood's history, cut short by alien interference, like so many a good agent Jack had known over the years.

'I never felt like I ever got to know him properly,' Ianto mused. 'I mean, sure, there was that whole incident with the haunted bank, but he's like you. Always so enigmatic and mysterious.'

Jack gave a weary smile. 'When you live as long as we have, too much happens to be honest and upfront about it all. You're going to end up doing things you're not proud of.'

'I can't imagine Archie ever did anything bad,' Ianto replied. 'Most of the time he was just pottering away up there in Glasgow. I'm not even sure what he was doing.' Even after they'd brought Torchwood Two back into the fold, Archie had free reign to carry on as he had.

Jack cast a glance out through the window at the choppy seas. 'Trust me, he was a pretty fierce character when he was young. He was a good leader. Worked with him many a time in London.'

'You mean when Cardiff were sick of you?' Ianto quipped.

Jack shrugged. 'If they thought they were punishing me by getting me out of their hair and shipping me off to London, I never told them otherwise.'

'Do you remember that book I used to have down in the archives?' Ianto asked. 'Torchwood Archival Policies?'

Jack pulled a face. 'Vaguely. I'm sure it was a thrilling read.' Only Ianto could get excited about something like that.

'Well, it turns out that Emily took credit for authoring it, but the actual basis upon which she wrote it was a much older manuscript. I found it at Torchwood House last year. Basically she plagiarised that manuscript, which it turns out, was written at the time Archie was in charge of Torchwood House, back in 1897. I put two and two together and realised who the real author must have been.'

Jack snorted. 'Why am I not surprised? I bet that got up your nose, Emily taking all the credit,' Jack called back to the urn, as if Archie could hear him. 'Still, you got the top job over her, so that has to count for something. You should've seen the look on her face when she found out!'

Ianto sighed. 'I was beginning to think he'd outlive us all.'

'He had a good long life, and he passed away peacefully in his own bed. Can't ask for more.'

'That is true,' Ianto admitted.

Jack cut the engines and the boat began to bob between the waves. Outside the wheelhouse, the rain was coming down much harder now. 'Lucky we packed raincoats,' Jack said. 'Archie, if I didn't know you better I'd say this was you getting the last laugh on us.'

They donned the heavy yellow jackets, pulling up the hoods, though it did little to keep the water from hitting their faces.

'It's going to be hard to spread ashes in this,' Ianto said.

'Lucky we're not, then,' Jack replied, having to raise his voice over the sound of the rain slapping the water.

'Huh?'

'His exact wishes were to be buried at sea in that jar. It's got a seal that will last for a thousand years and withstand a nuclear blast. He always was a stickler.'

They stepped out onto the deck, peppered by the wind and rain. Jack clutched the urn tightly under one arm and gripped the railing of the boat with his other so he didn't get tipped overboard. 'End of an era, my old friend,' he yelled over the rising storm. 'Let's hope we can make you proud over the next hundred years.' Jack leaned over the railing, dropping the urn into the ocean, watching it quickly slip beneath the waves.

'Rest in peace, Archie,' Ianto said.

'And don't you dare think about washing yourself up on a beach in Wales,' Jack warned. 'Or we'll collect you and shove you back in the hub with everybody else.'

Comments

[bk_forever]

I love the slightly irreverent tone and the way Jack talked to Archie's urn. Archie better stay where he's dropped and not go floating off anywhere because Jack's not making an idle threat there...